Page 28 of Her Wild Cowboy Billionaire

Travis sat next to her, as gracefully as his sore ankle would let him.

Then she took the blanket and covered them both. “This is nice, don’t you think?”

“Yes. I could spend forever like this, cuddled up with you on this sofa.”

“Want to watch a movie?”

He shook his head. “I’d rather just talk. Tell me about your husband.”

Both of her brows went up. “Alex? Where do I start? We met in college. He was a senior, studying business administration, and I was a freshman, still wet behind the ears, as he used to love telling me.” She smiled at the memory. “We married after I graduated from Regis University with my Bachelor’s in nursing. Nurses were in great demand, something like they are now. I could have gotten a job anywhere. Alex had a job lined up with an oil company in Denver, so we bought a condo in Lakewood and I got a job at a hospital close to home.

“We were deliriously happy for four years before we tried for a baby. Finally, a year later, I was pregnant. We were over the moon because his doctor had told him his swimmers weren’t strong enough and the likelihood of us having a child was astronomical.” She stopped and smiled, thinking of Mindy. “It was then I got pregnant with Mindy, my miracle child, my one in a million baby.”

“She is pretty special. I haven’t been around children much. My brother and sister, neither one have children, so the only ones I’ve known at all are Claudia’s grandchildren. Their parents are quite diligent about keeping them out of my way.”

She pursed her lips. “Children aren’t in the way. They are a blessing, and we need to do our best to make sure they grow into good, well-rounded adults.”

“You don’t have to worry about Mindy being a good adult. She’s a great kid.”

“Thanks. I think so, but I’m just a bit biased.”

They had more wine and talked well into the night. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to rest her head on his shoulder and close her eyes.

Mindy bounced down the stairs and glanced into the living room. She came to a complete stop. Her mom and Travis were asleep, cuddled together on the sofa, with their backs to her. She grinned. She hoped that meant they were getting along and would fall in love.

She loved Travis. He was a great friend to her. Taking her to the barn and showing her the different equipment, meeting some of the horses and just being kind to her. Her mom didn’t date so for her to like Travis was a major change and Mindy liked it.

Grinning, she turned and hurried to the kitchen.

Willow woke up slowly, warm and comfortable against the man at her side. She’d fallen asleep while she and Travis were talking. Willow was more tired than she’d thought and being in Travis’s arms seemed so right.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Travis’s voice rumbled in his chest.

“Good morning. I could use some coffee, how about you?”

“Definitely. Come on, let’s get some. I know Claudia has a pot in the kitchen. She always has it on by the time the cowboys come in for breakfast.”

Willow stood and stretched. She was a little slow getting up from sitting on the couch all night but wouldn’t change it for anything.

They found Mindy sitting at the table having breakfast consisting of homemade Belgian waffles, chokecherry syrup and a small glass of milk and one of juice.

“Good morning, firefly.” Travis ruffled Mindy’s hair.

“Morning. I saw you and Mommy sleeping together.”

Willow choked on her coffee and nearly spit it all over the table. “We weren’t sleeping together, well, I guess technically we were, but we were on the sofa.”

Claudia snorted and then chuckled.

“Really. We fell asleep while talking,” said Travis.

“It’s okay.” Mindy turned toward Travis. “When do we get to go riding? I can’t wait.” She bounced on her chair.

“Well, we’ll go after breakfast when I’ve had a chance to shower and change clothes.”

Travis promised to take Mindy riding; yet, just the thought of getting on a horse made his ribs hurt. They hadn’t ached for a while now, and he knew this was probably phantom pain brought on by memories of being stomped on by Satan. But they hurt, none the less. He could cancel on Mindy, but he couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in her eyes. And it was time for him to get back in the saddle, as the old saying went.

One comforting fact was he’d be riding Jet. The horse had a soft mouth and responded to leg signals, too.