“To the happy couple,” he announces, holding his drink up in the air. “May your mornin’s be bright, your days fulfillin’, and your nights stay hot in the coldest of times." He shoots us a smirk after that one. "But from the bottom of my heart, I didn't think Toby had it in him to be patient, and now look. He waited till the time was right and got the woman of his dreams, all while savin' himself from my wrath but not scarin’ off the best damn ranch hand we’ve ever had.”
“Here, here,” Rhett says, lifting his glass and looking across the table at us as he wraps his arm around Cora.
“And I’m hopin’,” Red continues, turning my way, “that this means we’re not gonna be losin’ either one of you to Montana because your home is on the mountain right alongside the rest of us.”
“What are you gonna do?” Austin asks with interest.
I turn to Toby who arches a single brow. “Well, now. Ain’t that the question of the day.”
“Not really. I belong with my One, and I don’t ever wanna be away from him. Not again,” I say, smiling at everyone around the huge joined tables.
“So you’re stayin’?” Star asks, leaning forward in her chair.
“I’m stayin’,” I announce. “That’s if y’all will have me of course.”
“Bloody oath we will!” she says, jumping up from her chair and rushing over to pull me out of Toby’s grasp and wrap me up in a tight hug.
I laugh, returning her hug before she lets me go. “You know that might just be the most Aussie thing I’ve ever heard any of y’all say.”
Star grins. “Maybe you’re rubbin’ off on us.”
“Guess this means we’ll be fast trackin’ some buildin’ of those cabins on the ranch now,” Red says. “What, with you two, Lan and Star, and Lee and Colt comin’ back soon too, we’re gonna need to. Unless Wy and I wanna share the ranch house with a whole lot of loved-up couples, we better get busy as soon as Spring hits."
“Yeah, I’d rathernothave to live with all of you goo-goo-eyed fools," Wy teases, earning a shoulder bump from Rhett and ruffled hair from his laughing Dad beside him.
“We’ll remember that when your turn comes along, young Wyatt,” Mags says, shooting the young man a wink.
“So you’re gonna be headin’ back to Montana soon, Tobes? Meet the future in-laws and get their seal of approval?” Rhett asks.
Toby gulps and I can't stop the giggle that bursts out of me. A glance at my love's face tells me that he'd forgotten all about that.
I tilt my face his way. “There’s no rush. I love you and you love me. We can go back and meet my family any time. Or maybe they can come here. Mom was talkin’ about wantin’ to visit one day. It’s no bother. Really.”
Toby’s gaze intensifies. “There ain’t no way that I’m gonna promise my life to you without lookin’ your father in the eyes and makin' a vow to him, your mother, and your brothers that I'll do right by you, Skippy. That means somethin’ to a man like me, and I know it’ll mean a hell of a lot to your kin too.”
“Really?” I say, tears gathering in my eyes. “You’d do that?”
A slow-growing smile takes over his face as he frames my face in his big burly hands and sweeps his thumbs over my cheeks. "If you don't know it already, I'll spend the rest of my life provin’ it. There ain’t nothin’ I won’t do for you, Delilah Daniels. Absolutely nothin’. You’re mine, and you’re theirs.” He jerks his head toward his family. “That’s all that matters.”
Not caring where we are or that we have an audience, I crush my lips to his in a mind-bending, probably inappropriate for publicviewing kiss that leaves us both sucking in much-needed oxygen when we finally tear ourselves away from each other.
“I love you, bossman.”
“Love you too, Skippy.”
“You know what else I’m gonna love?” I say, smiling against his lips.
His arms tighten around me. “What’s that?”
“Beatin’ your butt at pool again.”
Later that night,we're back at the bunkhouse and I cannot keep my hands off my man. Then again, Toby hasn't let me go since we left the Cow thirty minutes ago. Not on the entire drive home, not when he pulled me over onto his side of the truck to kiss me when we got home, and not as we stumble inside. The door slams behind us as we crash into the bunkhouse, a mixture of laughs, groans, moans, and whimpers filling the air as we make out and feel each other up like a couple of teenagers.
Moving across the living area, Toby plunders my mouth with renewed hunger, something I think has a lot to do with the fact he just beat me for the first time ever at pool.
"Gonna claim my prize," he growls when I pull back for much-needed air.
I shift back with a smirk. "You callin’ me a prize now?"
