by Em Petrova
She laughed, her heart racing.
“I wanted you to have something beautiful, but nothing came close to matching you. Still, I hope it’s enough.”
She blinked through her tears at the square diamond and platinum setting. “Lane, I love you. How’d an old lady like me get so lucky?”
He wrapped her in his arms. “Oh, you’re gonna get lucky, tonight, doll.” He growled against her throat, sending goosebumps skittering all over her body.
She plastered herself to his strong frame and swayed to the strains of music coming through the walls. “Once I get you in that bed, you won’t have any energy left to wrestle those steers.”
“Mmm. Don’t matter much to me. I’m happiest right here.”
As he lowered his lips to hers, she knew that she was right where she belonged too.
Epilogue
Lane felt as if he’d been hopping from party to party for three months. From the engagement to a farewell to the rodeo party, followed by Christmas. He was just settling down and Delaney threw him a bash to celebrate buying the ranch.
He shook his head at how she’d gotten the barn set up with tables and chairs and strung it from door to door with twinkle lights. At one side of the space was a long buffet of fried chicken and every kind of salad imaginable.
Nick had stored farm equipment here for a decade, but typically a barn still smelled liked a barn. But this afternoon it had a homey smell of food and fresh-cut lemons.
His family was scattered in groups, talking to each other and various neighbors. Some he’d spoken with before now, and some he’d just met.
When he said howdy to the family that had taken the goat, the little girl smiled and thanked him for giving her a new friend.
He patted her shoulder. “You’re mighty welcome. I bet he’s getting fat and spoiled over at your place.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Delaney and I are glad you enjoy him.”
“Are you and Delaney gonna have babies?” she blurted.
Her mother put her hand on the child and pulled her away from Lane. “That’s not polite to ask questions like that.”
“Why not? I’d like a neighbor baby to play with.”
The lady gave Lane an apologetic smile.
“It’s fine,” he said. Nothing could spoil his happiness. “You have some chicken and I’m gonna go find my bride.”
The girl hopped off with her parents, and Lane looked around the place. People were talking and laughing, standing around with plates balanced on palms or beers in their hands. Their buddy Asher stood next to his girlfriend, laughing at something one of his girls had said. Lane was glad to see him enjoying life again.
Brant and his buddies were clustered in one of the doorways, and the cameras circled them more than the Calhouns, it seemed.
The next generation.
When Andrew had suggested they write the young man into the contract, he and Delaney had been stunned. Andrew’s argument was that he’d bring the fresh audience they’d been hoping for, and since they couldn’t have as much time with Lane, this would make up for it. Basically, Lane was sharing the spotlight with the guy who’d once hated him.
But spending so much time together had instilled a friendship in them. Lane and Delaney enjoyed Cody as well, which was good since he’d been around a lot.
Delaney’s sweet scent hit him before he saw her. She slipped her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. He turned to kiss her hair, inhaling deeply. The minute he’d put that ring on her finger had been the most joyful of his life.
Country music played, and the lyrics caught his ear. Something about the right one getting in the singer’s pickup.
He pulled her into his arms. “Thank you for the party, doll. It’s amazing.”
“You were surprised. I can’t believe you didn’t know what I’ve been doing all along.” Her eyes sparkled with merriment.
He cupped her cheek and smoothed a thumb over her glowing skin. “I had no idea. Guess I was busy getting settled in. Running a ranch is like running a ship. You gotta learn how she sails and what she can do before you take control.”
She nodded and smiled. He couldn’t resist brushing his lips across hers once… twice. “You look good enough to eat,” he rumbled.
“Oh no. You can’t sneak away from your own party.” She slapped him playfully on the shoulder, but he saw the tensing of her lips that spoke of her need for him.
“I’m sure we can find a clear stall. No one will miss us.”
“Who’s missing you?” Kashley’s bubbly voice broke into the sexual energy building between them. They drew apart, and Delaney turned to hug her niece.
“Nobody’s missing me on the ranch, I’m sure,” Lane said to cover the moment. Ridge stood near. Now that Lane thought of it, his brother was hovering over Kashley today. Almost protectively.
He jerked his head for Ridge to come closer and then spoke in a low voice. “Kashley’s not getting crazy fans stalking her again, is she?”
Ridge’s confusion was clear. He shook his head, brows pinched. “No—why?”
“Just makin’ sure. You know I’m not on the ranch to do the dirty work every day, but I stand with my family to face any troubles that come up.”
Ridge squeezed his shoulder. “We know. And the barn door swings both ways. If you need anything…”
A sudden squeal from his bride made Lane’s head jerk up. She and Kashley hurled their arms around each other and rocked back and forth.
Ridge stepped to his wife’s side, and the rest of the family clustered close, sensing something happening. The women pulled apart and began wiping the tears from their eyes.
Kashley looked at the family surrounding them and smiled. “I didn’t mean to steal Lane’s special day.” She looked to Ridge, who nodded. “But Ridge and I are expecting.”
A resounding cheer went up, and Wynonna got to Kashley first to hug her. After all the ladies had congratulated her and the brothers clapped Ridge on the back, Delaney sent Lane a long look.
One he couldn’t decipher. Did she need to tell him something alone? He reached for her hand, and she squeezed it tight. Then she looked to Kashley. She patted her stomach. “It seems we’ll be raising Calhouns together.”
A huge gasp ripped through the group, and Lane gaped at his wife.
“Oh my God, the blood’s drained from your face, Lane.” Delaney placed her hands on his face and stared into his eyes.
“You’re…?” Words wouldn’t even form into a sentence. His thoughts were bouncing off his walls of his brain like jumping beans.
She nodded, and all the air whooshed from him. He pasted his hand over her belly and searched her eyes. She seemed to understand his questions even if he was too stunned to voice them.
“I figured I’d give it a shot. I got the go-ahead from the other midwife in my practice, and… well it didn’t take long.”
“Holy shit. I’m gonna be a father.” He glanced around at the happy faces of his family. “I’m gonna be a father!” He ripped off his hat and thrust it into the air. Cheers went up, and Delaney was passed from person to person. Her son hugged her longest.
Finally, Lane’s mother got her arms around both of them, and they had a group hug. She was smiling ear-to-ear. “Two grandbabies coming around the same time! I couldn’t be happier.”
“Wait. Is this going to be my niece or my cousin?” Kashley’s question made everyone roar with laughter.
Lane’s mom patted Delaney’s stomach. “I was about your age when I had my Wynonna.”
Lane and Delaney stared at each other, eyes wide with horror.
“Oh no,” Lane said.
Wynonna hooked an arm around his neck and gave him a hard knuckle rub on the scalp. “Oh yeah, brother. Get ready for your hellion.”
Lane gave her an elbow to the ribs, and she released him. Delaney stepped up to Lane and circled her arms around his neck. He gripped her waist, unable to believe his luck. He couldn’t
ask for anything more in the universe.
He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “Thank you, doll.”
“I should be thanking you. You’ve given me a brand new second life, and I love you so much.”
He kissed her hard and thoroughly for all to see, even the cameras. He wanted the whole world to know that you could grab the bull by the horns and get exactly what you wanted.
THE END
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Wynonna
Rope ‘n Ride Series book 6
Copyright © 2017
by Em Petrova
Cover by Bookin’ It Designs
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Wynonna
Rope ‘n Ride Series
Book 6
By Em Petrova
What if the man you’re in love with isn’t the one you plan to marry?
Wynonna Calhoun is a barrel racing champion and reality TV star. She’s sick of both of those roles and is ready to settle down like her brothers and work more with her horses. She’s also newly engaged, but everyone’s saying her fiancé isn’t right for her. Even the ranch foreman, Maverick, has put in his two cents on the topic, and he has no right when he avoids her like she’s just rolled in manure.
No freakin’ way is Mav letting Wynonna marry an asshole like that. Her daddy would rise from his grave if he knew, and Mav won’t let the Calhoun princess make the mistake of walking down the aisle with a man who’s soft. Especially since Mav knows all too well that she likes ‘em rough. Mav struggles to keep his hands off the brazen redheaded mistress of sass, but he’s no good for anyone, not with his history. Besides, he’s too old for her.
Wynonna wishes Mav would own up to his feelings about her. She can’t help but think his troubles are rooted back in Oregon at his family’s feet, and she’s due for a vacation anyhow. But when she winds up deliriously ill, she only calls out for one man, and it isn’t the one she’d planned on marrying. Now she needs a plan to make him realize he’s perfect for her.
Author Note
The romance industry is primarily driven by women readers who want to read about men. So having the Rope ‘n Ride series titled with the names of the Calhoun brothers is true to the genre. But then I got to the fiery, stubborn Calhoun sister, Wynonna. This woman has a huge personality, and there is no way in hell she will accept anything less than her name on the front cover—romance genre be damned. And this is why I am pleased to reveal the final book of the Rope ‘n Ride series:
Chapter One
Wynonna drew huge gulps of the cool air as she pushed through the screen door. The house was stifling hot and crammed wall-to-wall with people. Her dress was sticking to her sweaty back, and if she didn’t get these high heels off soon, she’d scream. But in honor of her father, she’d donned a dress, hose and heels. She’d even tamed her wild red curls into a neat chignon on the back of her head.
It was the least she could do for her father’s funeral.
She launched off the front porch and hit the yard with long strides. Tears had been knotted in her throat and clustered in her eyes for hours, but she hadn’t let a single one fall, not even when they’d thrown handfuls of dirt onto her father’s casket. Standing between her brothers, seeing her momma’s face ravaged with grief… How had she managed not to break?
The dam was creaking, about to let loose. She gasped and took off running with no memory of crossing the grass yard. The big barn loomed up, and she ducked inside. Enveloped by the comforts of hay and horse, she stumbled to a stop.
She shoved her palms off the closest wall and let her cries rise up. The sound scared her, and Wynonna was no sissy. She was an Oklahoma state barrel racing champion, a tough-as-nails ranch girl who’d grown up with five brothers. Yet she was sobbing like a baby.
Her tears poured down her face like hot lava, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away. If she let them come now, she could be strong for her momma when she went back inside.
Thinking of her mother brought images of her, leaning heavily on the oldest of the bunch, Buck. His eyes dark with pain as he held their mother upright. She’d just lost the love of her life, and he’d died too young. Nobody had expected that heart attack to hit out of nowhere.
Wynonna’s sobs grew harsher, the sound making the horses stomp and shift uneasily against their stalls. She pressed her forehead to the rough wood wall and shook with her cries.
“Hey.” Big warm hands closed around her upper arms. She didn’t need to turn to know who was here to comfort her. She’d know Mav’s scent anywhere. The ranch foreman had a manly smell that had been titillating her senses since she was fifteen. Not to mention that dark, brooding look he always wore.
He spun her to face him and brought his muscled arms around her. She sucked in sharply as her cheek met stiff, unfamiliar cotton. His white dress shirt looked so odd on him. At the funeral, she’d met his gaze and he’d given her a nod that had helped her get through the toughest part of the service. When her brothers had gotten up one by one and spoke about their father… Well, she couldn’t think on it too long.
Another sob burst from her, and she attempted to choke it back.
“Shhh.” Mav flattened his palm on her spine and rubbed up and down in soothing strokes. She focused on the solid man before her and the rustling of her mare in the other stall. Pandora had listened to her cry and worn plenty of Wynonna’s tears on her coat over the years when Wynonna was honing her racing skills. But this was a different kind of cry.
Mav tightened his arms around her, and she issued a soft gasp. It felt as if he’d circled her body twice with his long reach, but that wasn’t possible.
Her nose was running, and she was a God-awful mess. She sniffed hard, and suddenly Mav produced a clean hanky from the pocket of his black dress pants. He’d abandoned his suit jacket, which was good. She didn’t know if she could stand him not being any less like the Mav she knew.
“Let it out, honey. I’ve got you.” His deep voice rumbled under her ear. Her tears fell faster.
“I can’t believe he’s…” Her breath did that horrible hitching thing that happened when you cried too hard.
“I know. It’s going to be hard for a while, but you’re surrounded by people who love you so much.”
She buried her face closer to his chest and shook as more sobs overcame her. He said soft, incoherent things that eventually soothed her. Or maybe her well of tears had run dry.
Her chest heaved with a violent hiccup, and Mav loosened his hold on her enough to look down into her face. She couldn’t meet his gaze. When she’d stood in the church to sing the final hymn, she’d caught him looking at her, concern etched on his rugged features. The same expression he wore now.
He slowly raised his hands to her cheeks and gently brushed her tears away with the backs of his knuckles. She kept her gaze riveted on his shirt buttons.
“Here, I have an extra hanky.” He produced another and held it to her nose. “Blow.”
Like a child, she did, which annoyed her, but she felt better for a clear head. She took the hanky from him and sneaked a look up at his face. His green eyes smoldered down at her and she swore he’d sprouted a shadow of a beard since she’d seen him in church.
Mav was manly enough to command his beard to grow, and he’d probably done it just to torment her at the most inopportune time. She looked over his dark hat, tipped back enough to see his eyes and the crease betwe
en his brows, and then down to his crisp white collar. Against his tanned neck, it looked sexy as hell. She’d spent her youth comparing her boyfriends to Mav, and none of them compared. She’d even upgraded to older boys and had been secretly dating local college guys since the age of sixteen. Now at nineteen, she was more than eager to have a real man.
Mav stared down at her. Were his lips as hard as they looked?
“I can’t stand to see you hurting, honey.” His low tone seemed to vibrate to the tips of her toes mashed into her black heels.
A shiver ran through her.
“Oh hon.” He wrapped his arms around her and yanked her against his chest again. She put her arms around his waist and squeezed him back. He swayed a bit with her, back and forth, his boots scuffing on the barn floor.
“I should go back in.”
“You should.” He didn’t let her go. “I saw you slip out, but if you want time alone, I understand.”
“I just needed out of there. The barn’s better.”
He nodded as if he understood, which he probably did. He’d once told her they were alike, both a little wild around the edges and civilized only when necessary. She liked living up to that, but not today.
“You know, I’ve watched you grow up. Your dad always had a soft spot for you.”
Tears flooded again, and one leaked from the corner of her eye. She snorted and brushed it away.
“It’s true.”
“We fought. The last words I spoke to him were in anger.”
“That doesn’t matter, honey bunch. He knew how much you loved him.”
She tilted her face up to look at him. Their gazes clashed, and a dark spark made Wynonna’s heart jerk against her ribs. Her lips fell open and a soft sound escaped, unlike anything she’d made before. The noise rang with desperation… and desire.
Mav lowered his head. Brushed his lips over her temple. Her breath caught, and her mind blanked to everything but the man holding her. The man who took care of their animals, their land, who had been a trusted friend to her father, treated her momma with respect and joked with her brothers.