by Em Petrova
“Thank God. I finally get a piece of this cake,” Amaryllis grumbled, getting to her feet.
The Roshannon men, Judd, Wes and their father all got in line for slabs of pink cake and joined Ryan and Aiden in playing with Sawyer while the ladies oohed and aahed over frilly pink baby clothes that Amaryllis unwrapped.
Livvy moved through the hall, snapping photos to give to Amaryllis and Aiden after the party. And she took a second to change thumb drives and capture quite a few of her husband wearing pink cake crumbs in his beard.
When he caught her at it, he narrowed his eyes. “What are you up to, woman?”
She gave a private smile and touched her chin.
“Argh. Much easier to eat rabbit. Never get crumbs in my beard.” He gave it a good rubbing with his knuckles, knocking the crumbs loose. Livvy couldn’t resist hooking an arm around his neck and drawing him close enough to kiss. She stopped short of brushing her lips over his, though, just staring into his eyes.
“Uh oh. You’ve caught the baby bug, haven’t you?” His voice didn’t often sound so rough since he used it regularly now. But the gruffness warmed her insides.
“I don’t know. I was thinking you caught the baby bug.”
He shifted his gaze to Sawyer, falling asleep on his father’s lap with his thumb in his mouth. “He’s a sweet kid. But you realize we’ll have to move to the valley if you get pregnant.”
She straightened away. “What?”
“You heard me. We can’t have you giving birth on the mountain with just me to attend you.”
“Women have been birthing babies on their own since the beginning of time, Ryan. Who said I need a big facility, doctors and nurses to do it?”
“Oh Lord, now you got her goin’,” Judd commented as he passed with a second slice of cake.
Ryan grunted and folded his arms. “My wife is not squatting in the yard to give birth to my child.”
“And I’m not leaving the mountain.”
“Damn, but you’re a stubborn person.”
She grinned. “Takes one to know one.”
Amaryllis stopped in front of them and looked between one set of folded arms to the other. “How’d you piss her off now, Ryan?”
“The crazy woman thinks when she gives birth, it’s going to be on the mountain and not in a hospital.”
“Well, who says she can’t? Women can do anything we set our minds to.”
Ryan closed his eyes slowly as if for patience, which only made Livvy pick up her camera. Before he realized what she was doing, she’d snapped several photos of him. With a growl, he reached out to snag the camera from her, but she darted away from his move and somehow ended up in his lap.
Cradled on those big, strong thighs, she had never felt so loved. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into his chest, and brushed a kiss over her brow. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“I’m not sure what there is to discuss. I made up my mind.”
He issued a primal grunt, which drew the grins of his buddies. “You’re lucky I love you, Livvy.”
She snuggled closer. “Who’s lucky?”
“Damn, I miss my silence sometimes.”
She giggled and plucked out one of his beard hairs, which made him yowl. “You’re such a liar.”
He looked down into her eyes, the depths of his warm and burning with love. “You’re right—I am a liar. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, sweetheart.”
“Even if we argue?”
He pressed his lips against hers. “Mmm-hmm. Because it means we can make up.”
She closed her eyes on a sigh as he kissed her with all the tenderness and love she’d known Ryan Stone was capable of giving from the start.
THE END
Em Petrova
Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff and works as editor with USA Today and New York Times bestselling authors.
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Other Indie Titles by Em Petrova
Wild West Series
SOMETHING ABOUT A LAWMAN
SOMETHING ABOUT A SHERIFF
SOMETHING ABOUT A BOUNTY HUNTER
SOMETHING ABOUT A MOUNTAIN MAN
Operation Cowboy Series
KICKIN’ UP DUST
SPURS & SURRENDER
The Boot Knockers Ranch Series
PUSHIN’ BUTTONS
BODY LANGUAGE
REINING MEN
ROPIN’ HEARTS
ROPE BURN
COWBOY NOT INCLUDED
The Boot Knockers Ranch Montana
COWBOY BY CANDLELIGHT
THE BOOT KNOCKER’S BABY
ROPIN’ A ROMEO
Country Fever Series
HARD RIDIN’
LIP LOCK
UNBROKEN
SOMETHIN’ DIRTY
Rope ‘n Ride Series
BUCK
RYDER
RIDGE
WEST
LANE
WYNONNA
Rope ‘n Ride On Series
JINGLE BOOTS
DOUBLE DIPPIN’
LICKS AND PROMISES
A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
LIPSTICK ‘N LEAD
The Dalton Boys
COWBOY CRAZY Hank’s story
COWBOY BARGAIN Cash’s story
COWBOY CRUSHIN’ Witt’s story
COWBOY SECRET Beck’s story
COWBOY RUSH Kade’s Story
COWBOY MISTLETOE a Christmas novella
Single Titles and Boxes
STRANDED AND STRADDLED
LASSO MY HEART
SINFUL HEARTS
BLOWN DOWN
FALLEN
FEVERED HEARTS
DIRTY HAIR PULLER
Firehouse 5 Series
ONE FIERY NIGHT
CONTROLLED BURN
SMOLDERING HEARTS
Club Ties Series
LOVE TIES
HEART TIES
MARKED AS HIS
SOUL TIES
ACE’S WILD
The Quick and the Hot Series
DALLAS NIGHTS
SLICK RIDER
SPURRED ON
Also, look for traditionally published works on her website.