by Reese Ryan
“I know, but things are different now. I’m not just sleeping in the guest room.” She gave him a knowing look.
“You’ve slept in here before, too.”
“When we fell asleep binge-watching all the Marvel movies. And we both fell asleep fully dressed.” She slipped on one of her boots and zipped it. “Not when I can’t stop smiling because we had the most amazing night together. Tripp would see through that in two seconds.”
He was as elated by her statement as he was disappointed by her leaving. What she was saying made sense. Of course, it did. But he wanted her in his bed, in his life. Full stop.
Tessa deserved better than the two of them sneaking around. Besides, with that came the implication that the two of them were doing something wrong. They weren’t. And he honestly couldn’t wait to tell everyone in town just how much he loved Tessa Noble.
“I’ll miss you, too, babe.” She sat on the edge of the bed beside him and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Perhaps she’d only intended for the kiss to placate him. But he’d slipped his hands beneath her skirt and glided them up to the scrap of fabric covering her sex.
She murmured her objection, but Ryan had swallowed it with his hungry kiss. Lips searching and tongues clashing. His needy groans countered her small whimpers of pleasure.
“Rye... I really need to go.” Tess pulled away momentarily.
He resumed their kiss as he led her hand to his growing length.
“Guess it would be a shame to waste something that impressive.” A wicked smile flashed across Tess’s beautiful face. She encircled his warm flesh in her soft hand as she glided it up and down his straining shaft. “Maybe I could stay a little longer. Just let me turn off the light.”
“No,” he whispered against the soft, sweet lips he found irresistible. “Leave it on. I want to see you. All of you.”
He pulled the dress over her head and tossed it aside. Then he showed Tess just how much he appreciated her staying a little while longer.
Twenty
Ryan waved Tripp to the booth he’d secured at the back of the Daily Grind.
Tripp was an uncomplicated guy who always ordered the same thing. At the Royal Diner, a stack of pancakes, two eggs over easy, crispy bacon and black coffee. Here at the Daily Grind, a bear claw that rivaled the size of one’s head and a cup of black coffee, two sugars.
Ryan had placed their order as soon as he’d arrived, wanting to get right down to their conversation.
His friend slid into the booth and looked at the plate on the table and his cup of coffee. “You already ordered for me?”
“Don’t worry. It’s still hot. I picked up our order two minutes ago.”
Tripp sipped his coffee. “Why do I have the feeling that I’m about to get some really bad news?”
“Depends on your point of view, I guess.” Ryan shoved the still warm cinnamon bun aside, his hands pressed to the table.
“It must be really bad. Did something happen to our parents on the cruise?”
“It’s nothing like that.” Ryan swallowed hard, tapping the table lightly. He looked up squarely at his friend. “I just... I need to tell you that I broke my promise to you...about Tess.” Ryan sat back in the booth. “Tripp, I love her. I think I always have.”
“I see.” Tripp’s gaze hardened. “Since you’re coming to me with this, it’s probably safe to assume you’re already sleeping with my little sister.”
Ryan didn’t respond either way. He owed Tripp this, but the details of their relationship, that was between him and Tess. They didn’t owe anyone else an explanation.
“Of course.” Tripp nodded, his fists clenched on the table in front of him. “That damn auction. The gift that keeps on giving.”
Ryan half expected his friend to try to slug him, as he had when they were teenagers and the kids at school had started a rumor that Ryan was Tess’s boyfriend. It was the last time the two of them had an honest-to-goodness fight.
That was when Tripp had made him promise he’d never lay a hand on Tess.
“Look, Tripp, I know you didn’t think I was good enough for your sister. Deep down, I think I believed that, too. But more than anything I was afraid to ruin my friendship with her or you. You and Tess...you’re more than just friends to me. You’re family.”
“If you were so worried about wrecking our friendships, what’s changed? Why are you suddenly willing to risk it?” Tripp folded his arms as he leaned on the table.
“I’ve changed. Or at least, my perspective has. I can’t imagine watching your sister live a life with someone else. Marrying some other guy and raising their children. Wishing they were ours.” Ryan shook his head. “That’s a regret I can’t take to my grave. And if it turns out I’m wrong, I honestly believe my friendship with you and Tess is strong enough to recover. But the thing is... I don’t think I am wrong about us. I love her, Tripp, and I’m gonna ask her to marry me. But I wanted to come to you first and explain why I could no longer keep my promise.”
“You’re planning to propose? Already? God, what the hell happened with you guys in Dallas?” Tripp shut his eyes and shook his head. “Never mind. On second thought, don’t ever tell me what happened in Dallas.”
“Now that’s a promise I’m pretty sure I can keep.” Ryan chuckled.
“I guess it could be worse. She could be marrying some dude I hate instead of one of my best friends.”
It was as close to a blessing as he was likely to get from Tripp. He’d gladly take it.
“Thanks, man. That means a lot. I promise, I won’t let you or Tess down.”
“You’d better not.” Tripp picked up his bear claw and took a huge bite.
It was another promise he had every intention of keeping.
* * *
Ryan, Tessa, Tripp and both sets of their parents, had dinner at the Glass House restaurant at the exclusive five-star Bellamy resort to celebrate their parents’ return and Tripp landing the Noble Spur’s biggest customer account to date.
The restaurant was decked out in festive holiday decor. Two beautiful Douglas firs. Twinkling lights everywhere. Red velvet bows and poinsettias. Then there were gifts wrapped in shiny red, green, gold and silver foil wrapping paper.
Tessa couldn’t be happier. She was surrounded by the people who meant the most to her. And both her parents and Ryan’s had been thrilled that she and Ryan had finally acknowledged what both their mothers claimed to have known all along. That she and Ryan were hopelessly in love.
Ryan had surprised her with an early Christmas gift—the Maybach saddle she’d mused about on their drive to Dallas.
Even Tripp was impressed.
The food at the Glass House was amazing, as always. And a live act, consisting of a vocalist and an acoustic guitar player, set the mood by serenading the patrons with soft ballads.
When they started to play Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” Ryan asked her to dance. Next, the duo performed Train’s song, “Marry Me.”
“I love that song. It’s so perfect.” Tessa swayed happily to the music as the vocalist sang the romantic lyrics.
“It is.” He grinned. “And so are you. I’m so lucky that the woman I love is also my best friend. You, Tess, are the best Christmas gift I could ever hope for.”
“That’s so sweet of you to say, babe.” Her cheeks flushed and her eyes shone with tears. She smiled. “Who says you’re not romantic?”
“You make me want to be. Because you deserve it all. Romance, passion, friendship. A home of our own, marriage, kids. You deserve all of that and more. And I want to be the man who gives that to you.”
Tessa blinked back tears. “Ryan, it sounds a lot like you’re asking me to marry you.”
“Guess that means I ain’t doing it quite right.” Ryan winked and pulled a gray velvet box from his pocket. He opened
it and Tessa gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as he got down on one knee and took her left hand in his.
“Tessa Marie Noble, you’re my best friend, my lover, my confidante. You’ve always been there for me, Tess. And I always want to be there for you, making an incredible life together right here in the town we both love. Would you please do me the great honor of being my wife?”
“Yes.” Tessa nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Nothing would make me happier than marrying my best friend.”
Ryan slipped on the ring and kissed her hand.
He’d known the moment he’d seen the ring that it was the one for Tess. As unique and beautiful as the woman he loved. A chocolate diamond solitaire set in a strawberry gold band of intertwined ribbons sprinkled with vanilla and chocolate diamonds.
Tessa extended her hand and studied the ring, a wide grin spreading across her gorgeous face. “It’s my Neapolitan engagement ring!”
“Anything for you, babe.” Ryan took her in his arms and kissed her with their families and fellow diners cheering them on.
But for a few moments, everyone else disappeared, and there was only Tessa Noble. The woman who meant everything to him, and always would.
* * *
How will Rose and Gus explain the new turn
in their relationship?
Will they continue to keep Alexis and Daniel apart?
Find out in The Rancher’s Bargain
by Joanne Rock!
Available January 2019!
To pay her sister’s debt, Lydia Walker agrees to a
temporary job as a live-in nanny for hot-as-sin rancher, James Harris. There’s no denying the magnetic pull between them, but can they detangle their white-hot desire and stubborn differences
before time runs out?
Don’t miss a single installment of the six-book
Texas Cattleman’s Club:
Bachelor Auction
Will the scandal of the century lead to love
for these rich ranchers?
Runaway Temptation
by USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child
Most Eligible Texan
by USA TODAY bestselling author Jules Bennett
Million Dollar Baby
by USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard
His Until Midnight
by Reese Ryan
The Rancher’s Bargain
by Joanne Rock
Lone Star Reunion
by Joss Wood
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Rival’s Heir by Joss Wood
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The Rival’s Heir
by Joss Wood
Prologue
Callie Brogan looked around the lavish crowded function room at the Lockwood Country Club and edged her way to the side. She’d attended, and hosted, many parties in this very room and knew all the escape routes.
A few steps backward and her back was against the floor-to-ceiling glass doors. She fiddled behind her and yep, there was the handle. Callie pushed it down, felt the door swing open and as quickly as she could, ducked onto the small balcony that ran the length of the ballroom. She closed the door behind her, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
She didn’t mind the dark, nor the cold—in fact she welcomed both. Anything was better than loud music, louder laughter and incessant chatter. Staring a new year in the face, she needed a few minutes of quiet, just to think.
Her beloved husband, Ray, was gone. He had been for many years.
It was time to let him go.
She couldn’t hold on to him while she had an affair with the man she’d come here with tonight. It wasn’t fair to either of them.
Callie looked down at the ring Ray had put on her finger over thirty years ago. She turned it around and around again. It was time to take it off, to put it away or at the very least, move it to her right hand. She wasn’t Ray’s anymore.
And while she might be sleeping with Mason—adventurous, inked and hot—she didn’t belong to him either. She needed a new life, one that was hers alone. She wanted more. She no longer wanted to be the person she was, but she also didn’t know who she wanted to be.
She had to reinvent herself.
But how?
Before she could finish the thought, a soft coat settled on her shoulders, broad hands on her hips.
“Are you okay?” Mason asked, his warm breath on her ear.
“Fine,” Callie answered, wincing at her terse answer. She’d just wanted five minutes on her own, to figure things out.
But it was New Year’s Eve, they were at a ball, and she had tomorrow to think about her life and why she was so discontented, in spite of having a fantastically sexy man sharing her sheets. The music was playing, the countdown would soon start and her issues could wait.
Callie looped her arms around Mason’s neck, pushing a smile onto her face.
“Let’s go inside, grab a drink and dance,” Callie said, trying for gaiety.
Mason stepped back and shook his head. “I’ve been watching you for the last ten minutes. I saw you playing with your ring.”
Callie frowned down at her hand and the big diamond winked back at her. “Okay?” she replied, confused.
Mason pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just once, Callie, I’d like to go somewhere, do something, that isn’t tinged with the memories of your husband.”
Before Callie could tell him that she hadn’t been thinking about Ray, he continued, “Is it going to be like this for the next year, two years, ten? I’m asking so I know how long I’ll be competing for your attention.”
Callie felt the burn of shock, the heat of anger. “That’s not fair.”
“No, what’s not fair is you mentally wandering off to join him while I am here. What’s not fair is you wearing his ring while I bring you to orgasm, his picture facedown in the drawer next to your bed. Do you bring him out when we’re done, Callie? Sneak him back into place when I leave?”
She did. God. And Mason knew.
Callie lifted her hands in protest. Because she felt embarrassed, she went on the attack. “Why are you hassling me? I thought this was just an affair. Why are you sounding all possessive and jealous?”
Mason opened his mouth to respond, then cursed before snapping it shut. His expression cooled, then turned inscrutable. “You’re right. Forgive me.” His deep voice was coated with frost.
When Callie went back inside just a few minutes later, Mason was gone.
Copyright © 2018 by Joss Wood
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Reese Ryan for her contribution to the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Bachelor Auction miniseries.
ISBN-13: 9781488092398
His Until Midnight
Copyright © 2018 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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