Taming a Texas Devil - Katie Lane Page 0,81
the man Devlin and I just caught making out with his wife in the gazebo,” Holden said.
Logan actually blushed. “Since Helen’s birth we haven’t had a lot of chances to be alone.” Evie had given birth just two months earlier to a healthy nine-pound-two-ounce baby girl they had named after Evie’s late mother. Lincoln had never given babies much thought, but after holding Helen, he had to admit that he wouldn’t mind a couple of his own. Just not yet. He wanted some time alone with his new bride first.
“Hey, you don’t have to make excuses, Logan,” Val said. “Reba and I use the gazebo quite a lot . . . to be alone.” He glanced at Holden. “And what were you and Devlin doing there?”
Holden shrugged. “Maybe keeping a few of our wild ways isn’t such a bad thing.”
All the boys laughed. When the laughter died, Lincoln took the opportunity to say something he should’ve said a long time ago. “I love you guys.”
The other boys exchanged looks before Cru squinted at him. “Are you drunk?”
“No. I just wanted to let y’all know that you mean a lot to me.”
Sawyer flung an arm around Lincoln and tugged him close. “You mean a lot to me too. Without you, I would’ve gotten my ass whipped on more than one occasion for my smart mouth.”
“Because you were a punk,” Cru said.
Logan laughed. “We were all punks. Thank God we found women who loved us regardless. And speaking of those women, I’d like to get back to mine. We only have another hour before Helen will need to eat.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re keeping a nursing schedule,” Cru said.
“In a couple more months, you’ll be keeping one too, bro.” Logan glanced at Holden. “And you won’t be far behind.”
Cru and Holden had announced their wives were expecting within weeks of each other. Lincoln figured there would soon be lots of little bad boy babies toddling around. But tonight there was only one baby he was interested in. His baby. And it was time to get back to her.
The line dancing had ended and Dixie was now dancing with her daddy. Not wanting to cut in on the senator, he stood at the edge of the dance floor to wait his turn. But when Dixie spotted him, she stopped dancing, kissed her daddy, and came straight over to pull him out on the dance floor. He’d never been a good dancer, but he felt like one in Dixie’s arms. Especially when she looked at him with love in her eyes.
“Hey, stranger. Long time no see.”
“I was talking with the boys.”
“And what plans have you bad boys been hatching?”
“No plans . . . except maybe living happily ever after with the women we love.”
“Mmm.” She snuggled closer. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.” He kissed her forehead. “And if we’re going to live happily-ever-after, we probably should build us a house.”
“About that. Daddy gave me a little surprise just now.”
He drew back to look at her. “Oh, no. Your parents aren’t giving us a house.”
She swatted him. “Of course not. They already gave us our honeymoon to Hawaii. Daddy’s just giving me the money my grandma wanted me to have and I thought I’d build a house right smack dab in the middle of that piece of land you don’t seem to know what to do with.”
He started to argue, but then realized he didn’t have anything to argue about. Dixie had solved two problems at once. She was a smart woman and he was one lucky man. He kissed her long and deep, communicating all the love he felt in his heart. When he drew back, she swayed on her feet as if dizzy. He planned to make her dizzy for the rest of his life.
“Please tell me that you’re ready to take me back to our room and make love to me, Officer Hayes,” she said.
“I couldn’t be more ready, Sheriff Hayes.”
Dixie kept her eyes closed and smiled. “Sheriff Hayes. That has a nice ring to it.”
After Sheriff Willaby had been arrested, the town had an emergency election and had chosen Dixie as their new sheriff. Lincoln wasn’t surprised. She had turned out to be one damn fine law officer.
He stopped dancing. “What do you say we leave this party and go see how well a sheriff and a Texas Ranger fit together?”
Her green eyes twinkled with love and happiness. “Somehow, I think they’ll fit perfectly.”
* * *
The End
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