Catching the Cowboy (Circle B Ranch #2) - Kennedy Fox Page 0,85

in love with her and have been for years. She’s the only woman I’ve ever felt that way for. I love her,” Diesel admits.

All I can do is gasp, then cover my mouth. They turn and look at me before I can disappear. My timing is terrible today. My words and thoughts, everything has completely escaped me.

“Rowan?” Diesel says, walking toward me and searching my face. He feels the same way I feel about him, and I’m so fucking happy that I could cry again.

He stalks toward me, climbing the stairs two at a time until he’s a step below me. “Hey.” He grabs my hand. “I’m so sorry you saw that. It’s not what—”

“Did you mean it?” I whisper, interrupting.

That boyish grin that I love so much sweeps across his perfect lips. “I’ve been in love with you for quite some time now, baby.”

I wrap my arms around his neck, and our lips crash together. At this moment, I want to devour him as we lose ourselves in each other’s touch, taste, and kiss. The only thing that stops us from a full-blown make-out session is a deep clearing of a throat. I pull away to see my uncle John standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, but he’s smiling.

“Do you mind? Some of us are about to lose our stomachs here,” he says from across the room, and I see everyone staring at us.

I laugh as happy tears spill from my eyes. Diesel wipes them away with his thumbs and holds my cheeks with his warm hands. “I love you so much, Rowan Bishop.”

“I love you too,” I confess, and I feel those words in every fiber of my being. Finally, our relationship is out in the open. It’s not how I expected any of this to happen, but it feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. No more hiding and no more sneaking. Now we can just be together and openly love each other. It doesn’t mean I won’t get shit from my family—nothing would allow me to escape that—but it’s okay. I just hope Grandma doesn’t start talking about me giving her a handful of great-grandkids anytime soon. I don’t want to rush this and want to savor every second with him.

Diesel laughs, grabs my hand, then leads me down the stairs. Riley scowls, and I lift my eyebrows at him, daring him to say a word. The boys in school weren’t scared of me for no reason. I pack a punch hard enough to knock a man down.

Chelsea walks up to me with Dawson in her arms, and I can see the embarrassment written all over her face. Diesel takes Dawson from her arms for just a moment so the two of us can have some alone time.

“Rowan…I owe you an apology,” she says.

I give her a smile. “Really, don’t worry about it. You didn’t know.”

“I know, but I just don’t want you to think I was trying to steal him. I would’ve never crossed that line if I’d known. Neither of us talked about our relationship status, but I also didn’t ask. If I could take it all back, I would.”

I try to imagine being a single mom for the past two and a half years without a partner. She went through the delivery and raised a newborn all on her own. This woman is strong as hell, and I have so much respect for her, and even more now because she can admit her mistakes. “Listen. I’m not upset with you, Chelsea. Not at all. I should’ve asked Diesel what was going on. I shouldn’t have just assumed.”

“I know what it looked like and what you saw, and that’s not your fault,” she insists.

I search her face and notice how sincere her words are. “Diesel really loves his son, and I really love him, so that means we’re gonna be in each other’s lives for a long time. Maybe it started off on the wrong foot, but that’s okay. We understand each other more and the whole situation. It seems just like a big misunderstanding.” I laugh. “And I have really bad timing.”

She grins. “I’d like that…being friends, at least. I know this probably hasn’t been easy for you. Diesel told me your relationship was new, and no one really knew about it, and then I roll up here with a kid. Trust me when I say it wasn’t my idea, but it’s for the best for