Claiming Her Innocence Read online

  39

  As Rose parked beside Colt, once again back at Roman Ranch, she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of longing and envy when she thought about Colt’s family.

  Being an only child with a single mother, Rose hadn’t had any siblings or close relatives growing up. She was beginning to realize what she had been missing out on all these years.

  Colt came around the front of his truck to open her car door.

  “You coming in?”

  She smiled up at him, nodding.

  “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” he asked.

  He closed the door behind her as she stepped out and taking her hand. Rose noticed he was carrying a rolled up piece of paper, like a poster or something.

  “About how much I like your big family,” Rose replied as he led her towards the bunkhouse.

  “Really? That’s good,” he said, seeming pleased. He dropped her hand so that he could unlock the door to his apartment and let them inside.

  “What’s with the paper?” Rose asked.

  She sent a pointed look at the poster in his hand. She walked in to the bedroom, flicking on lights and sitting on the edge of the bed so that she could toe her shoes off.

  Colt came over to join her, kicking off his own boots before sliding back to sit cross-legged on the bed. He patted the spot beside him for her to join him, still holding the roll of paper.

  Rose tilted her head to the side, curious now as she moved to sit by him.

  Colt turned to face her, setting the roll on the bed and taking her hands in his. The seriousness of his expression took Rose aback.

  “Rose, I just want to say that I love you more than you could possibly imagine. I’ve never been happier in my life than I have been in these last couple months, and it’s all because of you.”

  Rose felt her eyes start to mist over at his words. For being so hard-nosed, Colt sure as hell was romantic when he wanted to be.

  “That being said, please don’t freak out if what I’m about to ask you is too much too soon.”

  Okay, now Rose was nervous.

  He’s not going to ask me to marry him, is he?

  Surely not. We’ve only known each other for a couple months; that’s much too soon to get married…

  …right?

  Colt took a deep, fortifying breath. “Rose…”

  Oh god! He is going to ask! I should say no, right?

  Right?!

  “…Will you move in with me?”

  Rose let out a breath.

  “Oh thank god!” she said, feeling a strange combination of relief and…disappointment?

  Did she want Colt to ask her to marry him?

  Colt gave her a peculiar look at her outburst and Rose felt her face heat with a blush.

  “I mean…you want me to live with you?” she stammered, still reeling.

  Colt nodded hesitantly, his eyes turning more cautious the longer he went without an answer.

  Rose thought it over for a moment. What the hell, why not? I’m already practically living here.

  “Okay,” she said out loud, giving him a reassuring smile.

  Colt blinked. “Really?”

  Rose bit her lip, suddenly shy in the face of his earnestness. She nodded as she met his eyes.

  “Sure.”

  Rose started as Colt crowed with delight. His enthusiasm was infectious though. Rose giggled as he took her face between both hands and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

  After a moment, he pulled back far enough so that he could rest his forehead against hers.

  “I’m so happy you said yes,” he said softly, his breath fanning lightly across her face.

  “Of course I said yes,” Rose whispered back.

  Let’s be real, she thought to herself. I probably would have said yes to anything you asked.

  Colt pressed a kiss to her lips once more, before releasing her face and turning to unroll the poster that she had already forgotten about.

  Not a poster, Rose corrected herself as her eyes took in the document spread out before them. A blueprint.

  She hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken her thoughts aloud until Colt started nodding.

  “A blueprint of our future house, to be more exact,” he said, watching her face closely for her reaction.

  What could Rose possibly say?

  “You want to…build me a house?” she asked incredulously.

  Colt nodded, serious again.

  When Rose didn’t speak for a moment, he started pointing at things on the blueprint, filling the silence with explanations of the schematics.

  “I plan to build this on Roman Ranch, of course. But we would be up the valley ridge, away from the tourists.” His eyes flicked up, trying to gauge whether or not she was still with him on this.

  “Here, on the second story,” he said, pointing to a square on the blueprint, “is the master bedroom. There’ll be two extra rooms down the hall.” His finger traced the lines as he spoke. “A kitchen directly below here. Living room, dining room, laundry room. And over here,” his finger indicated a room adjacent to the kitchen, “Is what I’ve been referring to as ‘the pet room’. The dogs’ kennels—”

  Colt broke off as Rose interrupted him with a kiss.

  She pulled back before he even had a chance to reciprocate it.

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” she said breathlessly, her eyes locking with his.

  “I try,” he replied, giving her a cheeky grin. Rose laughed, but his expression sobered slightly. “So you like it?”

  The tentativeness of his voice made Rose smile.

  “I love it, Colt,” she said honestly. “Almost as much as I love you.”

  With that, they reached for each other once more, ready to begin their new life together.

  Join The Vixens

  Click here to join Vivian’s Vixens and get first access to all the hot new releases & big giveaways. Get your free book just for signing up!!

  About Vivian Wood

  Vivian likes to write about troubled, deeply flawed alpha males and the fiery, kick-ass women who bring them to their knees.

  Vivian's lasting motto in romance is a quote from a favorite song: "Soulmates never die."

  Be sure to follow Vivian through her Vivian's Vixens mailing list or Facebook group to keep up with all the awesome giveaways, author videos, ARC opportunities, and more!

  Vivian’s Bad Boy Romances

  Standalone novels

  Protection

  Bad Boy Prince

  Punt

  SEAL’s Bride

  Hard Up

  SEAL’s Kiss

  Promise Me

  Covet

  Rock Me

  SEAL’s Touch

  Knocking Boots

  Begging For Bad Boys

  Small Town Seals

  His Virgin

  Vivian’s Paranormal Romances

  Sainted Sinners Series

  Dirty Angel

  Rebel Angel

  Alpha Guardians Series

  Evil Abounds

  See No Evil

  Hear No Evil

  Speak No Evil

  Bear Risen

  Bear razed

  bear reign

  Winter Pass Wolves Series

  Howl

  Growl

  Prowl

  Red Lodge Bears Series

  Josiah’s Command

  Luke’s Obsession

  Noah’s Revelation

  Gavin’s Salvation

  Cameron’s Redemption

  Finn’s Conviction

  Wyatt’s Resolution

  Josiah’s Conclusion

  Werewolf’s Harem Series

  Owned By The Alpha

  Taken By The Pack

  Possessed By The Wolf

  Saved By The Alpha

  Forever With The Wolf

  Fated For The Wolf

  Louisiana Shifters Series

  Shifters Vignettes: Maddie and Jasperr />
  Shifters Vignettes: Rose and Mason

  Shifters Vignettes: Ian and Jeanne

  Shifters Vignettes: Emma and Connall

  Shifter’s Ascent: The Novel

  Shifter’s Legacy: The Novel

  Louisiana Shifters Super Collection

  For more information….

  vivian-wood.com

  [email protected]