Page 13 of Bride ’N Boots

“Well, I don’t know your middle name. Or how old you are. Or how many babies you want.”

I nearly choked on my tongue when I thought about a little baby with Stratton’s dark hair and blue eyes.

And then I thought about how one would go about making said baby . . .

My insides liquified with need.

“Anne. Twenty-three. Four.”

He raised his brows at me, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Four?”

“I always wanted a big family. I’m an only child.”

So was Ethan.

I shoved thoughts of him aside.

“Now you,” I commanded, stroking Honeysuckle’s neck.

“Wilson, thirty, and we’ll have as many mini-gremlins as you want.”

“Fuck,” I muttered.

I was done for.

CHAPTER SIX

A storm moved in and the temperature dipped despite it being mid-morning. I shivered.

“Here,” Stratton said, removing his jacket and placing it around my shoulders.

It was warm and smelled like him. I had to fight every instinct to burrow my nose in the lapel and inhale like a scent addict.

“Gold,” Arden called out. “Pure gold. Keep talking to each other.”

“Why do I keep forgetting she’s there?” Stratton asked me.

I peered into his blue eyes that seemed somehow brighter and more intense than they had been before. Full of yearning and . . . something else.

He wore his heart on his sleeve and I think he wore mine too.

“I keep forgetting too,” I admitted with a wry smile. “So, do you have any siblings?”

“Nah. I wish. That’s why I like working here,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“There are four Calhoun siblings,” he explained. “Three brothers and a sister, who’s the baby of the family. I’ve only met Greer once because she hardly comes home. But Griffin, Garrett and Gideon are all close to one another and they’re good guys.”

“And you feel like part of the club,” I said.

“Exactly.”

“Nice,” I said with a sigh. “That must be really nice.”

“It is.” He paused. “I could introduce you to them sometime.”

I swallowed, knowing what he was saying without him having to say it. “I live in Coeur d’Alene.”