Page 46 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

“We can take you.”

She scowled at him. “Why would I let you ride all the way up to town for me, and then all the way back home? Retta here needs to get to bed.” She waggled her eyebrows, and Retta’s cheeks turned pink.

“I’m fine. I don’t mind.” She gave Travis a questioning look.

“Well, I do,” Libby said adamantly. “You’re going to have to get used to how things are around here these days, Trav. Mav’s gone – long gone. And I have my own life, and I’m living it. Brent’s a friend, and a neighbor. He gives me a ride sometimes.”

He sucked in a deep breath. He could just imagine how Mav would react if he heard her say that.

Ace put a hand on his shoulder. “You might as well drop it, Trav. I know how you feel, but …”

Travis met his gaze. Ace had been here for the last several years – he managed the ranch for Mav. He’d been there with Libby through it all. He’d know how things stood better than any of them.

Deacon wrangled Candy over to join them. “We’re going to head home.” He frowned at Libby before glancing over at Brent. “You good, Libb?”

She scowled back at him. “I am perfectly fine, thank you.” She turned back to Retta. “You call me tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” She looked up at Travis before glancing over at Brent. “Is everything really alright?”

Libby let out a short, bitter laugh. “Everything is just fine and dandy. These guys are just being … guys.”

With that, she got up and nodded at them before sauntering over to the end of the bar where Brent was sitting.

Travis didn’t know what to do with that. Instead of even trying to wrap his head around it, he squatted down in front of Retta.

“Did you have a good time?”

“The best!”

He chuckled. “You ready to go home?”

She nodded happily.

Once they were outside, he waited, and they waved the others off before he scooped her up out of her chair.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. She laughed. “You really are a teddy bear – you even have a furry face.”

He laughed and held her a little closer. “Glad you like it, darlin’.”

“I do. It’s much softer than I thought it’d be.”

He sat her in the passenger seat and then brushed his lips over hers. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, surprising him when she landed a kiss on his lips.

“I’m glad I did, too. You’re awesome!”

He chuckled. “Thanks. You want to go home?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I may have had too much wine.”

“You reckon?”

She shrugged. “Everything is relative. But I can tell you that I’ve had just the right amount to make me wish my leg was healed.”

He didn’t understand.

She waggled her eyebrows. “Like you said, this cast is slowing us down.”

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