we can take a vacation someplace every year.”
“I want that in writing because I know ranchers don’t take sick days or vacations.”
“Fine. We’ll add it on as part of our wedding vows. Because, sweet darlin’, you are gonna marry me as soon as possible. I’m thinkin’ before the end of the week. And I promise you—our lives won’t be over because we’re havin’ a baby.”
“Okay.”
He wasn’t convinced she’d heard any of what he’d said. She’d been high and low in the last month—sometimes within mere minutes of one emotion overtaking the other, so her extreme reactions was more an indication of her pregnancy than the round middle she’d recently developed. “What else is on your mind?”
“That I’m a hypocrite.”
He waited.
“I always swore I’d never be happy living in Wyoming. And yet, here I am, looking forward to spending the rest of my life right here with you.”
“Sweetheart. That doesn’t make you a hypocrite.”
“What does that make me?”
“Smart enough to change your mind when you know you’re part of a good thing.”
She gave him a cocky smile. “Together we are a great thing.” She glanced down at the ice cream cone melting all over the table. “Holy shit. Why didn’t I notice this is making such a mess?” She slid out of the booth and raced to the counter, pulling napkins out of the dispenser, ran back to pick up the cone, then made a beeline for the garbage can, then back to the table.
He watched her with an amused expression. He’d nicknamed her the blonde tornado, but in her current emotional state he’d keep that to himself.
When she finally sat down, with another ice cream cone, she said, “What? Stop staring at me. I’m eatin’ for two.”
“That’s not why I’m staring.”
“Then why? You want a taste?”
“Of the ice cream? No. Of you? Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“And?” Kimi did a swirling thing with her tongue around the rim of the cone.
“And I’m havin’ the same thought now as I had six years ago when I first saw you.”
“What’s that, cowboy?”
“That my cock is really jealous of that ice cream cone right about now.”
She grinned. “Maybe I’m just practicing.”
Cal pulled her out of the booth and scooped her into his arms. “I’m takin’ you home so you can practice all you want.”
She gave him a sticky-sweet kiss. “Drive fast.”
WAIT! You’re not done! Turn the page to read Lorelei James’ announcement about her new, exciting project that readers have been waiting for…
Dear Reader,
When I ended the Rough Riders series in June 2014 with the last full length book, Cowboy Take Me Away, I promised my readers two things:
First, that I wouldn’t leave the Rough Riders world entirely. When time permitted—and when inspiration struck—I’d write sneak peeks at the after the happily-ever-after like I did with the couples in Short Rides.
But as I started a story for Carter and Macie, and Colby and Channing for Short Rides 2, Cal McKay and Kimi West butted in and demanded I tell the origins of their love story first. So I did that with this novella, Long Time Gone. Never fear, I will write stories for the rest of the couples between working on other projects!
Second, I also promised my readers I wouldn’t leave them hanging forever, waiting for Sierra Daniels McKay and Boone West, the young star-crossed lovers I introduced in Gone Country, Rough Riders book 14, published in December 2012, to get their story.
In my fictional world, Sierra and Boone, at ages sixteen and eighteen, needed time to grow up. In the real world, I needed time to figure out what to do with them. Since the main characters fall into both the McKay and West families, I could’ve put their story in either the Rough Riders world, or in the Wild West Boys world. Or I could start a whole new series. It was the “new” series that got me to thinking. Why not do a spin-off of the existing series?
Hence, the Rough Riders Legacy series has been born!
These third generation McKays and Wests are younger, for the most part, than their McKay parents were when they met, fell in love, and settled down. Since I’ve been forbidden from allowing anything to happen to the first generation (Carson and Carolyn, Cal and Kimi, Charlie and Vi, Joan) who were in their eighties at the end of Cowboy Take Me Away, this spin-off series will take place in the ten-year timespan between the last chapter and the epilogue of Cowboy Take Me Away.
What exactly does