Page 5 of The Rogue (Four Corners Ranch #11)

They drank way too much coffee, and were buzzing on that and sugar by the time they got back into his truck and headed toward

the house for her dress fitting. She knew a moment of extreme nervousness.

Justice was going to see her wedding dress.

She didn’t know what kind of reaction she wanted from him. Just that she needed it to be a big one. She had been very certain

about what she wanted, and even though the woman at the bridal shop had told her that she would end up buying something completely

different than what she had in mind, Rue had known that wasn’t true. She had known exactly what she was going to get. A strapless

gown with a belt at the waist that had a small detail, and an A-line skirt. Not a ball gown, but not clingy either. She knew

she wanted heavy satin, and not much adornment. She had gone and gotten exactly that. The dress was entirely white except

for the sash around the waist, which was a lovely taupe color that went with her crimson flowers. And the sage green, crushed

velvet ribbon she had chosen today complemented it all beautifully. Subtle pops of color, nothing too wild.

A little Valentine flavor without being the full-on Cupid.

She was utterly pleased with herself. But, because she had been so certain of what she was buying she hadn’t brought Justice

in with her. Otherwise she might have. But she had just known. She had a vision of herself that was so clear it had transcended

any uncertainty.

So yeah, really nobody but the seamstress had seen the dress, and she really wanted him to like it.

She realized that the look on his face when she came out in the dress was incredibly important to her.

It was too late for her to get a new dress, so if she didn’t get a reaction out of it, then that was just going to be terrible.

Of course, Justice and Asher were very different men.

She didn’t want Justice to react the way that Asher was going to anyway.

Besides, Justice would probably want to marry a woman in a minidress that had a plunging neckline. Obvious was his stock-in-trade.

He would never get married, though. It made her kind of sad. If a little bit meanly... pleased at the same time. But she

didn’t even want to articulate that to herself. It was just... she knew that she wasn’t going to see him as much anymore

after she got married. If he got married... Well, of all the issues she had had early on balancing the feelings of the

men she was dating with her relationship with him, and then finally finding someone who was okay with it, but who still demanded

a heavy amount of her attention... She didn’t want to share Justice with another woman.

Which wasn’t really a problem. He didn’t date . He hooked up, and he never brought those women around. She usually felt like the only woman in his life and she appreciated

that.

They rolled up to the house and she grabbed her French toast leftovers container—Justice didn’t have any leftovers—and they

both went inside.

“Boots off, cowboy,” she said as she took her own shoes off right by the door.

He shot her an indulgent look, and took his boots off.

She looked from him, to her neat, orderly house, to her wedding ring, and back to Justice. The one who’d known her most of

her life. The one who had been through absolutely everything with her.

“Look at us,” she whispered. “We’re grown-ups.”

Sometimes it amazed her. That they’d made it this far. That she had her house, and he was still standing. And that they still

had each other. Because no one else in her life had lasted longer than Justice King.

“We are indeed,” he said.

He walked over to her couch and sat heavily on it, the male sound he made when he connected with the cushion hitting her strangely.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m going to go put the dress on, because Sue is going to be here soon. If you laugh at me, I will kill

you.”

“I’m not going to laugh at you.”

“Remember my prom dress?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

They had a dance in the barn at Four Corners that year, coordinated by their teacher, and poor Rue had done her very best

to cobble something together with parents who just didn’t help at all, and a grandmother who had been deeply conservative.

Justice had called her Prairie Dawn . It had been fair enough. But it had still hurt her feelings. He’d spent the whole night apologizing to her, but she’d been

wounded in spite of the apologies.

“I’m not going to laugh,” he said again.

“If you do,” she said, “I will kill you.”

“You won’t,” he said. “Because you’ll get blood on your dress, and on your carpet. So I think we both know I’m safe.”

“I could strangle you.”

He laughed. “You wouldn’t. That’s a messy way to kill someone too. Takes a long time. Takes real determination. It’s not like in the movies.”

She squinted. “Do you doubt that I have the determination?”

“I would throw you off like a little flea, Rue. You could try, but you would not succeed.”

“Let’s not test the theory.”

She went into her bedroom, and pulled the gorgeous dress out of her closet. Every time she saw it her heart expanded. She

took her clothes off and folded them neatly, and slipped into the little half corset that she had to hold everything in place,

before stepping into the gown. She did a contortionist act to get it zipped up. But she had lived alone long enough that she

was very good at that.

She took her veil out of the box and looked at herself critically in the mirror as she put her hair up in a high bun and pinned

it in quickly.

She had to put heels on; otherwise the dress wouldn’t fall right. She got into the closet and put on her gorgeous sandals.

They sparkled all over. Even though they wouldn’t show, she loved them. They were flashier than anything else at the wedding.

Nobody would see them. But she knew. And she liked them.

She took a deep breath and opened up the bedroom door. She had a direct view of Justice sitting on the couch as she came out.

She didn’t know what she had expected from him. But his face was like a mask. Completely immovable, and fixed. She had never

seen him look so grave. He just looked at her, and he didn’t say anything.

She moved closer, and stood there, and still he didn’t move, one hand on his left knee, the other on his right, his jaw squared up tight, his teeth clenched. His blue eyes glittered as he looked at her, the only movement that she could discern at all.

“What?” she asked.

“I...”

She turned slowly. “Do you like it?”

He stood up from the couch, and moved to her, pulling her hard up against him, the hug so unexpected it took her breath away.

All she could hear was her own heart beating in her head, and then his as her face was pressed to his hard chest.

He released her quickly, the whole thing lasting maybe one second.

“Oh,” he said. “You’re just really fucking beautiful. And I am... I am damned proud of you, Rue. Look at you. We’re grown-ups.

But you’re really one. You made it.”

It was so sincere, and so deep that she just didn’t know what to do with it.

“Thank you,” she said. “I wanted it really bad.”

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, and her stomach swooped. He smiled, and she felt like everything

was going to be okay. Everything.

He linked his arm with hers and turned to the side. “I should be giving you away, you know?”

She looked up and caught their reflection in the mirror just behind her dining table.

Her in a wedding dress, and him in a black T-shirt and a black cowboy hat right beside her.

She just stared for a second. And then it was like someone had slapped her and she had to look away.

She took a step back from him. “You could,” she said. “You... you could.”

“It’s okay. Nobody needs to give you away, Rue. Besides. You been banging that guy for eight years.”

“Stop,” she said. And she laughed, the tension in her chest dissipating. Thank God.

“You have to stop, because it’s ridiculous.”

“Newsflash, Ruby. I am ridiculous.”

“It’s part of your charm,” she said.

Sue arrived about ten minutes later, and made final adjustments to the dress, which she completed right there because they

were so small.

And then it was time for Justice to go back to work on the ranch. And she felt relieved after a fashion. Which was an odd

sensation, but there had been something heavy about the whole day. She wasn’t in the mood to unpack it. It was just the impending

change of it all. But she was fixed in her decision, and she was happy about it.

And the truth was, she and Justice would weather the change in their relationship. They had weathered everything else.

Now the only thing she really had to worry about was surviving her bachelorette party.