Page 95 of The Cowgirl's Forever Love
“Josiah or Ollie?” some joker quipped.
Lisa flipped to the next card. She read the whole thing quickly before glancing up at Josiah. “He asked if I loved him. Because if I did, he’d be willing to go anywhere with me.”
A collectiveawwwwrose from the audience.
“So, do you?” It was her niece Sasha, of course. Front and center, Emma by her side, their fingers tangled together. “Do you love him, Auntie Lisa?”
Lisa folded her arms over her chest. The next cue card had been blank, with nothing but????over the entire surface.
She knew what she was going to do, but Josiah deserved to suffer a teeny bit for surprising her. Or more, for once again surprising herandstealing her thunder, because talk about getting her socks blown off.
If she’d thought of it first, she totally would have done this. Maybe without the dog costume, though.
Lisa turned to face the audience. “Do you really think I should admit something like that to a man dressed in a dog suit?”
Sasha and Emma weren’t the only ones who nodded their heads vigorously.
Beside her, Josiah pulled off the head of his costume, sneaking over to wrap a furry paw around her waist. “The dog suit is what made this perfect for you and me. I know you’re a sucker for big brown eyes and a perky tail.”
The microphone was on, but Lisa didn’t care. “You goof.”
“Iama goof. I’m also adaptable and brave enough to stand here in a dog costume and announce that I love you, Lisa Coleman. No matter where that takes us or what we end up doing, I want to be with you.”
“Is this part of the auction?” someone called from the back of the room.
The crowd turned toward him, fingers pressed to their lips. “Shhhhhhhh.”
Lisa glanced at Josiah. She glanced at the patiently waiting, before turning back and nodding. “Fine. You win. I love you too.”
Josiah picked her up and kissed her, right there in front of everyone, as Ollie barked enthusiastically. Catcalls and whistles rang out, and when Josiah put her back down, it felt as if her feet were still floating above the stage.
He winked. “I believe this means you owe me at least four hundred dollars because you will definitely be around by the end of the summer.”
“Double or nothing?” Lisa offered.
A laugh escaped. “We’ll donate it to the fund. And with that—” He twisted toward the audience. “Time to get down to business. We have all sorts of exciting things to auction off and once we’re done, I get to take my new owner home and celebrate, so let’s get to it.”
Another rumble of laughter echoed back and as they slid into the real portion of the event, Lisa realized she felt very much at home.
Still uncertain, but somehow that was okay.
If Josiah was willing to get up on a stage looking like the Big Red Dog and admit he loved her, she figured there was pretty much nothing he wouldn’t do to make her happy.
Somehow this relationship would work because she’d be doing her best to make him happy too.
Lisa leaned down and cut the strings on a batch of the balloons fastened to the front of the stage and watched as cats, dogs, pigs, and horses floated over the crowd to the sound of loud cheering.
It waslate by the time the auction was over and the last piece of cake had been consumed. Sonora gave them both huge hugs before she left. The shelter went quiet with just the night watchman remaining when Josiah finally took Lisa and Ollie home.
Home. Which was going to be wherever the two of them were.
The three of them, he corrected himself, because it appeared Ollie was going to be a permanent part of their world.
Neither of them spoke much until they reached his room, satisfaction at their successful completion of the auction offering enough adrenaline to get them there. There was anticipation as well because it was time to make some things very clear.
But first…
Josiah pointed firmly at the bathroom. “Shower. Get comfy. Meet me back here when you’re done.”
