One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(91)

The minute the last bell rang and the last child was out of her classroom, she pulled the blinds in her classroom and locked the door. She peeled out of her slacks, removed her shirt, set her blond ponytail loose, and reapplied makeup. Then she pulled the white eyelet dress from the box under her desk and stepped into it.

She’d always thought she’d get married at River Bend and come down the big staircase on her father’s arm. But in that dream, she hadn’t felt the excitement that she did right then. Today, in less than an hour she was going to marry Rhett O’Donnell. She would no longer be a Brennan, and tomorrow she could tell the kids to call her Mrs. O’Donnell instead of Miz Leah. She pulled on a pair of new, white cowboy boots with lace insets and tucked all of her other things into the box, leaving it under her desk.

He picked her up at the school on the cycle, and that day he wore a white pearl-snap shirt, a string tie, and black jeans that hugged his body like a glove. His ponytail had been set free, and he smelled like pure heaven. Whatever that shaving lotion was, it was intoxicating as hell.

“You look gorgeous,” he said.

“You look sexy,” she whispered.

“Oh, honey, this old cowboy could never be as sexy as you are.” He bent to kiss her, but she turned away.

“Not until the preacher says it’s okay for you to kiss the bride.” She grinned.

“Then it had better be a short ceremony.” He handed her a bouquet of mimosa, baby’s breath, and greenery tied up with a sage-green ribbon. “The ribbon is the color of your eyes.”

“You are a romantic,” she said.

“Only with you.”

“We’ve got about twenty minutes to get this done and get to the school board meeting,” Gladys called from the front pew.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rhett crooked his arm and Leah put hers though it. Polly played the traditional music on the church piano as they strolled up the aisle together toward the pulpit.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here this fine September day to join Leah Christina Brennan and Rhett Jonathan O’Donnell in holy matrimony.” The preacher’s voice echoed off the walls of the nearly empty church.

Leah handed her bouquet to Gladys and slipped both of her hands into Rhett’s. His touch gave her the courage to take the leap of faith even though they’d only known each other a few weeks. “I love you,” she mouthed.

“I love you,” he mouthed back.

Ten minutes later, the preacher finished the ceremony with a prayer and then said, “Rhett, you may kiss your bride.”

He bent her backwards in a true Hollywood kiss that made her knees go weak. As he was lifting her up, she got a little vision of what life would be like with him and every single moment was wonderful.

“And now, I believe we all have a school board meeting to attend,” Polly said.

Gladys shook her head. “Not until all three of us sign that paper. Then we’ll go to the meeting.”

Leah rode on the back of the motorcycle back to the school, dress hiked up to her knees, hair blowing behind her, and the bouquet in her hands that were wrapped around Rhett’s chest. A few sprigs of baby’s breath blew past her arm, but she only wanted a small piece of mimosa to press as a keepsake, so that didn’t matter.

He parked, helped her dismount, and waited for her to choose the prettiest bit of mimosa. Then he snipped a bit of the ribbon away with his pocketknife for her to tuck away in the saddlebag.

“I’m going to throw this right at Honey,” she explained.

“Too bad I don’t have a garter to toss.” He smiled.

She jerked her dress’s hem up, and there was a blue satin garter up high on her thigh. “I had to have something blue. Take it off and throw it, but not toward Tanner.”

Rhett kissed her on the thigh as he pulled the garter down and over her boot.

The dull sound of lots of people talking at once filled the cafeteria, but everything went totally quiet when Leah and Rhett made their entrance. If a dust bunny had scooted across the floor, it would have sounded like a mountain lion plodding across a tin roof.

“You ready for this part?” Rhett asked.

“I’m ready to get it over with and go home to Double Shot to be your wife for the rest of our lives.”

The president of the school board tapped a gavel on the wooden table. “The meeting is called to order and the first thing on the agenda is a petition from the Gallaghers to have Leah Brennan removed from the classroom because she is cohabiting with Rhett O’Donnell. Naomi, you may have three minutes to state your cause.”

The preacher maneuvered his way through the people and laid the marriage license out in front of the five-member school board panel sitting at the front of the room. “Excuse me, sir. I’m not on the agenda, but I do have pertinent information that may have a bearing on this part of the school board meeting.”

“Is this what I think it is?” the president asked.

“It is a marriage license stating that Leah and Rhett are married. I have the three witnesses who signed it right here with me, and I’m the one who performed the ceremony,” he said.

“Well then, I believe that satisfies this school board and settles the issue. That’s all we were going to discuss at this emergency meeting so I declare the meeting adjourned,” he said.

“We will have this annulled tomorrow morning!” Mavis yelled across the room at Leah.