Page 72 of All Night with the Cowboy
“Not all of us, me and Ange have been propping up the bar and drinking cocktails!” Cody called out.
Tanner dodged around his dad and bear-hugged his brother, slapping him hard on the back. “Typical that you’ve been the one sitting in here drinking while I say goodbye to my career. I don’t even think you remember what it’s like to be a real rancher and go to rodeos. Too busy being a city slicker.”
Cody punched him in the arm and he howled, pretending to nurse his arm.
“And you, unbelievable,” he said to Angelina, kissing his sister’s cheek and embracing her. “I can’t believe you came all this way.”
She hugged him, kissing his cheek back. “That gorgeous girl of yours is demanding. She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Ange said. “But I like her—she’s definitely a keeper.”
“Hell yes, that’s one thing we won’t ever be arguing about,” he said, giving his sister a wink as he turned to the rest of his family.
Lauren was standing across from him, on the other side of the table, and he noticed that she was slightly apart from his family, looking unsure. Was she worried what his reaction would be to having all his family here?
Thank you, he mouthed, hoping she could tell what he was trying to say.
He would have kept wondering, too, if her smile hadn’t lit up her entire face.
“Anyone ordered champagne yet?” he asked, still grinning at Lauren.
His father waved a waiter over and Tanner moved around everyone else to Lauren. Her smile was wide as he wrapped his arms around her and dipped her backward, kissing her as she giggled.
“Thank you,” he said, not caring that they were in the middle of a restaurant or that his entire family was watching. “For future reference, I hate surprise parties, but this”—he sighed and kissed her again—“this is about as perfect as it damn well gets.”
“Good,” she replied, pushing him back a little and hauling him toward his family, her grip on his hand firm. “Now stop kissing me and start drinking. We’ve got some celebrating to do!”
Tanner pulled out a chair for Lauren and took the bottle of Veuve Clicquot from the waiter. Another waiter was placing a tray of oysters on the table as Tanner popped the champagne, grinning when everyone started to clap.
“To my last bull ride!” Tanner said.
“To finally getting rid of the rocks in your head!” Cody added, holding up his glass.
Tanner poured Lauren’s glass first, bending to whisper in her ear. “To the most beautiful, perfect woman I could ever have wished for,” he said quietly, his words spoken only for her.
Her cheeks tinged pink but she touched his hand to stop him from rising.
“To our second chance at love,” she whispered back, staring into his eyes.
“Hurry up, lovebirds! We’re getting thirsty over here!” Cody called out.
Tanner ignored his brother, discarding the bottle on the table and kissing the hell out of his girl instead.
Epilogue
LAUREN walked in and flopped down on the sofa. She was exhausted. Mentally and physically, absolutely beside herself kind of exhausted.
“Tanner?” she called out.
She had no idea if he was in the house, but his truck had been in the garage and he hadn’t mentioned anything about going out. Usually if she was going to be home at a decent hour, he was waiting, surprising her with his new-found culinary skills, but she couldn’t smell anything cooking tonight and there wasn’t a sound in the house.
Lauren shut her eyes, deciding that he mustn’t be home. She didn’t mind. He was probably out having a drink with friends, and she could shut her eyes and catch up on some sleep before he got home. Her stomach was growling and she was thirsty, but it was worth starving for a bit longer if she was able to lie still.
She breathed deep, like she did in yoga, in through her nose, holding it a second, then slowly letting it out.She repeated it a few times and started to drift off, sleep slowly cocooning her as her body relaxed.
“Surprise.”
A low whisper was followed by something wet touching her cheek. What the heck? Her eyes popped open and she looked straight into the darkest brown eyes, so pure and innocent, followed by a tongue darting out to smear her with a big lick.
“Why are you holding a puppy?” she mumbled, wriggling back to a sitting position and rubbing her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming.
