Page 86 of Fixing to Be Mine

“I mean, it does take two to tango, but now that you’ve brought it up, I’d love for you to be my partner in crime …”

Stormy rolls her eyes, but there’s color rising in her cheeks that tells me she’s not as unaffected as she pretends to be.

“Let’s not get carried away,” she says, already starting to shift off my lap.

I pull her back down. “Too late. You’re sittin’ on the lap of a man planning his entire life around your desperate moans.”

She gasps, “Colt!”

“What?” I grin. “You said you wanted to do it again. I’m just being supportive and suggestin’ locations.”

She laughs again, but this time, she hides her face in my neck. Her lips are against my skin as she mutters, “You are absolutely going to be the death of me.”

“Nah,” I whisper, turning my mouth to her temple. “I’m gonna be the life of ya.”

That stills her. Just for a second. Her fingers curl into the collar of my shirt, like maybe the weight of that line settles somewhere inside her. And maybe it settles in me too.

We sit for another beat; the fire is a whisper. The stars have shifted overhead, and the night air has cooled enough to raisechill bumps across her skin. I kiss her shoulder one more time before she slides out of my arms and stands.

I grab the metal bucket we use to put fires out and dip it into the edge of the pond. The surface is calm, reflecting starlight in the ripples. I fill it, then carry it back to the firepit, pouring it over the glowing remains. The pit hisses, and smoke curls up in a spiral before it vanishes.

Stormy watches me with wild hair and kiss-swollen lips. She’s a dream I only dared to have.

“You ready to go?” she asks.

“Not even a little.”

She laughs. “Come on, cowboy. We have to drive that thing back before someone thinks we eloped.”

“Not the worst idea you’ve ever had,” I say, offering her my hand.

She takes it, fingers lacing with mine. I grab the picnic basket and blanket.

“I don’t know if I’m bride material,” she says.

“You are, darlin’. Just haven’t found the right man yet.”

“Maybe I have.”

By the time we make it to the side-by-side, Stormy pauses before climbing in, glancing back at where we just were.

“I’m going to remember this forever,” she says.

I place a hand on the small of her back and guide her up into the seat. “Good. But know that I plan on givin’ you a hell of a lot more nights worth remembering.”

And with her hand back in mine and the stars stretched out above us, I know we’ve only just begun.

“So, was it worth twenty grand?” I ask.

“Cowboy, I’d have paid a million.”

We ride back in the side-by-side, the engine loud in the stillness, and I keep all four wheels on the ground. She leans intome, her hand resting on my thigh. I reach down and cover it with mine.

I park it where I found it, and then we walk to the truck, giddy and full of smiles.

“What have you two been up to?” I hear from the shadows, seeing Emmett sitting on a lawn chair with a bottle of Hot Damn in his hand.

“Fuck!” I yell at him. “You scared the shit out of me.”

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