“Hey Lena…oh shit, sorry.” Jared frowned as I sat and blinked up at him. “Are you okay?”

I shook away the fogginess of sleep and scanned the kitchen to make sure I hadn’t burned anything. Thank goodness everything was where it should be, aside from the cutting board filled with vegetables that sat less than a food away from my napping spot. The dining table. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. What’s up?”

Jared was no dummy and he had that same, dark scowl that his brother did. “You’re not fine, Lena. What’s going on?”

I sighed. “Nothing,” I lied easily. “I’m just tired. I’ll put on some tea and make some lunch and I’ll be fine. No more sleeping on the job,” I told him breezily and stood, a little too quickly. “No worries, just need to get some food in me.”

“Bullshit. I know you’re pregnant, Rex told me. Now are you really fine or should I make a call?”

“Lord, save me from overbearing men.” I stood and poked Jared right in the chest. “I said I was fine so I’m fine. Don’t start acting like you or your damn brother are the boss of me, got it?”

His lips twitched, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. “Got it. But if you need anything, you know, I’m here.”

And just like that all of my anger deflated. “I know, and I appreciate it. But I really am just tired. And pregnant.” And confused as hell after Rex basically pulled a declaration of love from me and then disappeared. Again. It was his specialty and I really shouldn’t be all that surprised, but I was. Again.

Though he hadn’t gone away completely, because every morning breakfast appeared on my doorstep—hot and greasy and delicious—as though delivered by a fairy. Flowers had shown up yesterday afternoon, three dozen, filling my cabin with the scent or roses, tulips and daisies. Plus one purple orchid sat beside my bed. He’d delivered a delicious shrimp risotto, from where, I had no idea, along with a note.

I love you. I mean it. Accept it. ~Rex

How could I resist that? After a sleepless night, I woke up this morning certain he was playing a game or proving a point. He either wanted to show me what I would be missing without him or romance me until I gave in, I just didn’t know which. Yet.

“So, that’s a no to lunch?”

I blinked and looked up at Jared, who I’d completely forgotten about as I let my thoughts wander. Another thing that happened all too often and made me worry that pregnancy brain wasn’t just an excuse. “You want lunch? Sure, I have things to make sub sandwiches. Roast beef good with you? What?”

He laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. “I asked if you wanted to have lunch with me.”

I blinked, feeling like we were having two separate conversations. “Where?”

Jared just shook his head and grabbed my hand, pulling me through the house to the other end that provided a gorgeous view of a field of wildflowers. “Here.”

“Hey Jared, usually lunch means food,” I told him and he smirked.

“Still a smart ass, I see. I’ll be back. You stay here.”

I smiled at his retreating back. “Not like I have the energy to go anywhere, what this extra light lunch in front of me.” His laugh echoed as he walked away and I rolled my eyes, turning them out the window and enjoying the field of flowers in bloom. This was the kind of view that inspired people to paint and write about communing with nature. Too bad my art was food. And right now, I was cooking glorified rabbit food.

Mostly.

I let out a long, weary sigh because that’s what I felt. Just exhausted and alone, adrift. Not a good way for a pregnant woman to feel about her life, but there you have it. I was not having an enjoyable pregnancy and I was scared as hell that it was just a sample of what I had to look forward to once this kid was born. Working a lot, never having enough money and probably never having a date for the next couple decades.

Unless I let myself lean on Rex. But I couldn’t.

I hadn’t lied when I told him I loved him. Just as he’d claimed to do, I had been honest with myself about my feelings for Rex after finding out I was pregnant. I would likely always love him. I’d already loved him for most of my life, in some form or other, but now it was more. He was my only lover and the father of my child. My heart belonged to him wholly and fully.

But that didn’t mean he was what was best for me.

“That’s so much thinking, I half expect steam to start rising from your head.”

That wasn’t Jared. “Rex. What are you doing here?”

He grinned. “I’m going big.” Arms spread wide, Rex looked so proud of himself but I was lost.

“What does that mean?”

His smile dimmed just a fraction but he kept it in place. “It means, I’m pulling out all the stops. For you. Well, for us, but you know what I mean.”

I did, but I still had no idea what was going on. “So there’s no lunch?”

He looked at me, confusion flashed first and then humor as he tossed his head back and laughed, clutching his belly like it was the funniest thing in the whole damn world. “Lunch will be here soon, but first, we talk.”

I groaned and he laughed again. “All we do is talk, Rex. Aren’t you sick of talking?”

He blinked. “No. I’m not. When it comes to talking about how I feel about you and the future we could have, hell no I’m not sick of talking about it.”

Well, damn. “You make it hard to stay mad.”

“Good. Come with me.” He walked closer, clasped our hands together and pulled me along behind him. Out of the house and through the field of flowers. “I’m glad it’s a nice sunny day or this plan would have really sucked.”

“What plan?” I couldn’t help but laugh at this new, playful version of Rex. “I don’t recall any plan. In fact, I had no plans other than lunch and a nap.”

“Perfect, because I have enough plans for the both of us.” The grin he wore lit up his whole face as he guided me through the large field where, eventually, I could see a tent set up in the distance. “I hope you didn’t think I did another runner.”

“I did,” I told him simply and couldn’t help but smile up at him because he looked so handsome, so ruggedly handsome in his long sleeve tee that sculped his chest and arms. And from my view behind him, his wide back and tapered waist made my mouth water.

“You were wrong.” His voice took on a hard edge and I knew my doubt had hurt him.

“So it seems. I’m glad.” His steps stopped and I slammed into his side. “Did you forget where we were going,” I asked, my lips twitching with the effort it took not to laugh.

“You’re glad? Really?”

I nodded and pulled him along. “Don’t make me take it back. Hungry pregnant women can be vindictive, or so I’ve heard.”

“Well, come on then.” He flashed a smile I hadn’t seen before, it was boyish and charming and filled with light. I nearly missed the mischief shining in those blue depths as he leaned closer and scooped me in his arms and ran towards the tent.

“Put me down you crazy person!” I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his grassy, leathery masculine scent. I wanted to press my lips to his neck, taste that tan strip of skin, but I didn’t. He bent at the knee and put me down, keeping me close.

“There. Better?”

The tent was…magnificent. Large and airy, there was a sideboard at the closed off end and a table for two near the opening. Flowers were placed all around. Wildflowers straight from the field. “This is amazing, Rex. What is all this?”

Rex stepped forward, his big body dwarfing mine but I didn’t mind. I felt petite and feminine, and when his big hands cupped my face, treasured. “This is my grand gesture, sweetheart. Are you ready?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer before his lips were on mine, soft and slow at first, and then hot and hard, hungry. It was intoxicating and all encompassing and that scared the hell out of me.

Hell, I didn’t know if I was ready. Was a girl ever really ready for a grand gesture? “Um, yeah?”

“Great.” With my hand in his, he brought me to one of the chairs and pulled it out, pressing a kiss to either side of my neck as he slid the chair closer to the table. “Because I’m ready too. Ready for it all.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat that had grown even larger and reached for the glass of water already on the table. I wanted to look up, but I couldn’t. Suddenly his appearance, his strange behavior and that damn smile, it had all taken on greater importance. It all seemed so big, so massive and life-changing that I felt my insides start to panic. “Ready for what, exactly?” But I had a feeling I already knew. Not only did I know, but I’d wished it on and off for years.

“Forever. Duh.” His eyes twinkled, actually freakin’ twinkled. How was that fair? He reached for the glass pitcher and poured lemon ginger tea into each glass. “You were right, about the baby. But not how you think. I looked for you, when you left Cody.”

“You what?” I blinked and leaned forward, certain I heard wrong.

“You left so suddenly and when Marcus called about the alarm, I came down the mountain to find you gone. No one knew, or would say where you’d gone so I hired someone to find you.”

“You did not!” I sat back, stunned, hand trembling around the icy cool tea.

“I did.” He flashed that grin that made my heart beat a little faster, my pulse thump a little harder in my throat. “You were hard to track after you left New York, but I tried. Jared wouldn’t tell me shit and Marcus and Lulu just knew you’d taken a job in New York.”

I couldn’t believe it. Rex had searched for me. I didn’t know why, but that felt significant. “I was only there for a couple weeks, working here and there as I made my way to New Mexico. Why did you look for me? You got what you wanted. I didn’t mean it…like that.”

He grinned. “You’re right. I thought that’s what I wanted. In fact, I thought you leaving justified my decision. But when no one could find you, I got worried.”

“Casey knew.”

He laughed but there was no amusement in it. “Like I was going to risk Casey’s wrath.”

I laughed, hard. Casey was tiny, just five foot three to my five foot one, but she had enough courage and confidence for a person with another twelve inches. “It’s a good thing you didn’t, she might have skinned you alive.”

He grinned again, his expression wistful and hopeful. “I was still looking for you until I spotted you at Jared’s that first day. All I felt at first, was relief. Then anger at Jared for lying and at you, for leaving.”

“What else was I supposed to do?”

He sighed. “Exactly what you did. I can see that now, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not really a feelings kind of guy.”

I laughed at that understatement. “I noticed.”

He grinned. “But it all made sense once I sat back and really thought about it. Even through my drunken haze things all became pretty clear. Sleeping with you, searching for you and my inability to leave you alone. I figured it out sometime between my second and third bottle of Jack. My problem was that I’m crazy about you.”

A smile came, unbidden, at his simply spoken words, filled with sincerity and emotion. “Rex. I’m pretty crazy about you too.”

My words stopped his own and a soft, proud smile curved his lips. “I love to hear you say that.” Based on the look in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth. “But it’s more than that, Lena. It’s everything. I know it’s soon and shit, I know we’ve done more fighting and more fucking than romancing and dating, but I’m all in. I love you and I want to make you mine.”

That sounded like a special kind of heaven to me, waking up every morning in his arms and making love with him until we passed out, limp and sated. Taking care of a child with his big blue eyes and my blond hair. I couldn’t help but grin. “And what about you?”

A frown appeared, causing the tiniest little wrinkle to form between his eyebrows. “What about me? I’m already yours, Lena.”

The first tear rolled down my cheek. “Damn hormones,” I grumbled and his smile grew wider. “I’ve been yours for some time, Rex. Even when I wanted to punch you in the family jewels.”

“Sweetheart, that is excellent news, because I have something to show you.” I braced myself, expecting a small velvet box with a pretty piece of compressed carbon. Instead he pulled out…papers.

“Is this one of those sex contracts?”

“If you want it to be,” he answered with a slow, lazy grin as he pushed the papers across the table.

I scanned them quickly and nearly choked on nothing but air. “Rex, this is too much.”

“It’s not nearly enough,” he shot back gruffly.

My eyes bugged out. “Are you insane? This is what used to be the Crowe Ranch, it’s massive and I know how much it cost because I looked into buying it.” I would have had to use a huge chunk of my trust fund just to buy the damn thing. “And repairs are going to be sky high! Have you seen the state of that place?” I didn’t know what to feel, elated and terrified, grateful and worried. Confused.

But Rex seemed content. Happy even, as he smiled. “I have and I think that land will be perfect. For us. All three of us, maybe more.”

It took my brain a minute to catch to what he was saying. “This is going to be our home?”

He nodded and pulled out a set of blueprints. “Our home, my workshop and your restaurant. What do you think?”

I thought it was fantastic, but I also felt disappointed. This was all great, but this was the kind of commitment that couples made. Real couples with a long, bright future ahead of them. “I think it’s amazing. A lot, but amazing.”

“Good. Because there’s more.”

I shook my head and pushed away from the stable as I began to pace. “I don’t need you to give me more things, Rex. I know you have money and I don’t expect you to spend it all on me.” I kept pacing, stopping to graze on the platters of breakfast food on the sideboard so I wouldn’t get dizzy. Or sick.

Rex’s chair scraped against the floor and he stood, closing the gap between us. “What else am I going to do with that money, Lena? Other than give my family everything they deserve?”

“But-,”

“Hush, sweetheart. No more buts, except maybe this one,” he said, leaning forward and brushing a soft kiss on my lips as he squeezed my ass. “A man works hard so that when he gets a wife and child, they can have the best life he can provide. I’ve been working hard for years with no visions of love and family and happy endings. At least not until a petite little firecracker showed up on my doorstep and captured my heart and soul.” Dipping in his pocket, Rex pulled out a burgundy velvet bag, grinning when our eyes collided over the bag.

I watched, heart in my throat, as his oversized hand slipped inside the bag and pulled out the most magnificent piece of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on. “Rex, oh my goodness!” I knew this moment was real because I felt my legs start to buckle, the blood rushed through my veins so loud it was all I could hear. “It’s stunning.”

“Hell, Lena, this is nothing compared to you.” He held it up and I stared at the yellow and pink diamonds on the gold band, sparkling just like a Wyoming sunset. “The moment I saw this ring, I knew it belonged to you. Only at the time, I hadn’t realized it would make the perfect engagement ring.”

I sucked in a breath and one of my hands went to his chest, the rapid thump-thump-thump of his heart beating under my hand. “Rex.”

“I’m serious, Lena. I love you and you love me. We have a baby on the way, and I really don’t want to go the rest of my life without making love with you again. So, what do you say? Will you get this hermit off the mountain and be my wife, my partner and my lover until we’re old and gray and need a massage just to loosen up for old fogey sex?”

I smiled but the laughter bubbled out of me. Leave it up to Rex to give a funny, heart-felt and totally perverted marriage proposal. “I’d say that was the craziest, most amazing proposal ever.” He looked at me expectantly and I worked hard to stop the giddy smile that was dying to get out. “And I’d say that I can’t wait to marry you.” My heart felt full to bursting, especially at the smile that lit up his handsome face. It was true happiness, and it was all because I agreed to marry him. That was a heady feeling and I couldn’t contain myself any longer, I threw myself into his arms and kissed his face all over. “Really can’t wait to marry you, Rex. But maybe we could eat now?”

He grinned and shook his head. “Soon. I promise.” Then his lips were on mine and nothing else mattered. Not all the hell we’d been through, not the hunger gnawing its way through my belly and certainly not the idea of spending forever with this man. I got lost in his kiss, in his embrace and the feel of all that hard, masculine muscle pressed against my body. I groaned and he deepened the kiss, holding my close and tight, while he devoured my lips and brought me to the edge of ecstasy. “I love you so damn much, Lena. I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

“Me either.”

“Great. You know, the courthouse doesn’t close until five and there’s no waiting period.”

I was ready to reject the idea outright, but it seemed like a great idea. No fuss, no muss and no year spent figuring out what color napkins I want or floral arrangements. “Counter offer. We eat because the baby is hungry which means I’m starving, and then call Jared and Casey to be our witnesses.”

“Deal,” he said easily, dropping a kiss on my forehead that made me feel cherished. Loved.

“Then I guess it’s settled. We’re getting married.” Another thought occurred to me. “We’ll probably have to let Dad and Lulu do a big party to make up for this.”

“As long as you’re mine, I’m willing to celebrate that with a party every single day.”

“Damn, I really love you Rex.”

He grinned. “Of course you do, I’m amazing. And I love you too.”

And that, was music to my ears.

* * *