A Texas-Sized Secret (Texas Cattleman's Club: Blackmail 6)

She shrugged and smiled. “If Tamara Stiles can get Fashion Sense on stations around the country, so can I. And doing it myself means it gets done my way. I don’t have to leave Texas, leave what makes my show what it is to make it succeed. I’ll get there. It’ll just take a little longer.”

“You’re amazing,” he said quietly. He’d always seen her strength, and he was glad she could see it now, too. “I believe in you, Naomi. You wait and see. In a few years, your show is going to put Royal on the map.”

She grinned. “As long as you’re with me, then everything will be perfect.”

“Oh, I’m with you, honey. And you’ll never shake me loose now.”

/> “Good to hear,” she said and moved to kiss him again.

He stopped her cold with a shake of his head. “Not yet. We’ve got something else to settle first.”

“What’s left?” she asked, but she was smiling and he was grateful. He never wanted to see her cry again.

“Just this.” Toby went down on one knee in front of her and pulled a simply set sapphire ring from his pocket. Holding it up, he saw more tears and told himself this one last time was okay. “You didn’t want an engagement ring before because it wouldn’t have been real. I hope you’ll take this one, though. This ring belonged to my grandmother, Naomi. It symbolizes the fifty years of love she and my grandpa shared.”

“Toby...”

His gaze locked on hers, Toby said softly, “I’m offering you this ring, Naomi. I want to give you my name, my love and the future we’ll build together. Marry me for real, Naomi. Trust me with your heart, with your baby. Give me more babies. Fill this big empty house with the kind of love that lasts generations.”

“Oh, Toby, my heart hurts it’s so full,” she whispered brokenly.

“That’s a yes, then?”

“Yes, of course it’s yes.”

He slid the ring onto her finger, where that cool sapphire caught the sunlight and winked up at both of them. Then he lifted the hem of her shirt and pressed a gentle kiss to the mound of her belly and heard her sigh as she stroked her fingers through his hair.

Then he stood up and looked into her eyes as he pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Naomi,” he whispered. “Always have. Always will.”

She sighed again, smiled and lifted one hand to smooth his hair back from his forehead. “I love you, Toby. Always have. Always will.”

“Good to hear,” he said, lowering his head for a kiss.

Naomi grinned. “Talk, talk, talk. Show me what you’ve got, cowboy.”

He grinned back, and then he showed her.

* * * * *