Page 76 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

She looked at the names of the horses, having no idea which one to bet on. She picked Luck and Lace, because she liked the alliteration and entered a bet of fifty dollars.

“Done,” she said, and Drake shook his head, still studying his phone.

“It’s not a race, Ginny,” he said.

“Actually, that’s exactly what it is.” She laughed, and Drake joined in as he kept tapping.

He finished his betting with thirty seconds to go and stood up to watch the horses come out, just like he had before every other race.

“Hey, look at that.”

“What?” Ginny asked, but she was using his program to fan herself. She didn’t really care who won the races or about what Drake had seen.

“Look at this,” he said, turning back to her. With the new animation in his voice, Ginny’s attention piqued. She stood too and looked to the left where he was pointing.

Two men rode two horses out on the track, but they weren’t racers and they weren’t jockeys.

Ginny knew exactly who they were.

Lawrence and Cayden, riding Honeyduke and Raven. The two horses next to each other looked so different, and Ginny sucked in a breath at the sight of her cowboy on his horse.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer came over the speaker system. “Bets are now closed, and we have one item to take care of before the horses come out. Will you please direct your attention to the track, where your owners and organizers of the Summer Smash are? Cayden and Lawrence Chappell!” He said their names like they were celebrities, and as the crowd roared for them, Ginny went right along with the tide of applause.

Cayden lifted a microphone to his mouth and said, “Thank you. Thank you all for coming.” Honey started walking, but Raven didn’t, and a banner started unrolling with every step Honey took.

“Ginny,” Duke said with plenty of warning in his voice.

“This is not happening,” Ginny whispered as the crowd started to die down.

“We sure hope y’all have enjoyed your day at the races with us,” Cayden said. “We hope you’ll come back for many more. There’s just one quick question I need everyone to answer, and you can find a notification in your app to do that right about…” He looked behind him at the banner and let Honey take four or five more steps. “Now.”

Ginny pressed both hands to her mouth so she wouldn’t scream.

“My girlfriend is in one of our corporate suites on the second floor,” Cayden said. “I love her with my whole heart, and this is an important question I’m going to need her to answer.” He nodded at the banner, lowered the mic, and looked directly at Ginny with a huge smile on his face.

The banner readShould Ginny Winters marry me?

Her hands shook as she tried to get her phone out to vote. She fumbled the device and it went tumbling right over the railing. A choked cry came out of her mouth, and then she started laughing.

“I voted yes,” Drake said beside her. “You should go, Ginny. Go find him right now and tell him yes.”

The crowd started chanting, “Yes, yes, yes!” and Ginny spun away from the railing.

Her brothers cheered, and her employees clapped, and Ginny exploded into the empty hallway outside the Bonfire Room, almost panicked in her need to get to Cayden.

Olli stood there as if waiting for her, and Ginny burst into tears.

“Come on,” Olli said, gathering her into a tight, tight hug the way a best friend should. “Let’s go get your cowboy.” She led Ginny down the hallway and around a corner to some steps. Down they went, and Ginny was suddenly grateful she’d booked a suite on only the second floor.

Someone said something over the speaker system, but Ginny’s senses were one-hundred percent overwhelmed, and she couldn’t make out the words.

She did see all the people smiling and clapping as Olli kept a tight grip on her hand and kept moving forward. The crowd seemed to part for her, as they should, because Olli was powerful and fierce.

“Go with Spur now,” she said, passing Ginny’s hand from her soft one to Spur’s more calloused one.

Spur grinned at her, and Ginny swiped at her face. “I’m going to be on camera, aren’t I?”

“That’s a definite yes,” he said. It was more a yell, as some parts of the crowd were still chanting “Yes, yes, yes!”

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