Page 187 of Cautious Love

“Yes, oh,” she grins and kisses me.

“I’m going to have to put those curtains up sooner than later, aren’t I?”

She smiles and kisses my cheek as she toys with my belt buckle. “Yes, unless you want your siblings or other ranch hands to see your wife naked.”

I gently throw her off my lap and start looking for my box labeled tools, it’s probably in the garage. “I’m getting started on those right now,” I mutter.

She snorts and lies back on the sofa. “At the very least, can you do this shirtless, with your cowboy hat, and a tool belt around your waist?”

I frown. “Why would I do that?”

She groans rolling her eyes. “So I can watch Ledger,duh.”

“Um, okay.”

Shiloh shakes her head, and the soft smile that stays on her lips makes my heart grow wings and lift out of my chest.Home may be a place built on a foundation, but it’s more than that. This is ultimately a box. What she and I have is forever. It’s a foundation built on the rocks of blood, sweat, tears, and commitment. Nothing worth having ever comes easy, and yet she was easy to fall in love with. There was simply no other option.

Bonus Epilogue

Shiloh

Musicthumpsoutsidetoan old country song. We’re all here to support Gracie. One of her stops wasn’t far from Paxton, so we all made the drive out. She got us backstage and we’re hanging out while she and the Hayes’s cousin Dallas get ready for their show.

“I swear they don’t even notice they’re doing it,” Mae whispers to me.

I nod, taking a sip of water, and glancing past them as if I’m looking at something else. June has her arms crossed, and Sterling has a lazy smile on his face as he gazes at her while she chastises him. Every time I catch Sterling looking at her across the dinner table, at the bar, walking past her when we’re at a bonfire, I see nothing but longing in his eyes. No one knows why she won’t give in to him. Her brothers are oblivious. Otherwise, I think we’d all know by now.

“Did you figure out what’s keeping them apart?” I whisper.

Mae shrugs. “I think the only one who knows is Gracie.”

“What if it’s because it’s Sterling?” I ask her.

She purses her lips. “I don’t think so. I asked Coop about it and he didn’t think that was it.”

I hum and take another sip, looking for my husband. “Ledge didn’t seem to mind them possibly being something either.”

“So I wonder what’s stopping them?” she says under her breath as she rubs her belly.

“There they are!” Fletcher says, clapping his cousin Dallas on the back.

“Holy crud on a cracker,” Mae says under her breath.

“You’re telling me,” I mutter, both of us staring at Dallas King.TheDallas King. TheBad Boy of Country.

“We’re happily married, though, right?”

Mae nods rapidly. “Oh yeah, for sure, yep.”

“Yep, totally.”

There’s a reason this man is as big a country star as he is. Hitting the top of the charts with Gracie, they have been in the spotlight in a major way.

Gracie comes in after them, and June all but throws herself at her best friend.

Dallas makes his way around, telling his family hello until he stops on me and Mae.

“Ma’am,” he says, tipping his hat to each of us.