This Love (Cowboys & Angels 6)

When a gust of wind hit her hat and blew it off, Maebh jumped up and screamed. She somehow managed to get it and plopped it back on her head. She was laughing the entire time, and I found myself laughing along with her. Laughing in a way I’d never done before. It felt fucking amazing.

If my brothers were here I knew they would be teasing me. If I could look at myself in a mirror I’d see I was wearing the same damn smile I’d given them all hell about. Maebh looked at me with a huge smile. Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she yelled, “That was close! I almost lost me hat!”

Christ. After only a few minutes alone with her, I knew.

I’d been freaking Smurfed.

“I’m stuffed!” Maebh said as we walked back toward the boat.

“Was it good?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her waist as an asshole walked toward us, checking her out. When his eyes caught mine, I smirked.

That’s right, fucker. She’s mine.

“It was really good.”

I stared at the asshole as he walked by. He tipped his head as if letting me know he got the hint.

Dick.

“Now what!” Maebh asked, excitement laced in her voice.

“Well, what were you planning on doing when you got here?”

She shrugged. “Don’t know. Relax. Read. Take long walks.”

I took her hand in mine and helped her onto the boat. Then I grabbed the lines and tossed them to her as I pushed the boat from the dock and jumped in.

“How about we do some fishing next? You game to learn?”

She grinned. “If it means spending time with you. Yes.”

“Then let’s do this. I’ll teach you how to fish.”

“Will you be catching our dinner for tonight?”

I lifted a brow. “If I catch it, you have to prepare and cook it.”

“What if I catch it?”

Laughing, I hit the throttle, causing her to stumble back and land on the chair.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, babe.”

An hour later, I was watching Maebh reel in a fish. A big fish. The kind of fish that if I had caught it I’d most likely be getting my phone’s camera ready to send a picture to my brothers and rub it in their faces.

“This thing weighs a ton!” she yelled as I helped her bring the fish in.

“Use your index finger like I showed you to control the release of the line.”

“Got it!” she gleefully shouted. I loved working at reeling in what looked like a pretty big fish.

“Let me grab the net,” I said. “This thing is huge. Looks like a bass.”

The way she giggled made my heart soar. She was loving this and that made me happy. I loved to fish, so dating a woman who enjoyed it had to be a plus.

When I saw the damn fish jumping out of the water, my eyes nearly popped. I knew the little bastard was big, but holy shit.

“There it is!” Maebh screamed.

“Don’t let go of the pole, babe! Let me get this under it.”

Once I got the fish into the net, I got a good look at it and laughed.

“What’s wrong? Is it the wrong kind of fish?”

“No! This is a largemouth bass. Shit, it has to be about ten pounds.”

She grinned. “Is that good?”

I loved how damn innocent she was. Grabbing the back of her neck with my hand, I pulled her to me and kissed her quickly. Then I dumped him into the live tank and grabbed my phone.

“Let’s get some pictures of you holding him, then we’ll put him back.”

Her smile dropped.

“What?”

“What?” I asked. Was she upset we were putting him back into the lake?

Her face turned white. “You want me to hold him?”

“Yes! You’ve got to get your picture with your first badass fish.”

Maebh slowly shook her head. “I can’t hold him.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

Her eyes jerked down to look at the fish swimming in the live well.

“He…he looks slimy.”

Trying my best to hold my laughter back, I glanced between Maebh and the bass before settling my stare on her. “Maebh, you cook fish all the time. You can’t tell me you’ve never handled a whole fish before.”

“I have. It was dead though. This one will be looking at me…and squirming.”

“You’re afraid the fish is going to look at you and wiggle?”

She nodded. “I don’t want him to be mad at me for taking his life.”

That’s when I knew I was fucked. Because just when I thought I couldn’t fall for this woman any more than I already had, she went off and said something like that. Her heart was the purest I’d ever known. That was sexy as hell.

“Baby, he’s not going to be mad at you. You’re going to take a picture with him and put him back into the water.”

Her eyes widened. “We’re not keeping him?”

I shook my head. “No.”