Page 93 of The Cowgirl's Chosen Love
Lisa wrapped her legs around him and pulled him deeper. Closer. Meshed together as they rose over and over until they both fell into pleasure.
20
When Lisa woke in his arms, she wondered briefly if it was going to be awkward, but the only notable part was how very undemanding Josiah was. He didn’t push or prod or demand explanations.
He just held her.
In fact, he insisted they not talk about what had happened beyond generalities. “Your brain is figuring it out,” he insisted. “And I don’t want to toss something at you that later makes you feel as if you were coerced. Like you asked, we’ll give it a couple of days. But in the meantime, you need to know that I’m not going away. Extra time isn’t going to change the way I feel about you and you can count on that.”
He’d silenced her in one of the most fun ways possible before stealing out of bed and heading to work.
Over the next two days, she thought and poked at her problem from a million angles. Lisa spent all her free time with Josiah, Ollie curled up contentedly on their laps as they sat together on the couch or lay quietly in front of the fire in his room.
She loved Josiah. She truly did, so the idea of leaving him behind to travel for a few years to satisfy her wanderlust held little appeal. But giving up the travel to just stay home seemed like cheating herself out of a promise she’d made.
While Lisa thought, Josiah watched silently, his closest hand constantly stroking her arm, or back, or hair, as if reminding her he planned to always be there.
Ollie just loved on both of them as much as possible.
Lisa had almost figured out a solution she felt comfortable with, maybe, when suddenly the day of the fundraiser arrived and she didn’t want to do anything to distract from the event.
But as soon as the day was over, she was ready to do the next thing.
The truth was, at the core, while she wanted to do something for herself, Josiah had been right. Doing things for other people also made her happy.
She didn’t need to leave to find herself. She didn’t need to run away from the wonderful things happening right there in Heart Falls. But she also didn’t need to give up her dreams of adventure. Somewhere out there was a way to have it all.
The best part, though, was she didn’t have to figure out how on her own.
What she did need to decide was a way to absolutely and completely blow Josiah’s socks off when she told him. Because, hey, telling a guy that she wanted him forever should be big and bold and memorable, right?
But first, the fundraiser.
Positive energy and excited people milled around the new Heart Falls Animal Rescue. They’d hauled in a good number of media reps and the local community members had come out in full force.
Lisa and Josiah stood at the side of the modest stage that had been built in the arena, preparing to go up on the platform to run through their spiel to convince people to open up their pocketbooks, and possibly their homes, to one of the healthy, happy, and ready-to-be-adopted dogs.
Lisa held Ollie’s leash even though there was little chance of the dog wandering off.
Decorations were everywhere, including helium balloons in the shape of farm animals, cats, and dogs.
Josiah laid a hand on her arm, then poked a set of cue cards toward her. “I made some changes. Here’s your script.”
She’d already taken them from him before she realized what he was saying. “But I thought we had it all figured out already.”
“This script is better,” Josiah insisted. He stuck a finger in her face. “No improvising.”
Lisa folded her arms over her chest. “Me?You’re the one who—”
“Be right back,” Josiah tossed over his shoulder as he hurried behind the left-wing barrier.
She glanced down at the stack of cue cards to discover he’d wrapped a dozen or more elastic bands around the pile. He’d twisted some and changed direction, so removing them wasn’t going to be easy. She began peeling them off one by one when Sonora slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her toward the stage.
“Come on, Lisa. Time to shine.”
Drat, Josiah, changing the rules at the last minute. Lisa followed Sonora, smiling at the faces turning toward them while frantically pulling elastic bands free and juggling Ollie’s leash. She didn’t want to drop the elastics to the ground where some animal would find them, so she slid them onto her wrist one after the other.
While she worked, Sonora had stepped up to the microphone.
