Free Star Spangled Cowboy by Paige Warren

it could be something else … but it feels like love. You light up a room when you walk in, much the way you light up my heart with your smile. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want you with me forever, Dacey.”
    “I want that, too,” she said softly. “I’ve dreamed of you every night since the day we met, and those dreams always ended with me falling asleep in your arms.”
    He pulled the ring out. “I want you to marry me, Dacey. And before you refuse, it isn’t because I’m trying to make you respectable, and I’m not trying to shackle you. I want to marry you because I can’t imagine my life without you.”
    A tear slipped down her cheek. “Ty … are you sure that’s what you want?”
    “More than anything.”
    “Then I would be honored to be your wife.”
    He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her hard. “Damn, woman. These last three weeks are going to kill me.”
    She laughed through her tears and wound her arms around his neck. “They’ll pass before you know it.”
    “I think this old soldier needs to get to bed, as much as I’d love to stay up and celebrate with you. We’ll go to dinner this weekend, on one of your nights off. Any place you want to go.”
    “I love you, Ty.”
    He caressed her cheek. “Love you, too, sugar.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Dacey twirled in front of the mirror, giddy over her night out with Ty. She’d chosen the Italian place again and couldn’t wait for their night to begin. She had some exciting news for him, well, two bits of news. The sparkle of her ring caught her eye, and she smiled as she admired it. While it wasn’t a traditional engagement ring, she thought it was absolutely perfect. A ruby red heart to symbolize their love and devotion for one another. They’d discussed it and decided to have a long engagement. Ty had argued, wanting her to have the benefits a wife would receive from having a former soldier spouse, but in the end she’d won.
    “You’re taking too long, sugar.”
    Strong arms came around her waist, and she leaned back against Ty’s chest. “I was just convincing myself that I’m not dreaming. That we’re really engaged, and we’re really about to have a night out at the best restaurant I’ve ever been to.”
    “It’s all real, darlin’. Come on. If we wait too much longer, we’ll end up waiting for two hours for a table.”
    The ride to the restaurant was silent. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn’t want just to blurt everything out. Her news was going to change their lives, but in a good way. At the restaurant, they were seated almost immediately, and she relaxed against the booth.
    Dacey made herself wait until they’d ordered their drinks and food before she talked to Ty about anything serious.
    “Out with it,” he said. “You’ve looked like a caged fox all night. I’m waiting for you to gnaw off your leg to escape.”
    Laughter bubbled up and spilled out of her lips at his imagery. “I’m not a fox about to gnaw off my leg. I just have some good news to share.”
    “Well, tell me.”
    “Remember how the mayor’s wife made such a stink about me working at Cuppa Joe?”
    “I’m not likely to forget anytime soon. I want to strangle her every time I see her around town.”
    “Well, the mayor came into the shop yesterday. He said he wanted to apologize to me in person for his wife’s rude behavior, and he assured me it would never happen again. Apparently she has a niece who’s an escort in Los Angeles, and he reminded her of the fact and pointed out that we aren’t all that different. He said she shut up real fast, puffed up like a mad hen, but he thinks she’s going to keep quiet.”
    Tyson laughed. “I can’t believe he got her to back down.”
    “Oh, even better. He told her that if she weren’t nice to me, he would make an example of her right before he dumped her ass. It seems they had something of an arranged marriage, and he can’t stand her.”
    “Well, this just