Taming a Texas Rascal (Bad Boy Ranch #6) - Katie Lane Page 0,70

had sent Maisy a pair of white boots with inlaid red hearts. He’d thought Maisy would think they were too girlie, but he was learning that beneath his bride-to-be’s tough exterior was a woman who liked lace and frills. And that was more than okay with him. There was nothing sexier than Maisy’s black lacy underwear.

“You remember what you’re supposed to do?” Emma cut into his thoughts.

“Get married to the woman I love,” he answered.

Emma’s shoulders relaxed and she smiled softly. “Yes. That’s exactly what you’re going to do.” She straightened his collar again. “All right. Let’s go collect those bad boy friends of yours and get you married.” But before they even made it to the corner of the barn, his bad boy friends arrived.

“Good. You’re here,” Emma said. “But where’s Sawyer’s brother, the best man?”

“I think I saw him making out with his wife on the porch,” Val said.

Emma sighed and pointed a finger at all the boys. “Nobody move from here. I’ll be right back.” She hurried off.

“That’s one uptight woman,” Cru said. “If I was Boone Murphy, owning half of a hardware store wouldn’t be worth dealing with her.”

“I get the feeling that Boone doesn’t mind it so much,” Lincoln said before he glanced at Sawyer. “You ready, buddy?”

“More than ready.”

Lincoln smiled. “It’s funny how this place can change a diehard bachelor into a man in a hurry to say I do.”

All the boys laughed before Logan spoke. “There’s definitely a magic to this place. I think we all felt it when we arrived sixteen years ago. And again when we came back. Do y’all remember the oath we made?”

Sawyer fielded the question. “We made an oath not to forget what Chester and Lucas had taught us. We made an oath that the bad boys would become good men.”

Logan nodded. “We might’ve had our fair share of troubles getting here. But I’m damn proud of the men we’ve become. And we’re not done yet.” He held up his hands and formed two sign language d’s. “To the Double Diamond boys,” he said. “And to Chester and Lucas and the women who helped us become good men.”

The boys held up their hands and copied the sign as they chorused him. “To the Double Diamond bad boys. To Chester and Lucas and the women who helped us become good men.”

After they lowered their hands, they moved in for a tight group hug. When they pulled back, not one bad boy had a dry eye. Sawyer knew they were all thinking about everything they had been through. The good times and the bad times. There would be more good times. And bad times. But as long as they had each other and their strong Texas women, they’d survive whatever came their way.

“I found him!” Emma came charging around the corner of the barn with a scared-looking Mattie in tow. “Now let’s get this wedding underway.”

Sawyer remembered every second of the ceremony from the moment Maisy walked toward him in the beautiful white gown that showed off her perfect petite body to the moment the pastor pronounced them man and wife and Maisy threw her arms around Sawyer’s neck and kissed him like she never wanted to stop.

The reception was just as memorable. As Sawyer whirled his bride around the dance floor, he was glad Dixie had talked them into a wedding to remember. As if reading his mind, Maisy smiled up at him.

“It was beautiful, wasn’t it?”

“As beautiful as you.”

She smoothed a strand of hair off his forehead. “You’re pretty beautiful yourself. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I was dumbstruck. Of course, it might’ve had to do with the way you sit a saddle.”

“You like the way I sit a saddle, do you?”

“Uh-huh.” Her fingers ran along the open collar of his shirt. “I’ve had more than a few fantasies about that.”

“Really? Exactly what were those fantasies, Mrs. Dawson?”

She leaned in closer and her breath fell against his ear as she sang in her off-key voice. “Save a horse, ride a cowgirl.”

The townsfolk of Simple didn’t have a clue what the bride had said to make the groom release a loud “Yee-haw!”

But like any good Texans, they didn’t need a reason to join in. A chorus of “yeehaws” followed as two old cowboys looked on with smiles on their weathered faces and tears in their aged eyes.

“Our boys did it,” Lucas said. “They found their happiness.”

“They sure did,” Chester said. “And right here where we