Chapter 83
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
LOLA
“I’m so happy for you, Lola,” Violet gushes as she passes me another glass of champagne.
“Thank you. Hey, looks like it’s going well with Jett,” I say, nudging my head in his direction.
“I think he’s fun. But perhaps too fun for anything serious?”
I place my hand on her shoulder. “Everyone is having fun until they find their person. He likes you, I can see it in his eyes.”
She smiles and then knocks back the entire glass of champagne.
“For courage?” I tease.
“For something. I’m going to see if that fine cowboy can show me some real fun.”
I bite on my lip, watching as she strides towards Jett. I see it, the way he shifts, all of his attention is on her. Hunter’s arms wrap around my waist from behind, and he rests his chin on my shoulder.
“Was this everything you hoped and dreamed?” he asks.
“Yes, sir.”
He nips at my neck. “Careful.”
I rest against his chest, admiring the party happening around us.
The lights glow above the dance floor, casting everything in warm amber. The stars shimmer in the sky. Candles flicker on every table. The wildflowers are starting to close for the night.
And everyone I love is here.
My mom is dancing with Dad, which is a sight I haven’t seen in years. She’s smiling. He’s smiling. Whatever barriers existed between us are thinning, slowly, and tonight they’re thin enough to let the light through.
Violet is at the bar with Jett. She’s laughing at something he said, and he’s watching her like she’s the only person at the party. I called it. I absolutely called it.
That spark Violet wanted, I think it is right beside her.
Ace is ten drinks deep and teaching one of the Quinn brothers—I think the beast of a man is named Conan—how to line dance. It’s going badly, and they’re both loving it.
Colten is in a corner with Romeo, because even at a wedding, those two can’t stop working. But Colten’s tie is loose, and his sleeves are rolled, and that’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him.
I rest my head on Hunter's arm and let out a sigh. This is bliss.
Wyatt has had the best day; every second, he has had a smile on his face. We put him to bed and kissed him goodnight, while Jerry watched over him for us.
And I can’t lie. It makes me want to fill this ranch with kids. Brothers and sisters he can run around with.
Now we’re back at the party. Hunter’s jacket is off. His sleeves are rolled to the elbows. His tie is gone. He reached his limit with that suit in the heat.
He’s beautiful.
I slide my hand into his.
He looks down at me. The ring catches the light, his mother’s diamond, back on my finger where it belongs.
“Dance with me?” he asks.
“Always.”
He leads me onto the floor. Pulls me against him. One hand on my waist, the other holding mine against his chest. We sway. The band plays something I don’t recognize, but it doesn’t matter because the only song I can hear is his heartbeat under my palm.
“You know what I keep thinking about?” I murmur against his shoulder.
“What?”
“The first time you caught me. At Wyatt’s party. I tripped on a rock, and you grabbed my waist like it was nothing.”
He chuckles. “I remember.”
“Although the first time I met you was the moment that sticks in my mind.”
I blush just thinking about it.
“Not the truck. Although that was fucking hot. No, the moment you walked in that bar. You stole my breath away. I couldn’t stop myself from walking over. From that moment, I knew that was it.”
His arm tightens around me.
“I wanted you the moment I saw you, too,” I whisper.
“And now look, I’ve made a city girl a cowgirl.” He glances down at my cowboy boots beneath the wedding dress.
I press my face into his chest and breathe him in. Cedar and whiskey and something warm underneath that’s just him.
The band shifts into something slower. The crowd thins as people drift to tables, to the make- shift bar, to the edge of the dance floor where the candlelight bleeds into darkness.
I look up at my husband. “Hunter?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can we sneak off?”
His eyes darken. That shift I know so well, the gentleman dissolving, the other Hunter rising to the surface.
“What did you have in mind, Mrs. Sterling?”
I take his hand and lead him off the dance floor. Past the tables. Past the flowers. Into the dark beyond the lights, where the ranch opens up, and the sky stretches to infinity.
I look back at the party, and then I look at the man beside me.
My cowboy. My husband.
“I want you to give me something,” I whisper.
He steps forward, lacing his hand around my throat as I look up at him.
“Tell me what it is, firefly?”
“I want you to put a baby in me while I’m in this wedding dress, Hunter.”
He lets out a ragged breath, his fingers tightening around my neck. “Whatever my wife wants, my wife gets. But, I’ve been trying to do that this whole time, baby.”
He grins, leaning in, brushing his lips against my jaw. “Well, can we start trying properly? I’ll stop taking my pill.”
“You mean, multiple times a day, making sure you come every single time?”
I nod. “Yes, please.”
He kisses along my throat, and I tip my head back to give him better access.
“Can you be quiet, firefly?”