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“Ranger? Not for a very, very long time. Another horse, maybe, but not him.”

“Tomorrow evening?”

“With you?” He squeezed her hand. “With you by my side, I’ll do anything.”

Cadence quirked a grin as she tilted her head to one side.

“Almost anything,” he amended.

And then he kissed the smirk right off her face.

* * *

“I heard about your ride today.” Paisley bounced out of her seat when Cadence entered the duplex after the moon had risen.

Cadence groaned. “That skunk. Ugh.”

“The story was more about you and Graham, but I haven’t seen you since to verify.”

Cadence’s eyebrows angled up. “Weston gossiped to you? He wasn’t even there.”

“Weston.” Paisley nearly spat the cowboy’s name. “No, Tyler told me Graham landed in the dirt and you were all googly-eyed at each other. Tell. Me. Everything.”

A soft sigh sifted through the air. Had that sound come from Cadence? It must have, because her roommate stared at her with a bemused expression.

“You guys are together. Finally.”

“Together.” What a beautiful word. “He’s amazing. He’s everything I always wanted. And he loves me.”

“Yay!” Paisley bounced on her toes. “You guys are too cute. What did it? The hashtags?”

“They didn’t hurt, but he was finally ready to speak out. And, honestly, so was I. We’ve been dancing around for weeks, both afraid to face each other at the same time.”

Paisley rolled her eyes. “Tell me. It’s been so incredibly frustrating to watch. I mean, he was so obviously interested.”

“I didn’t trust him. And I was afraid.”

“And he didn’t trust you. And he was afraid.”

“Yeah.” Cadence sighed.

“I’d like to kick Paul where it hurts.”

Wouldn’t that be a sight? Cadence couldn’t help laughing. “Wearing your pointy cowboy boots, I presume?”

“What else? Not my flip flops, that’s for certain.”

“Man, I’m so thankful I ended up rooming with you.” Even though the chaos in the duplex had never quite subsided, at least her loft was usually orderly.

“Me, too. I should thank Mr. Sullivan sometime.”

“It was Tate.”

“Well, he’s a Mr. Sullivan, too.”

“True.” Cadence hadn’t spent much time with Tate, partly because she’d avoided the office and Graham so much in the past couple of months. Stephanie and Jamie were often in the dining room at mealtime, but they didn’t sit at the staff table.

“You heard Stephanie is pregnant?”