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“When someone cares about you, loves you, they might call you by a name that shows you how much they care, like sweetheart, or honey, or doodlebug,” Seff answered.
Arteisma looked up at him. “When we go into Red Lodge, sometimes people call us darlin’. Is that what cowboys say?”
“Yeah, some do. Some cowboys call every woman or female they meet darlin’, but I never did. Well, not until I met Desarae.”
“And you came here to bring back Rina’s ashes for a Ceremony of Grace?” Nereida asked.
“Yep.”
“Was Rina your mate?”
Seff shook his head. “Nope, she was my friend.” He slid another paper from the pile and started folding again.
“She didn’t love you?”
“Yeah, she loved me, but we loved each other like friends.” He glanced up and smiled. “That’s different from lovin’ someone as a mate.”
“What if you find someone else to love you like a mate?” Arteisma took a paper and tried to follow what Seff was doing, though she seemed more interested in asking questions. “Is it okay to love them back?”
Seff opened his mouth to answer, but Nereida cut him off. “You love Desarae, and we want Desarae to know it’s okay to love you back.”
“Uhh...how...it’s...it’s...” Seff stuttered.
“You love her. We can tell.” Nereida shrugged. “It’s okay.”
Arteisma folded her arms on the tabletop and blinked up at Seff. “You want her to love you, don’t you?”
Seff cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah, you betcha.” He gazed up at me, his deep brown eyes sparkling and his mouth curving into an uncertain, lopsided grin. “But it’s a little more complicated than that.”
“No.” I stepped around Arteisma’s chair, leaned in, and softly pressed my lips to Seff’s. “It’s really not.”
He wrapped his hand around my neck and kissed me again, tender and sweet, with a tease of his tongue. I wanted to melt against him, feel his arms around me, sink into his warmth and smother myself in his deep, rich pine-forest, green-apple scent.
And where the heck was that orange blossom and honey scent coming from?
Seff pulled back. His dark eyes glazed with moisture.
In a husky voice, he asked, “So, you kinda love me?”
I nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I kinda do.”
He stood from his chair, pulled me into his arms, and held me so tight I couldn’t breathe. I’d expected to feel desire pulsing through him, but if that’s what he’d been feeling, it was masked by something that felt like relief, and gratitude, and love.
I whispered, “Are you...happy?”
“Holy fuck.” His deep voice was a whisper of air against my ear.
Smiling, I asked, “I can take that as a big yes?”
Speechless, he only tightened his arms around me and nodded against my head.
“If Seff calls you darlin’, what are you gonna call him?” Arteisma asked.
Seff pulled away and smiled as he scrubbed his hands down his face.
“Hmmm...” I tapped my chin with a finger and pulled a funny face. “I’ll have to put some serious thought into an endearment because, you know, it’sforever.”
Arteisma gasped. “Seff’s gonna call me doodlebug forever?”
