Page 22 of The Cowboy's Close Quarters Claim

"It's ten o'clock in the morning, O'Leary! I can't just leave work."

My crew watches me get hauled off the work site. A few of the guys do their best to hide smirks, one of the girls waves and tells me to enjoy myself.

It's a good thing I've got a damn good crew.

If I've learned anything about sharing O'Leary's bed for the last year, it's that I'm not likely to be back at work for the rest of the day.

I guess it's one of the perks of having my name on the company.

EPILOGUE 2

Eight Years Later

Gunner

"They're just going next door."

My wife chides me from the open door.

"Next door is three hundred yards away," I remind her.

"They ride farther than that on the ranch every day."

"It's after dark."

"It's cold, Gunner, Seri just texted that they're through the gate, so come back inside and keep me warm."

The private drive that leads down to my brother's takes a wide turn at the end of our property. We put in a street lamp at the corner last summer, when the kids started getting the itch to stay outside past dark.

Never mind that my brothers and I were running wild over the entire ranch at their age-- and that includes the bull pens and several close calls that got closer and closer the older we got-- and the only light on the property back then came from the moon.

I don't know how my folks handled it back then, as soon as my boys are out of sight I have to fight down the urge to run after them.

But my bride has a good point; it is cold out here and from my roost on the end of the porch, I can see my sister-in-law silhouetted in the glow of their open door as she welcomes the boys inside.

I can see Seri wave in my direction as the boys slip past her, no doubt straight for a waiting mug of hot cocoa.

As I head back inside, looking forward to enjoying a night alone with Clem, the unmistakable sound of a very specific diesel engine rumbles up the road. I don't bother to turn back when the driver hits the horn, I just throw my hand up in a wave as I close the front door behind me.

"What the hell is he doing on our road?" I ask as I hang my coat on the hook.

The annoyance is left over from years of sour feelings long before fences started getting mended around the valley, starting with the literal one that was the reason for the gorgeous woman lounging on my sofa with her feet up and her belly full of my third child.

"It's a sleep-over." Clem knows I-- mostly-- don't harbor ill feelings toward our neighbors these day.

"Thought it was just supposed to be the family kids."

"It's all the neighborhood kids," she corrects with a laugh as she lets me settle in on the couch with her feet in my lap.

"Since when are the Ralstons part of our neighborhood?"

"They are literally our next-door neighbors, O'Leary."

"Range and Archer are our next-door neighbors."

"Stop being an ass and rub my feet."

"Yeah, darling? You gonna let me get in a little foreplay tonight, is that what you're hintin' at?" Clem's always been ready for me, but these last few days, she's been damned impatientabout it. I'm more than ready for a chance to take my time with her whole body.

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