Page 13 of The Christmas Cowboy

Good advice but she wasn’t sure she could take it.

The ceremony was short and very pretty, the traditional words for a nontraditional couple. Letty had to remind her to hand her the flowers when she said her vows. Flowers that Liam had brought and given her before they walked into the room where the pastor waited. They were gorgeous. White roses and stargazer lilies, two of her favorite flowers. Riley must have told him, but she was still touched he’d done it.

The whole thing gave her a really surreal feeling. The preacher talked a bit to begin with, but Val didn’t pay a lot of attention until he turned to Liam and said, “Do you, William, take Valerie to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”

“I do.” Liam’s voice was deep and firm.

The preacher repeated the vows to Val. She said, “I do,” but she couldn’t push the words out loud enough for anyone to hear except Liam. Then Liam slipped a gold band on her finger. She slid the plain gold band she’d gone to Bozeman to get on his finger. The preacher pronounced them husband and wife, and Liam kissed her. A very chaste kiss, unlike their earlier kisses. She wondered if he was at all attracted to her. He must be at least a little since he’d agreed they should have sex. Of course, he was a guy. She thought he was more discerning than to do it with just anyone but honestly, what did she know? She’d fallen for Trent’s lines, after all.

Riley and Letty hugged her, Connor kissed her on the cheek and everyone left the church. They all went their separate ways and she was alone with Liam. Her husband. Oh, God, what had she done?

“Hey, no fainting,” Liam said.

“I’m not going to faint.” Probably.

He looked doubtful but asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Yes. I couldn’t eat this morning. Letty gave me some crackers before the ceremony but I’m still hungry.”

“Can you last a little longer? I have crackers in the truck. From what I read on the internet crackers are one of the staples for pregnant women. I guess it must have been right since Letty gave you some.”

“They do make me feel better. Usually, anyway.”

“If we try to eat around here, even though we’re in Livingston and not Marietta, someone we know could see us and mention it to your parents or my mother. We don’t want them investigating and Connor won’t be able to disappear since he’s helping at the ranch. Mom will ask him, and I’ll be shocked if he can keep quiet. We really should tell them first.”

“You have a point. I haven’t really thought things through.”

“We’ll stop somewhere along the way to the cabin and eat an early dinner.”

“We’ll need a grocery store too, so we’ll have some food at the cabin.”

Val hoped the awkwardness between them disappeared before too long. Otherwise it was going to be a long honeymoon.

Chapter Six

They ate dinnerat a burger place in a small town on the way to Liam’s friend’s cabin in the Absaroka mountains. Val ordered a salad with chicken and Liam ordered a hamburger and fries.

“Are you sure that’s enough food for you?” Liam asked.

“First, I have to ask if you’re one of those people who hate sharing their food.”

He laughed. “I don’t mind. I take it you want to share my french fries.”

“Just a few. But if you don’t want to—”

“It’s fine, Val.”

When their food came Liam asked for an extra plate, putting half his fries on it.

“I don’t need that much!” she protested.

“You’re eating for two,” he reminded her.

She rolled her eyes.

Once back in the truck Val fell asleep. Which was fine with him since he wasn’t sure how to proceed with her. She wasn’t a one-night stand, which other than a few dates that went nowhere, was all he’d had since Caroline had jilted him. But Val washis wife. A wife who he’d never even taken on a date. It dawned on him that if he wanted this marriage to be more than one of convenience, he’d have to remedy that.

Sex, he had a feeling, was going to have to wait. At least until they got to know each other a little better. That seemed odd to say considering they’d been neighbors as long as he could remember, but while he knew Riley inside out, the same couldn’t be said for how well he knew Val. The answer to that question was not very.

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