Cowboy Love in Peril [Love: The Cowboy Way 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Luxie Ryder Page A

he would laugh at her at a time like this. Kimber heard him chuckle as he pretended to clear his throat, irritating her all the more, but she didn’t get a chance to lash out again because he wrapped his arms around her and trapped her against him. “I’m sorry, honey, but I gotta tell ya, sympathy isn’t your strong suit.”
    Kimber couldn’t see his face, but she knew exactly how he would look, and the thought of him fighting not to laugh as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, made her smile despite her anger. She was glad he’d stopped her from hitting him some more. He might be big, stubborn, and arrogant, but he didn’t deserve to be abused for it.
    “It’s okay, you can let me go. I’m calm now.” She eased out of his arms and had the urge to smile again when he took a cautious step away from her. “I’m sorry, Wade. I shouldn’t have done that.”
    “I didn’t mean to laugh but I’ve never seen you so mad before. I guess I pissed you off, huh?”
    Kimber grinned, her cheeks burning with shame as she imagined how deranged she must have seemed. “You could say that.”
    The humor drained from his face, and Kimber could see him struggling to find the words to explain himself. “I’m not much good at this kind of stuff. It just meant so much to me, you know, the thought I might have given you one or both of the kids you adore so much. I was proud of myself for the first time in my life. I’d actually done something right. Something good. Then one day, I looked at Brandon and the kids sleeping in the chair in the nursery, and realized in that moment that I hadn’t done a damned thing.”
    “I don’t know what to tell you that will make you feel better. You’re upset about the kids, I get that, but you couldn’t be more of a father to them. And they would be devastated if you weren’t around anymore.”
    “Why wouldn’t I be around? I ain’t going nowhere.” He closed the distance between them and tilted her face up to kiss her. “Guys like me don’t get this lucky, I told you that already. I’m just hurting, that’s all. I’ll get over it.”
    Kimber’s shoulders tingled as the brutal afternoon sun started to burn the skin exposed by her strappy top. She led Wade over to the small white gazebo nestled in the corner of the garden, its roof and sides wreathed in the vibrant pink bougainvillea her mother had nurtured for years. Wade had to stoop to get through the door, and the seat was so small she had to tuck herself under his arm in order for both of them to sit comfortably.
    Neither of them spoke for a while, and Kimber’s mind wandered back over the last few weeks and Wade’s strange behavior began to make a little more sense. “That’s why you didn’t want to marry me anymore, isn’t it?”
    Wade sucked in a ragged breath and shook his head. “I’ve never not wanted to marry you, Kimber. I’ve wanted that since I was barely more than a kid. I just didn’t think it was the right time to discuss it, not until the truth had come out.”
    “Well, it’s out now. Or it will be, once Brandon gets home.” Kimber sat up and twisted around on the narrow bench seat so she could see Wade’s face. “Talking of Brandon, is that why you’ve kept him at arm’s length recently?”
    “I guess I was a little jealous for a while back there.” Wade squirmed under her gaze, looking shamed by his admission. Kimber cupped his jaw, scratching her palm with his stubble as she turned his face to hers so she could kiss him.
    She scooted down on the bench, tucking her feet up under her butt and laying her head on Wade’s lap, sighing with contentment as he began to play with her hair. He kept his gaze averted, and Kimber was okay with that, aware that he needed some time to deal with all that had happened. She closed her eyes, and thought about the paths their lives had taken so far, to bring them to this moment. Jessica and Emily hadn’t been planned, but Kimber knew that having them was