Page 41 of The Rancher’s Ecstasy

Cole whooped. “Hot damn,” he hollered, making her laugh. “We’re getting married.”

She giggled as she tried to pull away from him, only to have him hold her tighter and kiss her all over her face.

She froze, and her eyes widened when she realized what he’d just said. “What? Wait. No one said anything about marriage.”

He raised his head. “But you said you loved me.” He started licking and kissing her face and neck.

Emily couldn’t stop laughing and tried to avoid Cole’s sloppy kisses. “Y-yes, I did.”

She pushed harder against his chest. “Cole. Stop.” The chuckles kept coming as she struggled against Cole.

“Only if you say you’ll marry me.”

He bent and continued to kiss whatever skin he could reach. Sometimes wet kisses and occasionally little nips that drove her crazy.

Emily drew in a deep breath and jerked her head to the side.

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll marry you.”

Cole’s eyes closed, and he took a deep breath. He pulled her tightly against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank you. I promise to love you always, and I will do everything I can to make you happy.”

Tears burned Emily’s eyes. She raised both hands to his cheeks. “I will love you forever, and I’ll do everything to make you happy.”

Cole chuckled. “All I need is your love, Em. Just your love.” His lips captured hers in a deep, voracious kiss. They were both breathless when the kiss ended. “Let’s go home before we end up back in that bed.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emily’s laughter caught in her throat when they pulled up to her cabin to see the door wide open, and Winston stood there in a shroud of arrogance like he owned the place.

Cole grabbed Emily’s hand.

“Don’t let him mess with your head, baby.” Emily turned away from Winston to look at Cole.

“Oh, I won’t. I’m just trying to figure out if I can slug him and get away with it.”

Cole hooted out a laugh and pulled her halfway over the console and planted a kiss. “As much as I’d like to see that, I don’t think it would be a good idea. I’ll have a few ranch hands help him off the ranch, and then we’ll be rid of him.”

Emily smiled and squeezed his hand. “You’re no fun.”

Cole laughed and left the truck. He walked around to open her door and helped her down, before wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Oh, for God's sakes, Emily. What the hell happened to you?” Winston yelled.

Emily and Cole stopped abruptly. Cole’s arm tightened on her, keeping her by his side.

“Why are you still here, Winston?” she asked.

Winston’s eyes skipped back and forth between them with a confused look on his face. “I already told you, Emily. I came here to take you home.”

Cole bent and pressed his cheek against the side of her head. “You didn’t tell me he was kind of slow.”

Emily snorted. “Yeah, sorry, but I didn’t remember it being this bad.”