Page 179 of Dusty Spur Ranch Cowboys

“I know.” He smiles. “And I love you.”

She cups his jaw and kisses him with the same certainty she just gave to me, leaving him smiling against her forehead before he finally lets her go.

Red waits until she turns toward him. “I’ve spent too many years saying everything except what mattered.”

A teasing smile tugs at her lips. “You’ve still got time.”

He steps close enough that only inches separate them. “I love you.”

She laughs through the tears threatening her eyes. “I’ve been waiting to hear that.”

His hand settles against her cheek. “You won’t be waiting again.”

She melts into him, wrapping her arms around his waist while he holds her close enough to make it clear he has no intention of letting go.

When she finally steps back, she looks between the three of us and shakes her head with a smile. “I’ve cried enough tonight.”

“You’ve earned a better ending than that,” I tell her.

Her eyes brighten with the kind of mischief that always gets one of us into trouble. “I was thinking the same thing.”

She steps into the space between us until we’re close enough to feel each other’s warmth, then hooks a finger through my belt loop while reaching for Emmett’s hand.

Red slides in behind her, his palm settling at her waist as she tilts her head back to look at all three of us.

“I think,” she murmurs, “we’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Red’s eyes darken. “Upstairs.”

None of us argues.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Arizona

Emmett reaches the stairs before I do, and instead of waiting, he slides his hands around my hips and guides me upward while his mouth brushes my ear, murmuring promises that send heat curling through my stomach.

I’m still a few steps from the landing when Willy closes in behind me, boxing me in with easy confidence, and Red follows close enough that the sound of his boots reminds me he’s right there.

By the time we reach the hallway, we’re tangled together and laughing under our breath, moving through the dim house without anyone bothering to switch on a light because we’ve all spent enough nights here to know every room by memory.

Willy slips an arm around my waist, his palm warm through my shirt, and steers me into the guest bedroom as though it’s the most natural place in the world for the four of us to end up.

Emmett is already pulling his shirt over his head, and I can’t stop watching the muscles shift across his chest and shoulders.

He catches me staring, flashes that easy grin full of dimples, and turns just enough to show off because he knows exactly what it’s doing to me. Red doesn’t compete for attention.

He eases the bedroom door shut, leans back against it with his arms folded across his chest, and watches me without saying a word.

He’s still dressed, boots planted wide, standing there like he’s making sure nobody interrupts us, and my pulse climbs into my throat.

Willy rests his chin on my shoulder while we both watch Emmett, the last of the evening light stretching across his back and catching the pale strip of skin where his shirt usually sits against his neck.

Then Willy’s hands settle on my hips as he presses me back against him, his body warm behind mine, carrying the familiar scent of sugar, sweat, and rodeo dust.

“Gonna take you apart,” he murmurs against my ear, quietly enough that the words belong only to me.

Emmett is on me before I can catch my breath, the wolfish grin I’d been watching softening as he cups my jaw and claims my mouth. His kiss is hot, hungry, and full of intent, the kind that always feels like a promise he has every intention of keeping.