Page 56 of Protected By West
He leaned in for a kiss and she met him halfway.
"Have I told you that you're beautiful?"
Tracy reached up her hand and touched the side of his cheek with her palm. "Only a half a dozen times since I got here this morning."
"Uh oh, don't look now, but mom and dad are about to kiss!"
Tracy laughed and gave his cheek a pat before turning to look at Dally. "You missed it! We just did."
Dally slumped at the table, pouting his lips.
Tracy reached for a roll on the table, but Jack beat her to it, beaning the roll off of Dally's face and catching it when it came back down with ease, Jack put it on Dally's plate.
"Eat it." Jack gave him a pointed glare. "Be nice or I'll kick your ass." She pointed at Duval. "After him."
Duval sat back on the chair he was sitting in and almost toppled over backwards. He was saved by the quick reactions of Bonney and Fox.
Tracy locked onto that thought and leaned in. "Fox?"
The taller man seemed to tower over Jack and Dally. "Hmm?"
"Where did you get your name?"
She gestured at his shirt and Weston put his arm around the back of Tracy's chair. It was already hot even with the wind they were lucky to have, he wanted to be closer, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable.
He also wanted a good seat for the story. It was short, but sweet.
Fox even managed to get a little flustered before he answered the question.
"No one bothered with nicknames when I was a deputy, but it seemed like a driving need once I started with the Rangers. With a first name like Kelly, I expected some kind of name around 'green.' But no luck there."
Dally and Jack both winced at that idea, but Jack was the only one who spoke.
"You got off lucky with that. I can think of a number of greens that would have been disasters. Like olive or chartreuse..."
Weston nodded.
"Or... or puce." Oxy added in with a wince.
Weston looked at Oxy. "Now everyone knows why you got your nickname."
Oxy frowned, his forehead lined with deep furrows. "Why?"
Trooper Bonney frowned right back. "Puce isn't a green color."
"It's not?" Oxy looked around the table before looking back at Bonney. "Are you sure?"
Bonney got out his cell phone, but Jack already had hers open, her fingers tapping on the screen.
"Yep. Blue got it right. I didn't even know what puce was until I looked it up on Google. Ewww." She turned her screen to face the rest of the group. "It's brownish purple... yuck."
She set her phone down and looked back up at Fox, but Weston saw Bonney looking at her with an odd, curious expression.
Weston leaned in toward Tracy and spoke softly near her ear. "Looks like your name for him is going to stick."
"Uh oh..." she turned to look at him and her lips almost brushed his. "Does that mean I become godmother to a Texas Ranger? Do I have to throw him an advancement party when he gets his uniform?"
Weston smiled even more at her words. He wasn't the youngest of the group and he knew he had lines around his eyes, especially when he smiled, but damn, it felt good to have her there beside him.
