Page 121 of Second Chance Saloon

And now they were both here.

His eyes focused on her and her heart strained against her chest.

Jackie smiled, the light in her eyes engulfing the entire bar. She jumped off her stool, swallowing hard. Her lips parted; a breath she’d been holding for the past six months was finally released from the shackles of uncertainty.

Mitch strode forward, ignoring everyone else in the bar, looking only at her.

Her pulse skyrocketed. She didn’t know if Betty was watching them. Neither did she know if anyone noticed her universe shimming back into its axis. In this very second, she must’ve surely been the happiest woman in the world.

He stopped in front of her, his gorgeous green eyes glistening underneath the mirror ball. Without waiting for a signal, he slid his hand around Jackie’s waist, pulling her close and closing his hand over hers. “Hi.”

Instead of replying, she grabbed his neck and yanked him to her, kissing him hard.

Someone whistled and they laughed, foreheads resting against each other.

“Hi there, cowboy.” Jackie smiled, her eyelashes fluttering. She ignored tears rolling down freely. “You came,” she whispered, her voice quivering with broken longing.

Mitch cupped both of her cheeks. “Did you think I wouldn’t? If you didn’t know it yet, I’m absolutely and madly in love with you.”

“In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young came on, and several couples spilled onto the dance floor, swaying to the heartfelt tune.

“Perfect timing.” He grinned, his nose brushing the tip of hers. “Dance with me.”

Jackie exhaled, happiness and lightness enveloping her into its embrace. She was floating on cloud nine. “You sang it to me before you left Mexico.”

Mitch kissed her again. She felt his smile on her lips before he pulled away. “Very badly.”

“I loved it.”

He nodded, tugging her onto the dance floor. “I gave that kid by the jukebox a twenty to put it on after we kissed. Wasn’t sure he would remember, seemed a bit worse for wear already.”

Jackie glanced in the direction Mitch nodded to and chortled.

The “kid”, as Mitch referred to him, looked so young, she wondered if he’d flashed a fake ID to get in. His eyes glazed over under a new-looking cowboy hat. His boots bore no scuff marks.

“Maybe he’s your kindred spirit,” she teased.

“What do you mean?”

She bit back a smirk. “A fellow wannabe cowboy who came here for college, crashing into bars with a fake ID.” The moment she said it, a curly-haired girl stumbled right onto the “kid’s” lap.

Mitch’s eyes widened. “I’ll be damned. Good for him.”

Jackie snorted a laugh. “And they lived happily ever after.”

They swayed to the music, so achingly slowly that Jackie thought the time might start moving backward. She wouldn’t care, she decided. As long as she was in Mitch’s arms, time and fate, and every other thing out of her control didn’t matter.

“Is that how our story goes?” Mitch whispered in her ear.

Electricity shot up her spine and she curled her fingers into his shirt. “I don’t know. Are you sure you want this, us?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I’ll love you until my dying breath,” he rasped.

Her cheeks heated. “That’s good, because I don’t think I can live another day without you.”

She tightened her hold, nuzzling his neck. He smelled good, of cedar, pine, and … hay? That was unexpected. He’d only ever smelled of hay during summers at the ranch.

His palm flattened against the small of her back. “I hope you don’t mind, but I bought land with a rundown ranch about a twenty-minute drive from Brooke’s Plains. I’ve already knocked the old house down and started building the one I drew for you.”