are escaping me.” He inhaled. And exhaled.
She waited for him to get himself settled.
“I love you. I never stopped loving you. I hoped you understood when I left the way I did, that I’d no more saddle you to the life of bein’ on the run with an outlaw, than you would subject me to the ugliness of people’s opinions of a lawman takin’ up with a whore.”
Those stunning eyes remained steady on his as she nodded.
“That is behind us. And sweet darlin’, I don’t give two hoots whether you call yourself Ruby or Addie because I am gonna finally get to call you what I’ve always wanted.”
“What’s that?”
“My wife.” That’s when he kissed her.
And dear god, it was like coming home.
He murmured sweet words and promises as he kept kissing her. Wiping away her tears. Letting his own fall freely and without shame.
Then he carried her to bed and reveled in the heat and passion of their connection. Of coming home to this too.
Afterward, when they were naked and entwined in the sheets and each other, they talked.
Mack told her of the months he’d spent capturing outlaws across the southwestern states after he’d left Wyoming. Then in the spring of that year, he joined up with other horsemen and cowboys to train as part of Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt’s Rough Riders cavalry, with the goal to stop Spanish aggression in Cuba. Although they’d spent more time training than fighting, the war in Cuba had changed him.
He lit out for Montana upon fulfilling his military duty, opting not to become a rancher, but to work with the settlers and timber companies as a land enforcement agent. For the past year and a half, that’d been a good fit for him. But it probably wasn’t permanent either.
“I have to know how you ended up with the name Mack Jonas,” she asked.
“Outlaw rule number one: stick close to the truth. Someone asked my name and I replied Jonas, without thinkin’. The guy gave me an out when he asked first or last name. I said last and used a variation of McKay for my first name.”
She snickered. “At least if I screw up and call you Jonas, it won’t seem random.”
“Same goes if I slip up and call you Ruby girl.” Mack kissed the top of her head. “How did you become Adeline Ruby?”
Addie tilted her face up and smirked at him. “Actually, Adeline Ruby is my full given birth name. Madam Marie changed it to Ruby Redmond. None of the girls used their real names, which worked in my favor. After I obtained the inheritance from Madam Marie and sold my stake in the boardinghouse in Labelle to Dickie and Mrs. Mavis, it was easiest to call myself Mrs. Ruby. Besides, after you left, I did feel as if I’d been widowed.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. Anyway, whether I was traveling or in the shops, people believed my claim that my late husband had left me a sizeable inheritance.”
“You only had to deal with them small-minded suspicions because you’re a well-off woman who is both young and beautiful,” Mack pointed out.
“Not to mention becoming even more suspect when she has…” Her mouth snapped shut and she nestled back into him.
“When she has what, darlin’?”
“Strong opinions, among other things.”
He laughed. “That you do.”
Addie’s stomach rumbled. “Good lord. We forgot to eat.”
“I distinctly remember eatin’ something.” He rolled her to her back and began kissing his way down her body. “Maybe I need me another taste.”
“Mack.”
He raised his head from where he’d been licking her bellybutton. “I love hearin’ you speak my name like that, Adeline.”
“Same.” She petted his beard. “I know I said I didn’t like facial hair…but this suits you. It makes you look like a distinguished gentleman.”
Growing a beard was his one concession to changing his appearance after leaving Wyoming. With only half his face visible, chances were less likely that he’d be mistaken for his twin. Keeping his gaze on hers, he teased his bearded chin across the sensitive skin between her hipbones. “Does that tickle?”
“Yes. So stop it.”
“Not a chance. This distinguished gentleman is about to remind you how dirty and depraved he really is.”
She groaned. “I can’t keep quiet when you do that to me. That’ll get the entire hotel staff up here to investigate the noises.”
“Good. We can ask them to bring us some food, so we won’t have to leave this bed for the rest of the night.”
Much later, Mack was nearly asleep when Addie said, “Can you