The Cowboy Imports a Bride(The Cowboys Of Chance Creek #3) by Cora Seton Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted him… "Even if I'm not a rancher?"
    "No matter what you choose to be."
    He felt as if the ground was sliding beneath his feet. As if all the walls that ever held him in gave way at once, leaving him surrounded by a world of possibilities. Freed from a lifetime of his family's strictures, Morgan's words left his future open wide. "That's the best gift you could ever give me," he said gruffly. "I'll build you that winery. I'll get you that money."
    "And I'll help you do whatever you decide to do."
    "Let's have lots of babies together," he said, leaning forward to brush a kiss across her cheek.
    She nodded, her eyes shining. "Hold on, just a minute." She got to her feet and moved first to the kitchen, then into her bedroom. Rob waited for her, secure in his soul for the first time in his memory that everything he was doing was exactly right.
    Who would have guessed when he got on that plane that his life would change like this? Could it be only twenty-four hours ago that he was back in Montana, stuck, miserable…?
    When she came back she held candles that she lit and put on the narrow coffee table.
    "You kneel there," she said, pointing to one side. "Put the ring there." He did what she told him, placing it on the glass surface, curious to see what she'd do next.
    She took a position on the other side, and set another ring in front of her. It looked old and tarnished, definitely meant for a man.
    "My mother gave me a box of jewelry last year, some things she'd inherited but didn't use. This was one of them. I always liked it." She picked it up and took his hand. In the candle-light, she looked lovely – intent and radiant. "Rob Matheson, I promise right now to bind my life to yours, forever and always, to love you, honor you, respect you, and build a life by your side. I make this pledge now…" She trailed off uncertainly.
    Rob picked up the thread. "In the presence of God?" he said softly. He felt like God was here in this room. Nothing he'd ever done had felt this right.
    "In the presence of God," Morgan echoed. "Forever and ever, amen." She threaded the ring onto his finger.
    Rob picked up the engagement ring Rose Bellingham had helped him choose this afternoon, with many assurances he was following the right path. This darkened, quiet living room was a far cry from the bustling chrome and glass interior of the little shop in the middle of Chance Creek.
    "Morgan Tate, I promise right now to bind my life to yours, forever and always, to love you, honor you, cherish you and build a life by your side. I make this pledge in the presence of God. Forever and ever, amen."
    He slid the ring onto her finger.
    As he stared across the table, the candles guttering between them, Rob was positive he'd spun his life on its axis and it would never be the same again. He pulled her to stand, tugged her around the table, and bent to seal the bargain with a kiss.
    Yes, he would choose to love this woman. He would choose to love her right now.
     
    * * * * *
    Morgan ran her fingers through her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror, gathering the courage to leave the washroom and return to the bedroom where Rob waited for her. She still felt like she was walking on air. Her own body didn't seem to belong to her. Instead it hummed and tingled and her heart beat fit to burst right out of her chest.
    She had no idea what impulse made her fetch the ring and conduct her own quasi-wedding ceremony in the drab little living room of her apartment.
    Of course it hadn't felt drab with the candles lit and Rob staring across the coffee table from her. It had felt magical. It still did.
    And now she was going to make love to the man she'd spend the rest of her life with.
    An idea that both thrilled and terrified her.
    It had been a long time since she'd been with a man. A really, really long time.
    And she wasn't entirely sure she should be with a man now. Hadn't she told herself she'd wait until her wedding night before she had sex again?