Page 66 of The Cowboy's Miracle Baby

“Wait a minute—” he began.

“Because the whole time, Gus… the whole time—”

“Wait a minute.” His cell rang in his pocket, and he ignored it. “You need to tell me what you’re talking about. And why suddenly you’re—”

“You should get that,” she said about his cell. “It’s probably important. It might be Denver.”

Denver? Was this about Denver?The phone rang again, insistent. Frustrated, he didn’t want to answer the damned phone. But he always answered. Always. He pulled it from his pocket. Damn if it wasn’t Denver. The clinic calling him to try to persuade him to come. He lifted his gaze to Cami. “ItisDenver.”

She sent him a steely smile. “Better take it. I’ll leave the two of you alone.”

He grabbed her hand, ignoring the call. “I’m not going.”

She jerked a surprised look at him. “What?”

“To Denver. I already told them I’m not coming. I’m staying in Marietta. I’m taking over Alden’s practice.”

Her lips parted and a shiver raced down her. “But he said—”

Gus pulled her closer to him. “He said what?”

“Alden said you turned him down, that night at the Deaver ranch.”

“I never actually turned him down. I’ve been trying to figure out how to stay and work out the financing to buy his practice. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure. But I already told my agent that I’m done. I turned them down in Denver.” The phone stopped ringing. “I’m not toying with you. I’ve never been toying with you. I’m… crazy about you, Cami.”

“You… you are?”

He reached up to brush the dampness on her cheek. “Honestly? I never thought I’d find love again in my lifetime. I wasn’t even looking for it. And then, there you were. Busy with your life, like I was with mine. And you were making room in it for everyone and everything and pulling us all into your family. If it wasn’t for Lolly, us finding her together, maybe we never would have really gotten to know each other. She was like a little Christmas miracle, inserting herself into our lives and changing everything.

“And if I’d missed all that, meeting you… watching you with Lolly and with Ella, it would have been my loss,” he went on. “Because for a long time I shut people out, because like you said, I was scared. Scared of starting over, of putting my heart out there again. And I’m not the best at it. Obviously, I should have told you what I was thinking, feeling, before you decided I had screwed it all up.”

Cami exhaled a shaky breath and he stared at her long dark lashes against her cold cheek.

“You asked me why I kissed you. I kissed you because you make me feel like myself again, because you make me happy, and I want you to know that. That I’m falling in love with you.”

She lifted her gaze slowly back to him. “You are?”

“Yeah. Yes.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her again, gently this time, to prove to her everything he was saying.

And her lips softened under his and she curled her hands around his arms to pull him closer. She tasted of wine and cold and a little bit of forgiveness. And when she broke the kiss, she looked up at him, those tears still in her eyes, but this time, without anger.

“Oh, Gus. I really thought… I thought we were—”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“What if… what if you can’t figure out the financing for the practice?”

“I will. I’ll figure it out. Because it’s already decided. I’ll find a way.”

She shivered hard and her almost-sob was steamy in the cold outdoor air. “As long as we’re being honest, I have to admit I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”

That admission almost broke him, and he dipped his head to steal another kiss from her. Only this time, she wrapped her arms around his neck and didn’t hold back. He didn’t want to let her go. Now or ever.

But she did peel herself away from him, touching his forehead with hers, a little breathless now. “But, Gus?”

“Yeah?”

“I think my feet are frozen.”

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