“That’s when you met your brothers,” she said, knowing how important they had become to each other. The Last Chance Ranch had saved him and enriched his life in so many ways.... She was just beginning to understand why he wanted to own part of the Lucky Ace.
“Yes.” Lane reached out and took her hand in his. “I gained siblings and a dad who took the time and cared enough to help me move past what had happened.” His tone changed to one of fondness. “Hank Calvert had his hands full with the six of us. But he used ranch work and rodeo competitions to keep us busy and help us work off some of the anger we had to deal with.” Chuckling, he added, “And the words of wisdom he passed along were priceless.”
“What did he tell you?” she asked, loving the way her hand felt in his.
“Oh, things like being polite and dusting your hand off on the seat of your jeans before you shake hands with somebody,” he said, grinning. “Then there was the lecture every time one of us had a date about how to treat a lady. If I heard ‘don’t forget to open her doors’ once, I heard it a thousand times.” Laughing, he added, “Another one he was particularly fond of telling us was, ‘unless your arms are broke, you’d better carry whatever it is she needs carrying.’”
“Is that the reason you always hold my chair when I sit down?” she asked, smiling back at him.
“Yup.” His grin widened. “Hank had a laundry list of things he said made a man into a real man. He called it the Cowboy Code, and I can honestly say he lived by everything on that list.”
“He sounds like he was a wonderful man,” Taylor said, wishing she could have met the cowboy who had cared enough to help boys who might otherwise have continued down the wrong path in life.
“He sure was,” Lane said fondly.
“Lane, I’m sorry for all those awful things I said to you the other night,” she said, feeling horrible about her accusations. “I should have let you explain everything instead of demanding that you leave. I really need to work on controlling my tendency to jump to conclusions and overreact first without listening to reason.”
He nodded. “You’re a very passionate woman.”
“That’s no excuse for my behavior,” she insisted. “Please accept my apology.”
“Don’t worry, Taylor,” he said, his smile sending shivers up her spine. “All is forgiven.”
They sat in silence for several long moments before she asked, “Lane, why did you fold your hand today? You had me beat and we both know it.”
When his dark brown gaze met hers, her heart skipped a beat. “I knew that you wanted all of the Lucky Ace.” With her hand still in his, he gave it a little squeeze. “And I realized that you and your happiness were more important to me than a thousand acres of Texas dust.”
“Lane, I—”
Placing his index finger to her lips, he shook his head. “You said you’d listen to me.” He replaced his finger with his lips to give her a kiss that robbed her of breath. “I have another business proposal I’d like to run past you.”
“Okay.” His kiss felt wonderful and having spent four days without it, she wanted more. “What do you have in mind?”
“I was thinking that if you don’t mind, I could stay here for a while and help you run the ranch,” he offered. “Do you think that’s something you would be interested in?”
Hope began to rise within her. “Yes, I would really like that.”
He gave a short nod. “And what would you say to me living in the house with you?”
“That would be nice,” she said as her pulse sped up.
“How would you feel about having the master bedroom remodeled and redecorated?” he asked, looking thoughtful. “Is that something you would be open to doing?”
“That would be a good idea,” she said, nodding.
He seemed to consider her answer for a moment before he asked, “After it’s redecorated, would you be open to making it your bedroom?”
“I suppose that I should,” she said, wondering where he was going with his suggestions.
“And if I promise not to snore too loud, would you be open to me staying in there with you?” he asked, raising their entwined hands to his lips to kiss the back of her hand.
“I would love that,” she said, meaning it. She started to move closer to him, but he raised his hand to stop her.
“Just wait,” he said. “You haven’t heard the rest of my proposal.”
“All right, you have my attention,” she said, grinning. He was going to stay at the Lucky Ace. That’s all she cared about.