Lost Love (Cowboys & Angels 1)

She grabbed my T-shirt as if she needed to steady herself. “My broken heart is nearly healed, Steed. But I think there is always going to be a void there. An ache that won’t really ever go away because of our loss.”

My eyes closed as my own ache seemed to throb a tad bit harder. Gazing into her eyes, I nodded. “I know. I feel the same way.”

For a few moments we were lost in each other’s eyes before Paxton smiled. “Let’s go have a picnic. I’m starving.”

I kissed her nose and held the door open for her. After putting the picnic basket into the backseat, I made my way to the driver’s side and hopped in. I was hoping like hell Cord would be gone by the time we got there.

As we neared the picnic site my nerves started to rattle. I had no idea why I was so nervous. It wasn’t like I hadn’t just fucked her against the side of my truck.

No, that was exactly it. I’d been acting like a horny damn teenager for the last few months. I needed to shower her with love and affection. I needed Paxton to know it wasn’t about the sex. Not that the sex wasn’t fucking fantastic, but it was also something so much deeper.

Our love.

Paxton gasped as we drove up to the elaborate setup I had planned and my brothers had executed.

Holy shit. They didn’t do this all on their own, did they?

The large blanket was laid out with a bunch of different sized pillows tossed on it. There was a bucket of ice sitting off to the side that should be holding the expensive-ass champagne in it. In the middle of the blanket was a bouquet of Paxton’s favorite flowers, peonies.

Hung up a few feet in front of the blanket was a white sheet strung up by twine.

“Steed!” Paxton gasped as she threw the door to the truck open and headed to our setup.

I grinned when I saw the old, wooden box I had found in the barn; Paxton would love it. It held the brown bags filled with popcorn for the movie later.

Paxton hands were over her mouth. Her eyes glistened as she took it all in.

Her eyes captured mine. “You did this?”

I took a quick look around. “Well, I planned it all out, spent an entire day drawing it to perfection so Trevor would get it right. Cord and Mitchell helped too.” Laughing, I shook my head. “They got it spot on.”

She threw her body into mine. “It’s perfect! Amazing! Beautiful!”

Wrapping my arms around her, I held her close. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make you happy, Paxton.”

We stood there for a few minutes, simply holding each other. I was pretty sure Paxton was crying, but I knew they were happy tears. When she finally pulled back, our eyes locked. “You are the most amazing man I’ve ever met. This is so romantic, Steed.”

I wiggled my eyebrows. “Wait until you see the movie I picked out.”

She let out a chuckle. “Please tell me it’s not porn!”

Laughing, I bent down and picked up the picnic basket I had set down earlier. “No! Well, unless Trevor switched out the movies which I could totally see him doing.”

“So could I!” Paxton added with a shake of her head.

“Let’s eat,” I said as I guided her onto the blanket. I set everything out for dinner, making a mental note to check the DVD as soon as I got a chance to sneak over there.

Damn Trevor.

The moment I saw the picnic area set up, my breath caught in my chest and a warmth spread through my body. Steed had remembered how much I loved picnics. My cheeks heated thinking back to past picnics…

“Steed, this is all so amazing. I have to say though, with age comes better picnics!”

He laughed while taking out the plastic plates and silverware. My heart was beating faster simply from watching him. I loved how he took so much care planning this day. From shopping at a store I had been longing to go to, to setting up the perfect picnic. Right down to the movie later.

“Mom’s fried chicken. Your favorite.”

As if on cue, my stomach growled, and we both let out a chuckle.

“Fresh fruit. Yogurt dip, the kind Waylynn makes. I had to call her and ask for the recipe. Chloe helped make it last night for our ‘special date’ as she kept calling it.”

I smiled as my chest fluttered. “She’s so precious, Steed. You’ve done an amazing job raising her so far.”

He stopped what he was doing and focused on me. “She loves you, Paxton. When we were mixing up the dip last night, she told me her biggest hope was for you to be her mommy.”

My vision started to blur as happiness coursed through my body. “What…what did you say to her?”