Page 53 of Wrangling Hearts
I laughed at the ceiling. “For now.”
He let out a low hum, sounding pleased. “I think I can live with that.”
I snuggled into him more, smiling softly. “That’s good, considering I’m never letting you go.”
“I told you I wasn’t goin’ anywhere,” in Beau’s soft whisper was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.
16
Beau
Belonging to Claire Hayes was quite literally the best thing that had ever happened to me.
The past two days had been pure magic, and not to mention, filled with the best sex I’d ever had. She’d come over, absolutely ruin me, and then go home again, only to come back a few hours later because she missed me.
Safe to say I was wrecked in the absolute best way.
I had offered to stay with her at Golden Bridle so she wouldn’t have to go back and forth between houses often, since she didn’t want to be away from Charlotte. But she said there were already too many people there with Savannah in town. And with Savannah came Delilah most days, so it was a full house over there.
But tonight, I had convinced Claire to spend the night with me. The full night. Savannah swore up and down she’d call immediately if something happened with Charlotte, and we were only a five-minute walk away, so it wasn’t like we were far.
“This feels a little childish,” Colt said as we spread out a dark blue quilt beneath an oak tree near the house. It was the perfect spot to watch the sunset over the ranch—nothing but wideopen pastures and happy cattle. “Don’t you think? Like teenager stuff.”
“Shut up, Colton,” Anna said behind me with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. “This is romantic. A concept you clearly don’t understand.”
Colt frowned. Or maybe it was a pout. It was hard to tell with his pornstar mustache. “I’m romantic,” he said as if he were trying to convince himself along with us. Yeah, he was pouting.
“Maybe you should take a page out of your big brother’s book and do this for Britt,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “You’ve only been with the poor girl for three years. When are you gonna put a ring on it?”
“That’s what I’m saying.” Anna started to bend awkwardly due to her baby belly to put the glasses down, but I ended up taking them from her.
“You go and get yourself a girlfriend, and now you suddenly think you’re the poster child of relationships?” Colt scoffed. “Give it a year, buddy.”
He said that as if I were in for some rude awakening, but I knew what I was getting into with a woman like Claire. I knew there would be heated arguments, her reading me the riot act when I was being a dumbass or trying to control everything. But I also knew there would be moments she’d crawl into my lap after a hard day and look at me with those green eyes all lovesick and adoring and make me feel like I was her happy place.
Hell, in a year, Claire’s last name better be McLeod. And it would be if I had anything to do with it. She was it for me, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, so I didn’t see any sense in waiting longer than we needed to, unlike my little brother.
“She’s going to love this!” Anna beamed.
“I hope so.” We hadn’t really had a chance to spend much time alone together in well…ever. Nothing more than an hour or two of uninterrupted time, and even then, one of us was alwayshaving to run off to put out a fire. I was desperate to get her to myself for the night, to spend some quality time with her.
Tonight, we were going to formally celebrate her partnership with Cavendish. They had already sent a contractor over to map out space for the barn extension, and they even bought some land behind Golden Bridle so there could be more space for everything. It just needed clearing out now.
“You got snacks, right?”
“Yes, I got snacks.” I had everything from charcuterie board necessities to straight junk. I remembered Claire having a pretty big sweet tooth when we were kids, and figured it would be a safe bet to have some candy on standby. I realized I had remembered a lot about her, actually. A scary amount.
“Okay, I’m gonna go then, your niece is making a punching bag out of my bladder.”
“That’s disgusting,” Colt said, grimacing.
“Not as disgusting as that hairy slug on your upper lip,” Anna shot back. She waddled her way over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Love you, tell me everything tomorrow. I refuse to find out about stuff second-hand in theWhispersagain.”
“Okay,” I chuckled. “Love you too.”
Colt let out a heavy sigh, his hands on his hips, while he looked around. It was his telltale sign of retreat. “I’m gonna go, too.Don’ttell me everything tomorrow.”
“Got it. See ya.”
