Page 24 of Big Filthy Cowboy

“Forever. You’ll forever be my girl, always loved by me,” he reassures me softly.

I blink back the sheen of moisture in my eyes. “You’re the love of my life. I can’t wait to spend our days doing all those things you told me about on the phone. I want to build a life together. I want forever with you, my big teddy bear.”

Chapter 13

Sadie

“That’s the last one,” Barrett tells me as he finishes driving the nail into the board over my window with a sure stroke.

A cellphone rings, and Zac silences the call without even glancing at it. Zac is Barrett’s brother. He drove him through the night so Barrett could stay on the phone with me. We were on speakerphone the whole time which means Zac heard everything.

But he greeted me with a kind smile the moment Barrett introduced us. He’s spent the morning helping the two of us board up the windows in the apartment and bakery.

“Are you getting back on the road now?” Barrett asks, setting the hammer down on the counter. The town has some clean up ahead of us, but nothing major. Zac can’t stay though because he’s supposed to be at a concert tonight.

“Yep, leaving in five,” he answers. He grabs the broom and sweeps up a few shards of glass that we missed earlier.

Barrett claps him on the back. “Thanks for the help. See you tomorrow.”

He shakes his head. “This is the only break in my schedule for the next two weeks. Stay with your girl. I’ll be fine on the road,singing my heart out. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky, and she’ll be out there in the crowd.”

“I really hope so,” I tell him and give him a hug before wishing him goodbye.

As soon as he’s gone, Barrett tips his head toward my apartment, and I follow him up the stairs. He gestures around my living room. “What’s going with us?”

I frown. My brain feels addled from being up all night and working through the morning to get the shop cleaned up. Now I’ve got a flurry of phone calls to make, including one to my insurance company. “What do you mean?”

“You’re moving in with me,” he says it so casually, like it’s a foregone conclusion.

“Because of the damage?” I ask, surveying the boarded-up windows. The truth is, I’m not worried about them. Courage County is a sleepy small town, and Sheriff Luke is always watching over the residents. I don’t think paint dries on a house without him knowing about it.

“I don’t want to live apart from you. I thought I made that clear last night.”

“Barrett—”

Before I can even finish saying his name, he says, “Shit, I’m doing this out of order.”

He pulls a ring from the pocket of his jeans and drops to his knees. “Marry me, sweet girl. Let me take you on a million adventures, give you beautiful babies, pleasure you a dozen times every day. Let’s build a life together.”

My eyes fill with tears at his impromptu speech. I drop to my knees beside him. “Yes, to all of that. Yes, to the adventures and the babies and the orgasms. Yes, to the life together.”

The smile he gives me lights up the entire building. Maybe even the whole town. He slides the ring on my finger. “I love you, Sadie Maple.”

I stare down at the sparkly diamond. The weight on my finger feels so very right. After years of searching, I know I’ve found the place I belong. “Can we do it now?”

“Are you sure? We can wait and have a big, beautiful wedding in front of the whole town. I want you to have everything you’ve dreamed of.”

My heart fills with gratitude. He wants to make my every dream come true, which only makes me want to marry him more. “You’re what I dreamed of, my big teddy bear. The wedding is just one moment in our story. One perfect, glorious moment to let our family and friends know how much we love each other. I don’t need anything fancy for that. Just you and me, pledging our love to each other.”

He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “If you want to do it now, nothing will make me prouder than to claim you as my wife.”

I grin at him. “I want to go to bed tonight next to my husband.”

“You have no idea what that thought does to me,” he answers. “I can’t wait to see you wearing my wedding ring.”

With a deep breath, I walk into Linda’s candle shop. Greer is sweeping up glass on one side of the store while Ginger is flitting about, working on one of the displays. Grizz is fussing over her. He keeps insisting she needs to sit down and let him do the work.

Linda is inspecting candles and setting aside ones that weren’t damaged from yesterday’s storm.

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