He reached for her, and she wrapped her arms around him. He couldn’t resist when she turned her head up for him to kiss her. The long, soft meshing of mouths drew the warmth of love into the moment, not that it had ever been missing.
She eyed the panel of buttons on the wall. “You want to do the honors of starting this thing, or should I?”
“I’ll let you do the honor. Since it might be your last time in DC and you’ll be a real Texas girl.”
A gleam came into her eyes. “I’m ready and rarin’ to go. Is that saying Texas enough for you?”
He laughed, and she restarted the elevator. When they reached the ground floor, she took him by the hand and tangled their fingers. Outside the door, he whirled her to him and kissed her.
“This is the start of our new life,” she whispered, cupping his jaw.
He rested his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes. “Let’s hop a flight and get to it.”
Epilogue
Nealy looked around the crowded bowling alley, shocked that these big Ranger Ops dudes who could level a threat in seconds, were into such a weenie sport.
With Linc’s hand on her back, he maneuvered her through the line of people renting shoes and on to the place where they could buy drinks.
“You ever bowled before?” He slanted a look at her.
“Once at a sixth grade birthday party. I wasn’t any good.”
He chuckled and stepped up to the bar. “Two drafts,” he told the worker.
Nealy twisted to look at the lanes and people high-fiving someone who’d just bowled a strike. Then her gaze landed on two pretty females carrying trays of nachos with cheese and throwing looks at another group of men across the room.
They put their heads together and giggled at whatever was spoken between them, but following their stares, Nealy could guess it was about the hunky Ranger Ops taking up two lanes against the wall.
“You see the guys, babe? I’ll carry the beers.”
“I see them.” She couldn’t help but be more stunned to see how seriously the team was taking their game. When they approached, Lennon and Jess were involved in an argument, battling with words instead of fists, but she wouldn’t be surprised if it came down to that. Each was as red-faced and angry as the other.
Linc set down the beers with a sigh. “Gotta make some peace here.” He sidled over to the pair and stepped up between them.
His twin ducked around him and walked up to Jess. The other man looked as if he was about to roll up his sleeves and let Lennon have it.
“Hey, hey. It’s just a game, guys.”
“It’s not a game. It’s a woman,” Cav spoke up from the sidelines, sounding overly cheerful at his friends’ reason for arguing.
“She was with me last night,” Jess was saying.
“Well, she was with me the night before that,” Lennon spat.
“Which shows what she thought of your skills in bed.” Jess laughed, and Shaw and Sully just shook their heads.
Nealy stood there a moment, engaged in watching, but a beautiful woman caught her eye.
“You must be Nealy,” she said, brushing her dark hair over her shoulder.
Nealy nodded. “And you’re… Sully’s wife?”
She nodded. “Nevaeh. This is Atalee, Shaw’s fiancée. Come sit with us—we have a better view of the fight from here, plus we have pretzels.”
Nealy followed them—she wasn’t giving up the offer of pretzels to go with her beer.
A second later, Jess and Lennon stepped around Linc and raised their hands. Nealy sucked in a breath, holding it as she looked on. But the guys just threw their arms around each other and clapped each other’s back.
“Guess it’s over,” Atalee said with a grin.
Shaw came over to brush his lips across hers. “You’re up, baby doll.”
She groaned. “I suck so much.” She threw a look at Nealy. “I’m warning you that if you’re on this team, we won’t win.”
Nealy shrugged, really not caring one whit about bowling. But she couldn’t deny the camaraderie was off the charts. She’d never seen the guys so relaxed. She could understand why the Pins ’n Sins was their hangout. They could let go and blow off steam, which was exactly what they needed with the stress they all endured.
She hoped to acclimate to a different kind of stress now that she’d just been transferred to the local ATF office and given her first glimpse at her workload. There was a lot of weapons and drug trafficking in this part of the country, and she looked forward to doing her part to stop it. Plus, she could go home every night to Linc’s place. Even if he was out on some mission, she could still breathe his scent on the pillow beside her and feel shrouded by his love.
“Have you set a date yet?” Nevaeh asked after bowling her turn.
She shook her head. “We’re just getting settled into life first. Neither of us are in any hurry.”
“That’s what I thought about Shaw too, and he wants to fix a date as soon as possible. He’s even mentioned eloping to Vegas!” Atalee shook her head, gazing at the back of her handsome husband as he sipped his beer and BS’d with the guys.
At that moment, Linc moved in and pressed a kiss to Nealy’s neck behind her ear. She curled her hand up around his jaw, enjoying the tingles he sent through her entire body at his caress.
“You’re up next, babe,” he whispered, taking her earlobe between his teeth and tugging.
She stifled a gasp and twisted her head toward him.
“Don’t be surprised if I’m not pressuring you to take off for Vegas too very soon. I hear they have some very nice elevators in that town.”
She giggled. “We’ll be doing our wedding the traditional way, with all our family around us. And friends too.” She looked at the group there, who were quickly becoming not only her friends but a new type of family.
He took her by the hand and hauled her up to her feet. “Let’s prove to everyone that you can carry your weight on this team, babe. We need you to bowl a strike to get us back on track.”
She groaned and shot looks at the women. “Oh no. I hope you’re all prepared for disappointment.”
“Let me show you how it’s done.” Linc positioned the ball in her hands and then stepped up behind her to show her the proper form. All he managed to do was turn her on with his erection pressed into her backside and his warm breath tickling across her ear.
When she bowled straight down the middle, knocking down nine of the ten pens, a cheer went up from all. Nealy turned into Linc’s arms, and he grinned. “Full of surprises, aren’t you, babe?”
She cocked a brow at him. “Don’t ever underestimate me, Reed.”
He watched her walk away a moment before catching her at the booth where they all sat. “I know exactly what you’re capable of, Alexander.”
She angled her head. “What’s that?”
“You’re capable of turning me on more than anything in the world, and of driving me completely crazy at the same time.”
“It’s what brought us together,” she said.
“And what will keep us together.” His eyes gleamed as he leaned in for a kiss.
THE END
Em Petrova
Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff.
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Other Titles by Em Petrova
Ranger Ops
AT CLOSE RANGE
WITHIN RANGE
POINT BLANK RANGE
RANGE OF MOTION
Knight Ops Series
ALL KNIGHTER
HEAT OF THE KNIGHT
HOT LOUISIANA KNIGHT
AFTER MIDKNIGHT
KNIGHT SHIFT
O’ CHRISTMAS KNIGHT
ANGEL OF THE KNIGHT
6-Pack Cowboys Series
6-PACK RANCHER
6-PACK WRANGLER
Wild West Series
SOMETHING ABOUT A LAWMAN
SOMETHING ABOUT A SHERIFF
SOMETHING ABOUT A BOUNTY HUNTER
SOMETHING ABOUT A MOUNTAIN MAN
Operation Cowboy Series
KICKIN’ UP DUST
SPURS & SURRENDER
The Boot Knockers Ranch Series
PUSHIN’ BUTTONS
BODY LANGUAGE
REINING MEN
ROPIN’ HEARTS
ROPE BURN
COWBOY NOT INCLUDED
CUPID COWBOYS
The Boot Knockers Ranch Montana
COWBOY BY CANDLELIGHT
THE BOOT KNOCKER’S BABY
ROPIN’ A ROMEO
Country Fever Series
HARD RIDIN’
LIP LOCK
UNBROKEN
SOMETHIN’ DIRTY
Rope ‘n Ride Series
BUCK
RYDER
RIDGE
WEST
LANE
WYNONNA
Rope ‘n Ride On Series
JINGLE BOOTS
DOUBLE DIPPIN’
LICKS AND PROMISES
LIPSTICK ‘N LEAD
The Dalton Boys
COWBOY CRAZY Hank’s story
COWBOY BARGAIN Cash’s story
COWBOY CRUSHIN’ Witt’s story
COWBOY SECRET Beck’s story
COWBOY RUSH Kade’s Story
COWBOY MISTLETOE a Christmas novella
COWBOY FLIRTATION Ford’s Story
COWBOY TEMPTATION Easton’s Story
COWBOY SURPRISE Justus’s Story
COWGIRL DREAMER Gracie’s Story
Single Titles and Boxes
STRANDED AND STRADDLED
LASSO MY HEART
SINFUL HEARTS
BLOWN DOWN
FALLEN
FEVERED HEARTS
WRONG SIDE OF LOVE
Firehouse 5 Series
ONE FIERY NIGHT
CONTROLLED BURN
SMOLDERING HEARTS
Club Ties Series
LOVE TIES
HEART TIES
MARKED AS HIS
SOUL TIES
ACE’S WILD
The Quick and the Hot Series
DALLAS NIGHTS
SLICK RIDER
SPURRED ON