by Lori Wilde
Her voice grew soft. He could clearly see tears in her eyes. Crying? He didn’t think Leigh ever cried. But she was now. He watched a tear trail down one cheek. “And Jared is truly, truly the best man I’ve ever known. The best man I’ll ever know. I’m so lucky to have him in my life.”
Amazed at what she was saying, especially in front of this crowd, Jared slowly started walking toward the stage. His gaze locked with Leigh’s, and she smiled.
“You know, sometimes you don’t realize what someone means to you until someone else says something bad about them. I have to thank Janet for her nasty comments. They’ve made me face what I’ve felt for a long time but didn’t want to admit—I love you, Jared.”
A gasp went through the crowd, and Jared felt his heart thump wildly. She’d said she loved him. And in front of a lot of people.
“I love you, too,” he told her. “And thanks for standing up for me.”
She grinned and came over to the edge of the stage. Kneeling, she leaned over and kissed him. Jared couldn’t believe how wonderful, terrific, amazing this woman was.
And he was lucky enough to have her love him. Life didn’t get any better than this.
When the kiss ended, Leigh leaned back and whispered, “Marry me?”
Since she still had the microphone in her hands, that whisper echoed around the gym. Jared laughed. “I will if you will.”
By now, the crowd was clapping and cheering them on. When Leigh yelled, “Yes” the entire room broke into applause.
After Leigh set the microphone down, Jared reached out and lifted her into his arms.
“I really do love you,” she said, caressing the side of his face. “I can’t believe how stupid I was not to realize it sooner.”
“That’s okay. I’m just glad you finally realized.” Then he kissed her.
Yeah, life didn’t get any better than this.
Sometimes life is too good to believe, Leigh Barrett-Kendrick decided as she slipped into the arms of her new husband for their first dance as a married couple.
“Did I tell you yet today that I love you?” Jared tugged her even closer. “That I adore you? That I’m absolutely crazy about you?”
Leigh pretended to think. “Um, well there was that one time in front of the minister. No, wait. Then all you said was ‘I do.’ I don’t remember anything about you loving, adoring, or being crazy about me.”
He chuckled and feathered kisses down the side of her neck. Slowly the band started to play something completely unrecognizable but romantic all the same. Jared glided her around the dance floor inside the reception hall.
“Then let me rectify that right now. I, Jared Kendrick, do love, adore, and am certifiably crazy about you, Leigh Barrett-Kendrick. I promise to treat you like a goddess—”
Leigh laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Which, of course, I am.”
“To me you are,” Jared said.
Oh, well, there was no way a woman could let a man say something that romantic without rewarding him, so Leigh kissed him long and deep. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have this man love her so. Her life was perfect. Absolutely perfect. She had a wonderful man who loved her, and whose rodeo school was finally taking off. She also had a new job teaching math at the high school, and a family who was too precious for words.
Yes, her life was perfect.
And the wedding today had been perfect, too. That, of course, was thanks to the excellent planning she and Jared had done for the past ten months. They’d made all the decisions themselves, and even though she’d never thought it was possible, they’d had no problem reaching compromises whenever they’d had different opinions.
Now, looking back on the wedding, she had to admit that every detail had been flawless. Not a single thing had gone wrong.
Well, not many things anyway. Sure, her brother Trent’s dog, Brutus, had taken a big chomp out of the wedding cake. And Chase and Megan’s new son, Kyle, had spit up all over Megan’s matron-of-honor dress. And Emma, who was about to give birth any day now to a little boy, had started feeling oddly, so no one knew for certain if she’d make it through the reception or not. Then the smell of that spit-up had made Erin, who’d only recently announced she was pregnant and no doubt also was going to have a boy, to have to race off to the ladies’ room seconds before the wedding was to start.
But still, the wedding had been perfect for Leigh because she’d been with her crazy, wild, meddlesome family while she’d married the man she positively adored.
If that wasn’t perfect, she didn’t know what was.
When they finally ended the kiss, Leigh grinned at her new husband and flicked open the top two buttons on his vest. “Got any plans for later this evening?” she teased.
She felt his hands on the back of her dress, and she knew for a fact he’d slid down the zipper. She’d deliberately bought this dress because it had a zipper on the back.
“I don’t know. Let’s see, I may take out the trash. Watch a little TV. Why, you have anything special in mind?”
Leigh giggled. “Um, let me think. How about making insane, unpredictable love to your new wife?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” He kissed her again.
While they were kissing, Leigh flicked open another button on his vest. She wasn’t going to be the only one standing on this dance floor half-dressed when this song ended.
And speaking of this song, it was so familiar, yet she couldn’t place it. Drat. It was driving her crazy.
She tried mentally humming the tune softly, but still had no idea.
Where’d she know it from? Unable to think of the title after a couple of seconds, she broke off the kiss and looked at Jared. “What is this song they’re playing? I know I know it, but I can’t think of what it is.”
He grinned. “It’s our song, darlin’. Don’t tell me you don’t remember it.”
Their song? They didn’t have a song. Did they? Had she forgotten something? “What are you—” Suddenly it hit her, and her mouth dropped open. She stared at Jared, then started to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jared twirled her once again to the music, which was kinda difficult considering the band was playing a slow, mushy rendition of the “Hokey Pokey.”
“What else would I have them play?”
“What am I going to do with you?” she teased.
“Love me forever?” he suggested.
Leigh smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
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Excerpt: Handsome Rancher
Don’t miss the first book in the Handsome Devils series. Order now.
As she studied him, standing near the entrance to the city council room, Megan Kendall couldn’t help thinking what a handsome devil Chase Barrett was.
Everyone in the small town of Honey, Texas, thought so as well. With his drop-dead gorgeous looks and his handsome-devil smile, women fell for him like pine trees knocked down by a powerful tornado.
Even Megan couldn’t claim to be immune. She and Chase had been good friends for over twenty years, and he still didn’t know she was madly in love with him.
Yep, he was a handsome devil all right.
“Picture him naked,” Leigh Barrett whispered to Megan.
Stunned, Megan turned to stare at Chase’s younger sister. “Excuse me?”
Thankfully, Leigh nodded toward the front of the room instead of in her brother’s direction. “The mayor. When you’re giving your p
resentation, if you get nervous, picture him naked.”
Megan slipped her glasses down her nose and studied Earl Guthrie, the seventy-three-year-old mayor of Honey. When Earl caught her gaze, he gave Megan a benign, vague smile.
“I don’t think so,” Megan said to Leigh. “I prefer to think of Earl as fully clothed.”
Leigh giggled. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a hot idea after all. Let me see if I can find someone else for you to think of naked.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m not nervous.” Megan flipped through her index cards.
Her argument was flawless, her plan foolproof. She had nothing to be nervous about. Besides, as the head librarian of the Honey Library, she knew every person in the room. This presentation would be a snap.
But with puppy-like enthusiasm, Leigh had already stood and was looking around. She hadn’t spotted her oldest brother yet, but Megan knew it was only a matter of time before she did.
“Leigh, I’m fine,” Megan tried, but Leigh finally saw Chase and yelled at him to come over and join them.
Chase made his way through the crowded room. The city council meetings usually drew a big audience, but Megan was happy to see even more people than usual had turned out to listen to her presentation of fundraiser ideas for new playground equipment.
When Chase got even with Megan and Leigh, he leaned across Megan to ruffle his sister’s dark hair. Then he dropped into the folding chair next to Megan and winked at her. “Ladies, how are you tonight?”
Megan tried to keep her expression pleasant, but it wasn’t easy. Ever since she’d moved back to Honey last year, pretending her feelings for Chase were platonic was proving harder and harder. At six-two, with deep black hair and even deeper blue eyes, he made her heart race and her palms sweat.
“Don’t ruffle my hair, bozo.” Leigh huffed at Megan’s right, smoothing her hair. “I’m in college. I’m too old to have my hair ruffled.”
To Megan’s left, Chase chuckled. “Squirt, you’re never going to be too old for me to ruffle your hair. When you’re eighty, I’m going to totter up to you and do it.”
“You and what orderly?” Leigh teased. “And just for the record, I like Nathan and Trent much better than I like you.”
“Oh, please.” Megan rolled her eyes at that one. Leigh loved all of her brothers, but everyone knew Chase was her favorite. When she was home from college, she always stayed with Chase.
“I love you, too, squirt,” Chase said, not rising to his sister’s taunt. Instead, he nudged Megan. “You okay?”
“I told her to imagine the mayor naked if she got nervous, but she doesn’t want to do that,” Leigh supplied.
“I can see why not,” Chase said. “Earl’s not exactly stud-muffin material.”
“Oooh, I know what she should do.” Leigh practically bounced in her chair. “Megan, if you get nervous, picture Chase naked.”
Megan froze and willed herself to stay calm. The absolute last thing she wanted to think about was Chase naked. Okay, maybe she did want to think of him naked, but not right now. Not right before she had to speak in front of a large portion of the entire town.
“I don’t think so,” Megan muttered, shooting a glare at Leigh.
The younger woman knew how Megan felt about her brother, and this was simply one more not-so-subtle attempt to get the two of them together. In the past few months, Leigh’s matchmaking maneuvers had grown more extreme.
“I don’t think I’ll need to picture anyone naked,” Megan stated.
On her other side, Chase offered, “Well, if you get flustered and it will make things easier for you, you go ahead and think of me naked, Megan. Whatever I can do to help.”
Megan knew Chase was teasing her, but suddenly she realized how many years she’d wasted waiting for him to take her seriously.
She’d fallen for him when she’d moved to town at eight. Dreamed about him since she’d turned sixteen. And tried like the dickens to forget him when she’d been away at college and then later working at a library in Dallas for five years.
But nothing had helped. Not even seriously dating a man in Dallas had helped. In her soul, Megan believed she and Chase were meant to be together.
If only she could get him to notice her.
“Hey there, Chase,” a smooth, feline voice fairly purred over their shoulders. “You’re looking yummy. Like an especially luscious dessert, and I positively love dessert.”
Oh, great. Megan glanced behind her. Janet Defries. Just what she needed tonight.
Chase smiled at the woman half leaning on his chair. “Hey, Janet. Do you plan on helping Megan with her committee?”
From the look on Janet’s face, the only thing she planned on helping herself to was Chase, served on a platter.
She leaned toward Chase, the position no doubt deliberate since a generous amount of cleavage was exposed. “Are you going to help with this committee, Chase? Because if you are, I might be able to pry free a few hours.”
Yeah, right. Megan shared a glance with Leigh. They both knew Janet would no more help with the committee than dogs would sing.
“I’d like to help, but it’s a busy time on the ranch,” Chase said.
“Shame.” Janet slipped into the chair directly behind him. “I think you and I should figure out a way to spend some quality time together.”
Her message couldn’t have been clearer if she’d plastered it on a billboard. Megan hated herself for wanting to know, but she couldn’t not look. She turned to see what Chase’s reaction was to the woman’s blatant come-on.
Mild interest. Megan repressed a sigh. Of course. Janet was exactly the type of woman Chase favored. One with a high-octane body and zero interest in a lasting relationship.
“Maybe we’ll figure it out one of these days,” Chase said, and Megan felt her temperature climb.
Okay, so she didn’t have a drawer at home full of D-cups, but Megan knew she could make Chase happy. She could make him believe in love again.
If the dimwit would give her the chance.
Janet placed one hand on Chase’s arm and licked her lips. “Well, you hurry up, else I might decide to go after Nathan or Trent instead. You’re not the only handsome fella in your family.”
Chase chuckled as he faced forward in his chair once again. “I sure am being threatened with my brothers tonight. But I’d like to point out that neither of them stopped by to lend their support, and I’m sitting here like an angel.”
Leigh snorted. “Angel? You? Give me a break. You could make the devil himself blush, Chase Barrett.”
Chase’s grin was pure male satisfaction. “I do my best.”
As Megan knew only too well. She’d watched him beguile a large percentage of the females in this part of Texas. Why couldn’t he throw a little of that wickedness her way? Just once, she’d like to show him how combustible they could be together.
But even though she’d been back in Honey for almost a year, the man still treated her like a teenager. She’d just celebrated her twenty-ninth birthday. She wasn’t a sheltered virgin with fairy-tale dreams of romance. She was a flesh and blood woman who knew what she wanted out of life.
She wanted Chase.
After a great deal of commotion getting the microphone to the right level, the mayor finally started the meeting. Within a few minutes, it was time for her presentation. Megan stood, adjusting her glasses.
“Remember, picture Chase naked if you get nervous,” Leigh whispered but not very softly.
Megan was in the process of scooting past Chase, who had stood to let her by. She froze, standing directly in front of the man who consumed her dreams and starred in her fantasies.
He grinned.
“You know, I think I just may do that,” Megan said. “And if he gets nervous, he can picture me naked, too.”
Had to be the heat, Chase decided as he settled back in the wobbly folding chair. Or maybe the water. Either way, something was weird because Megan Kendall had just flirted wit
h him.
Leigh moved over to sit in the chair next to Chase. “You talk to Nathan or Trent today?”
Chase glanced at Megan, who was straightening her notes, so he had a couple of seconds to answer his sister. “Nathan and all of his employees are working overtime trying to get that computer program done. Trent has a new officer who joined the force today, so he’s busy, too. You’re stuck with me.”
Rather than looking upset, Leigh’s expression was downright blissful. “Megan and I are thrilled you’re here.”
Through narrowed eyes, Chase studied his sister. She was up to something as sure as the sun rose in the east, and he’d bet his prize bull it had something to do with him breaking up her necking session with Billy Joe Tate last night.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it,” Chase told her. “It won’t work.”
Leigh fluttered her eyelashes at him, feigning innocence. “Who, me? I’m not up to anything. How could I be with you and Nathan and Trent on me every second of every day? I’m almost twenty-two, Chase.”
“Spare me the melodrama. Just because I don’t want my baby sister having wild sex in a classic Trans Am in front of my house doesn’t make me a meddler.”
Leigh snorted loud enough to make some of the ladies in the row in front of them turn to see what was happening. But Leigh, as usual, ignored everyone around her and barreled on.
“If it were up to my brothers, I’d still be a virgin,” she actually hissed at him. “Thank goodness I decided to go away for college. No one in Austin has ever heard of the Barrett brothers.”
Chase opened his mouth to say something but ended up gaping at his sister like a dead fish. He was still formulating what to say to Leigh’s pronouncement when Megan started her presentation.
Good manners, drilled into him over the years, forced him to remain silent and listen to the speaker. But what in the blue bejesus was up with the women tonight? And why was he the lucky man who got to be trapped in the middle of it?