Page 35 of Tusks & Saddles
Because I mean it, Willamina Jones, I am yours.
And that started…with dancing.
“Boone?” Will called out from the front door, the sound of her toeing off her boots echoing around the room. Boone planned the whole night out and was just finishing up with dinner. It needed to finish cooking on low, which would give her plenty of time doing what he wanted her to do. But Will was a rattlesnake when it came to doing things she didn’t want to do. Thus, the game that ensued.He heard her huff from the kitchen as she stomped up to the table. He left a small basket on the table for her to see. In it was a piece of parchment and a freshly folded towel with a new bar of soap in it. He’d found she liked the cactus lily scent the best on soap so he bought her a fresh bar from the small apothecary in town. When he heard her go up the steps, clearly more curious than angry with him, he left the backroom. While she showered, he moved the table and filled the kitchen with candles. The Sun Bringer blessed him with tiny tealights that bobbed up and down in the air. Setting the record player on the counter, he cranked it up so they’d have plenty of time to play when she came down from the bathroom.
There was a note on the inside of the bathroom door for when she was done showering, one she wouldn’t see until the steam filled up the room. It led her to her top dresser drawer where she’d find a dress. Gracie helped him pick it out, as Will didn’t wear dresses except for when her best friend begged. Which is why there was a note inside the drawer with that dress that said for her to just wear the damn thing.
Boone turned from the counter at the light sound of bare feet coming down hesitantly. He smiled at her as she marveled at the little bobbing lights. He let the record player go and her attention snapped in his direction. Her voice was soft and confused, “Boone? What is all this?”
“You said to take you out dancing in your kitchen.” He shrugged playfully. Will immediately rushed down the last few steps. He grinned from ear to ear as she spun around in a circle under the lights.
“You absolute bastard, how dare you!” She laughed, spinning around him one more time. He grabbed her by the hips as music crackled over their heads. “I thought there was something wrong! Where’s Momma and Jacobus?”
“He took her out on a ride into town for some fun. I wanted to have you all to myself.” She looked amazing, shimmering from a fresh shower under the dancing lights. Her hair was a wild mane behind her, half dried and smelling sweetly of cactus lily.
“You tryin’ to butter me up before you leave on that Paladin job tomorrow?” She narrowed her eyes on him suspiciously.
“Is it working?” He turned her with him slowly, feeling her melt into his arms with each soft brush. The dress was a simple green fabric, nothing shiny or gaudy. Just pretty as it hung off her shoulders by two straps and made her chest stand on display for him.Something I definitely wasn’t minding.
“A little. We’ll see where the night takes us, Cowboy,” she winked at him. Boone twirled her sharply, eating up her pretty laugh as she clung to him. As the music bounced off the walls and dinner finished up cooking, he swung her around that kitchen easily. She smiled the whole time, even as she rolled her eyes and teased him for being cheesy.
“If you don’t like it—”
“I didn’t say that!” she huffed, purposely stepping on his toes.
“Then quit complaining and let me take you dancing,” he retorted, stealing a kiss. She threw herself into it and he stopped to press her into one of the counters. Her hands cupped his face and his whole body caught fire down to his bones. Will slowly threw her arms around his shoulders and he hoisted her up onto that counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist, sealing in the scorching heat.
“I’m not complaining,” she breathed against his lips. “Thank you, Boone…this is exactly how I wanted to go dancing.”
He tugged her off that counter, holding her tight to his chest as he steadily swayed them around the floor. “You’re very welcome, Baby.”
She flushed but those sparkling gemstone eyes never looked away as she stole another kiss. “I prefer when you call me ‘baby’ over ‘woman’.”
Boone chuckled, “Sometimes I gotta call you that or else you don’t hear me.”
“Shut up and dance,” Will scoffed, rolling her eyes again. But that smile never left her lips as he slowed down to a simple two step sway. One of her hands played with his hair. Twirling it around her finger then letting it go. The way her gaze roamed his face, he knew she was open. That she was ready to hear it.
“I love you, Will. You know that right?” he confessed, memorizing the soft expression on her face.
“I do,” she murmured, cupping the back of his head. “I might be stubborn as an ox, and it’s going to take some time for my heart and brain to get on the same page, Boone. But I know. I love you too.”
“Good.” He returned to that counter so he could kiss her like she deserved to be kissed. To hold her close and steal the air in her lungs. To make sure it sank in. He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes and say it again. “I love you.”
She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “Quit that, you’re gonna make me sob like some ninny!”
“Never,” he chuckled warmly, kissing her again. And again. And forever, because Willamina Jones was the sunlight. Fiery and temperamental…it could burn and scorch the skin, or it could bring life. And those who loved the sun never feared how hot it burned, just what would happen if it ever went out. Boone Larokson was never going to let his sun dim. A good Paladin stands by their oath, and he swore to keep her sun burning till their dying day.
