Free Seeking Justice by Rita Lawless

and I thought about my own. What would it say? Justice had a man who loved her, and whom she loved, but she allowed her fear of commitment to keep her from marrying him."
    "And now?" Zander felt like he could barely speak his heart was racing so fast. He felt like he was on their first date, like it was the first time he'd kissed her, like it was the first time they'd made love.
    "Now, it will say that she spent her life with the man of her dreams. They had lots of kids and ran a great business in Bluefield and they were happy till the end of their days."
    This time it was Justice who kissed him. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as she claimed his mouth. Their tongues danced around each other, and it made Zander's cock swell.
    "Do I need to ask you to marry me again?" he asked as they stood together, their foreheads resting against each other.
    "I just answered the question, remember," she said with a laugh. "I think the only question is when we tell everyone. Should we do it tonight, or wait for another month, until after Bandit Days?"
    He didn't want to let her go, but he knew that he had to. It was getting late, and they had to get up to the house.
    "There's no way we can keep this a secret," he said. "I'm going to change and we'll go to mom and dad's house. We'll play it by ear, but sometime today you know we're going to have to tell them."
    "That works for me."
    The smile on her face reminded him of why he loved her. The first thing he was going to do tonight was kiss Miss Agatha, to thank her for bringing Justice to the ranch at just the right time.
    * * * * *
    Justice was pretty sure it was the smile on her face that alerted Emily that something had changed. When Justice came into the house, Emily cocked her head and said, "What's up?"
    "My hunger level," Zander answered, even though Justice was pretty sure he knew the question wasn't directed at him. Justice just shrugged. She didn't want to talk about the wedding before dinner. She was so excited about making the decision that she wasn't even sure she should eat. Maybe that meant they should tell everyone now.
    As if he could read her thoughts, Zander came up behind her. He'd already made his way into the kitchen where he'd retrieved two large glasses of iced tea. He gave her one and mouthed, "Not yet."
    "Okay," she mouthed back. But all that did was bring Emily directly to her side.
    "What's going on?" Emily looked between the two of them, and Justice couldn't help but laugh.
    "You see conspiracy everywhere, Emily," Zander said. "Can't Justice and I share a secret or two?"
    "Nope." Emily wagged her finger between the two of them. "You know I'm going to figure it out, so you might as well make it easy on the two of you and just tell me." Before they could answer, Emily clapped her hands. "You figured out where the loot is hidden, didn't you?"
    "No," Justice said, happy that her friend hadn't taken a different route, screaming that they'd decided to get married and that was just so cool. "But I am working on it, and I think I've found a clue. I need to talk to Miss Agatha. Where is she?"
    "In the sunroom," Zander's mother, Priscilla, said as she came into the living room. She looked so domestic, wearing an apron and carrying a cookbook, Justice couldn't help but smile. "Hello, Justice, I'm very glad you're here."
    The older woman kissed Justice's cheek, and it was all Justice could do to hold back the news she wanted to scream out.
    "I'm sorry you had to cut your trip short," Justice said. "Are you planning on going back sometime?"
    "Oh, we will. Ben wasn't much on the European thing. He would rather go to the islands. I think he was thrilled for the excuse to come home, although he was not happy to hear his mother was ill. But she seems to be doing okay. We're going to keep her here at the house, so you and Zander have the other house to yourselves for a while."
    It had always amazed Justice that Zander's parents knew the two of them were sexual