Page 17 of Her Royal Cowboy Billionaire

She pulled back. “Well, that was some first kiss.” Then she straightened her shoulders and ran a hand down her shirt. “Now, though, let’s get Gregor ready to learn Western cutting.”

They worked for a couple of hours with King Gregor.

An alarm sounded, and Michele looked at her watch. “I have to get Erin, but he’s doing very well. He’ll be cutting with Domino in no time.”

Alex walked her to her truck.

She looked at him, a half-smile on her face. “My truck isn’t as pretty as yours.”

He opened the driver’s side door and closed it after she was inside. “Does it get the job done?”

“Yes.”

“Then it is beautiful.”

She put her key in the ignition. “You have an odd way of looking at things, you know that?”

He smiled. “So I have been told.”

“I like it. See you tomorrow.” She put the truck in gear.

He stepped away from the pickup and watched her go. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

The following day, Michele returned to Alex’s ranch.

He was waiting when she pulled up to the arena.

After the engine died, he approached the driver’s side and opened the door.

She turned, flashed him a brilliant smile, and slid off the seat to the ground.

“Hi, how—”

He took her in his arms and kissed her. He knew she’d relaxed into the kiss when she put her arms around his neck. Alex broke the kiss and pulled back, but kept her in his arms. “Hi.”

“Will you greet me with a kiss like that every time we meet?”

“I’d like to.”

She lifted onto her tiptoes. “I’d like for you to.” Michele pressed her lips to his.

He pulled her tight to him and kissed her again, but this time he touched the tip of his tongue to the seam of her lips and smiled when she welcomed him in. He tasted her, played with her, dueled with her…loved her.

He knew it was soon, too soon to tell her, but he’d never been surer of anything in his life. Michele Williams was destined to be his wife.

When he finally broke the kiss, they were both out of breath.

“It’s awfully soon for us to start dating. We’ve only known each other for a few weeks.”

He smiled and never let the smile falter. “We are into our third week. And we’ve seen each other every day since we met, that’s twenty-two days. That’s like dating for twenty-two weeks or five-and-one-half months. We need to know a bit more about each other, I suppose, but we have time for that.”

“Alex, you don’t expect us to sleep together in Batrovia, do you?”

“No.”I would love it if we did, but I know you are not ready.“The palace has many guest rooms. You will have your own suite.” He took her face between his palms. “You never have to worry about me or us. When the time is right, and you are ready, we will be together.”

Michele raised on tiptoe and kissed him. “You always know what to say to put me at ease.”

“I’m glad.” He gave her a quick hug. If it was too long, she would know just how much he wanted her. He stepped back. “Shall we get to work? I thought you might bring Erin with you today.”