Texas Heroes_ Volume 1(130)

“Mitch, would you say…” She worried at that delectable lower lip, her lashes sweeping downward as she shook her head.

Mitch frowned. “What?”

“Never mind. I just wanted to hear…” Her voice trailed off as she toyed with a button on his shirt.

Then Perrie lifted her head, her expression resolute. “No. I was weak before. I won’t be weak now. I’ll say it first.”

Mitch wondered what she meant, but not for long. Her hands slid up his chest, then framed his face, her eyes so serious, yet so soft. So full of every dream he hadn’t allowed himself. “I love you, Mitch Gallagher.”

He couldn’t believe how it felt. How much he’d needed to hear those words, after so long alone. He grasped her hands in his own much larger ones, bringing them to his lips while he struggled to bring his voice under control.

“I—” Mitch swallowed hard, but the lump remained. “I’ve never told a woman this before, not since—” His chest felt crushed beneath the weight of his hopes.

Gripping her hands between his, he pressed them to his heart. “I love you, Perrie. I’ll protect you and honor you and do everything in my power to make you glad that you gave me your love.”

Her eyes were so tender that he was unbearably moved. “I want your babies, Mitch. I want to make a family with you. A real family, filled with love.”

For a moment, he couldn’t speak. “Davey will always be our first child, but I’d like to give you others.” Tenderly, he kissed her, trying to tell her what she meant to him. All too soon, the kiss turned hot.

She pressed her body along the length of his. “Mitch?”

He tried to listen over the sizzle of sparks shooting down his spine. “Yes?” He trailed kisses down her throat, loving the hitch in her breath. Then he sealed his mouth to hers again, tightening his fingers in her hair. He couldn’t get close enough. He wanted to crawl inside her skin.

For endless moments, they lost themselves in the kiss and the promises it sealed. Finally, he pulled away long enough to breathe.

“Mitch?” she said again, lake-blue eyes shining with something that looked almost like mischief.

“What?” He’d never get enough of looking at her. He’d dedicate his life to making her smile.

Then he learned where Davey had gotten that crafty expression as those lush lips curved, a glint in her eye. “Think we could start practicing tonight?”

Mitch laughed, and he felt like he’d been reborn. Love. Laughter. He wanted years of both.

He scooped her up in his arms, his spirits soaring. “Tonight. Forever. For as long as you like.”





Epilogue





Morning Star, Texas


Boston—and Simon—were in her past now.

And Mitch was more than ready to be her future.

Perrie’s hand gripped his as they turned up the road leading to the place that he once called home.

“Wow, Mitch, you lived up in that house on top of the hill? Are these your cows? Mom, look, there’s a horse and another horse and a baby—”

Davey’s excited chatter eased the ice that held Mitch’s heart in its grip. Memories assaulted him from every direction.

Perrie answered. “Yes, sweetie. Boone lives there now, with his wife Maddie.”

“I wonder if he’s big like Mitch.”

I guess we’ll find out.

And then Mitch saw a man who had to be his brother, walking down the steps of the big white two-story house that had haunted Mitch’s dreams. He stopped the car, and Perrie squeezed his hand.

“We’ll just wait here.”

Mitch yanked his gaze away from his brother’s tall form, glancing at the woman who had changed his life. “No. You’re my family now. You come with me.”

With Perrie at his side and Davey holding his hand tightly, Mitch closed the distance. His heart in his throat, he studied his brother.

The boy had grown into a man as tall as himself, the blond hair turned a darker gold. He had the look of their father, though Mitch had Sam’s coloring. And in the blue eyes, Mitch saw the same swirl of emotion that crowded his own chest.

“Welcome home, Mitch,” said a voice too deep to belong to his little brother. Boone broke away from the dark-haired beauty at his side and closed the distance between them.

Perrie watched the two big men clasp hands. Then Boone pulled Mitch into a hug that brought tears to her eyes. A few feet away, a statuesque gypsy with a mass of chestnut curls smiled and wept unashamedly as she winked at Perrie.

This must be Maddie. Perrie like her on sight.

“Why’s everybody crying, Mom?” Davey whispered.

“It’s a good kind of crying, sweetheart.”