Gridlocked (Bounty County Series Book 3)

by Maren Lee

  “What ring?”

  “The ring I bought you so that I could ask you to be my wife.”

  Molly gasped. “Oh my goodness. Are you serious?”

  “Totally serious. But I don’t know where the ring went. So now I can’t ask you.” A tear dripped down his cheek. Molly reached up and wiped it away.

  She twisted her mouth and picked up his jacket. She searched in all the same pockets that Wesson had just searched in.

  “Hold up. Wess. There’s a hole in your pocket.”

  “Great. It probably fell out and was eaten by the bear back there.”

  “Beaver,” Molly countered with a smirk.

  “I know beavers, Molly. That was no fuckin’ beaver.”

  She giggled. “Found it.”

  “What?!” Wesson couldn’t believe it.

  “It’s in the inner lining back here in your jacket,” she explained as she fished it out and pulled it up to Wesson’s face. “Ta-da!” The sunlight sparkled off of the diamond.

  “I really shouldn’t have taken it out of the box. It’s kinda ruined all of my plans.” Fuck it. Roll with it.

  Molly smiled. Wesson took the ring from her.

  “Molly Mae Mooney, I fuck shit up all the time. I can’t even propose right. I will frustrate you. I will make you shake your head a lot. But I swear to god I will love you so hard. I will give you everything you need in order to make your life easier. I will do everything in my power to make sure our life together is sweet. Will you be my wife?”

  “Oh, Wesson. I love you even when you mess stuff up. Yes!” She threw her arms around his neck and started crying. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  Thank fuck. Wesson squeezed her to him tightly, burying his nose in her hair. He couldn’t wait to tie this woman to him forever.

  They broke their embrace and Wesson placed the ring on her finger. Thank god it fits. Lane had helped him pick it out in Billings, but he was still anxious to know what she thought of it. Two carats, princess cut, plain, white gold band.

  “It’s beautiful.” She gazed at the ring in amazement. “Thank you, Wesson.”

  “You wanna keep walking around, or do you want to find out if there’s a hotel around here with vacancy?”

  Molly grinned. “Hotel.”

  That’s my girl.

  Epilogue

  One Month Later…

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming to celebrate the fact that this beautiful, smart, amazing, funny, sexy woman agreed to be my wife!” Wesson raised a beer in a toast and Molly blushed and then kissed his cheek in front of the crowd that had gathered in the couple’s backyard for their engagement party.

  Ryan wasn’t Wesson’s partner anymore, but they were still great friends. He'd become pretty good friends with Molly, too, so Ryan was happy for them both. He would never get married again, himself, but he wasn’t entirely against the institution of marriage. He'd known couples that had made it work. Chloe and Justin seemed to be doing fine just a few months into their second pregnancy. Jake and Lane seemed like they were happy. Brenden and Sierra were the strongest couple he’d ever met. So it definitely worked for people. Hell, it worked for him for ten years. Well, maybe five before things went sour. He’d stayed because of the kids. God, he missed his kids. But marriage just didn't work for him. He took another swig of his beer and gave a head nod to Jake across the yard.

  Ryan had grown close with the entire department in the past nine or ten months that he’d been with the county, so he felt guilty that he was still looking for jobs in Helena. Wesson was still the only other person who knew it was a possibility. A remote possibility, unfortunately, because there were approximately zero opportunities. Ryan felt a pang in his chest just thinking about how much of his kids’ lives he’d already missed. Not much longer now and they’ll be out of the house and gone and you’ll have missed your chance, man. Ryan shook away the melancholy and walked over to Jake.

  “What’s up, brother?” he asked.

  “Not a whole helluva lot. Just dealin’ with this monster.” Jake pointed at Bennett, who had a handful of Lane’s red hair. She was delicately trying to extract it from his iron baby grip, but the look on her face said she was unsuccessful in doing so.

  “Don’t miss those days, man,” Ryan chimed in. He missed a lot. But he didn’t miss the years when his kids couldn’t communicate with him. “Exhausting. Good luck to you both. You gonna jump on the Justin and Chloe train and try for another.”

  Jake laughed. “Man, we’ve got our hands full with one. I always wanted to have a big family, but I don’t know how we could have another right now.”

  “Yeah, no,” Lane added. “If we’re having another, you’re quitting your job and becoming a stay-at-home dad, Jake.”

  Jake shook his head. “Yeah, okay, honey. That’s never going to happen.”

  Lane raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” he responded.

  Interesting dynamic here this afternoon, Ryan thought.

  “Enough with our drama. What’s going on with you, Ry?” Lane asked.

  “Oh not much. Just workin’. Traveling back and forth to Helena to see my kids. Not much time for anything else.”

  “Do you have a special lady in your life?” Lane asked, curiously.

  Fuck. Wrong conversation to have in front of Jake.

  Ryan choked on his beer. “Uh. Nope. I don’t. Thought I had something a few months back, but it - well. It, uh - it didn’t work out. Let’s just say that.” He was definitely talking about Katie. To Katie’s brother. Fuck, Jake would kill him if he knew. Good thing that didn’t work out. Yeah. Good thing. Right?

  “Don’t let Sierra get her hooks into you,” Jake warned. “That woman is relentless and won’t stop until you’re married and having more kids.”

  Ryan cringed. “Man, I’ve got two kids already. Almost grown and ready for college. I’m not going through that baby phase again. I did my time.”

  Jake laughed. “Yeah, well, make sure you wrap it up or you might accidentally be back on that road.”

  “Well, unfortunately, there are zero ladies in my life at the present moment. So that is not one of my concerns.” Ryan hadn’t been the same man since Katie made him leave. He’d tried. He just couldn’t get her out of his head. He’d thought after his divorce that he was ruined forever, but he was wrong. Having Katie and then losing her...now he was definitely ruined forever. Not a single woman interested him since she’d been gone. He still watched the videos they'd taken on his phone. He wondered if Katie had kept hers. He watched them mostly just when he needed to get off. Sometimes just because he missed her voice. The way she said his name while he was moving inside of her. The way her hair felt when it was wrapped around his hands and he was nailing her from the back. His mind wandered to the last time they'd been together. He made love to her and it was everything. Fucking everything. Ryan exhaled a deep breath he’d been holding and then took another swig of his beer.

  Fuck. Stop thinking of this around Jake.

  “You should seriously talk to Sierra, Ryan. She’ll find someone for you,” Lane offered, sensing his loneliness.

  “And subject you all to another engagement party? No, thank you. I’m good,” he responded.

  Jake laughed. “Shit. With the amount of weddings I’m going to be in, I might as well just buy my own tuxedo.”

  Lane laughed. “I cannot imagine you owning a tuxedo. Your closet would crack me up. T-shirt, t-shirt, t-shirt, t-shirt, tuxedo.”

  “I have some dress shirts.”

  Lane scoffed. “Not enough.”

  “Woman, that’s one.”

  Lane grinned. “Oh, tonight just got exciting.”

  Ryan didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about, but he felt like he shouldn’t be in this conversation. Change the subject.

  “Why are you in so many weddings? Who else is getting married?”

  Jake dro
pped his focus on Lane and turned to Ryan. “My little sister, Katie.”

  No.

  Oh no.

  The fuck?

  Ryan cleared his throat. “Um. Oh. Who. Uh. Who is she marrying?” Jesus, stop stuttering man.

  “Some asshole doctor she works with in Billings.”

  A doctor. Fuck.

  “You, uh. You don’t like him?”

  Lane jumped in. “Jake wouldn’t like anyone his little sister chose to marry. But this guy is a fucking asshole. I’ve tried talking her out of it, but it’s not working.”

  Shit.

  “Seriously, the guy is a grade A douche. He does not treat her like she deserves to be treated.” Jake shook his head. He looked pissed.

  No. Not my Katie.

  My Katie?

  Ryan was suddenly certain of his next move. It was time to stop a wedding.

  The End

  and...

  to be continued in

  U-Turn

  Book 4 in the Bounty County Series

  Author’s Note (mostly I’m begging): If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review -- indie authors basically live to write another day for reviews. I appreciate Goodreads and Amazon reviews, but I would plant a wet kiss on your face if you posted your review in both places! Just a few words is all you need! Example: “I liked this book. It was funny and romantic and there were a few scenes that seriously lit my kindle on fire. I’m coming for you next, Ryan.” I mean...right?

  ...Unless, of course, you didn’t like it and you didn’t think those Ryan and Katie scenes were remotely hot. In which case, I still appreciate your feedback and wonder why you stuck around this long...but thank you for reading!

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, thank you to my husband for understanding that this is my legit hobby and for only shaking your head once per day. I know you could do more.

  To my friends, family, and framily, thank you for your valuable assistance in making this story readable. Also, thank you for being you and saying things that are actually Wessonisms in real life, so that I could write them into this book. I mean, just kidding. I am not making fun of you at all.

  THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES to Laura, The Red Pen Princess, for editing this book for me. My shitty commas, Wessonisms, and Montan-ese dialogue, made this book a difficult task.

  To the IG community, thank you for embracing me, encouraging me, and helping me with your kind words and amazing teasers. Thank you for wanting Wesson, even though he’s kind of a weirdo.

  To friends who read unedited portions of this book to let me know if I was on the right/wrong track, I super appreciate you.

  To my social media friends who are graphics design gurus and make me beautiful teasers, I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you! You’re talented and I adore you!

  Special thanks to Indies Ink, an amazing community of indie authors, designers, bloggers, and networkers who have been both helpful and encouraging and just all around wonderful to chat with (and laugh with) on a regular basis. I love you all!

  To the two other members of The Unholy Trinity, I love your freakin’ faces and your encouragement and your GIFs.

  To my fellow indie author friends: you are amazing. I love your books. Please keep writing them so that I can keep reading them and reposting your teasers and cover reveals. I think you’re fabulous. I’m so happy to have found you.

  To my favorite best mermaid friend, Mell, thank you for reading this book randomly, completely out of order, and telling me that you like it. Also, thank you for your beautiful teasers and for being all around hilarious and embracing (and encouraging) my (potentially unhealthy) Nancy Drew tendencies.

  And, finally, special thanks to my many friends in law enforcement and emergency services for protecting our communities and providing inspiration for the events and stories in the Bounty County Series.

  About the Author

  Maren Lee is a former bartender, current mountain woman, and contemporary erotic romance author. Her first novel, Ride-along, was written on a dare and she loved doing it so much, she decided to write a whole series based on the Bounty County Sheriff's Department hotties.

  Maren lives in the tiny mountain town of Atlanta, Idaho with her husband, three dog children, and her one weird-ass cat. She loves all things outdoors, reading romance novels, and drinking wine (not necessarily in that order).

  You can reach Maren in many places:

  Email -- marenleenovels@gmail.com

  Instagram -- @marenleeromance

  Twitter -- @marenleeromance

  Facebook Profile -- www.facebook.com/marenleenovels

  Facebook Page -- www.facebook.com/marenleeromance

  Facebook Badge Bunnies Group -- www.facebook.com/groups/1826597650922072