Julius had played him too, saying he was in town to deal with something that came up with Walker's shit, an angle Julius kept working even though Walker told him that angle was dead and he was working with Tate and hoping Pena was out there seeing to shit. That said, Walker didn't try too hard to discourage his friend from this mission, mainly because Julius's angle was giving them shit they could use.

Julius brought Anana because Julius said Anana wanted to meet him. He'd given them the Cruiser to deal with their business because Julius had lied again and said they were having trouble with their car, a two-seater, when that was bullshit and they needed a backseat to put Lexie in.

He didn't like his brother's tactics, Julius's play was extreme and he could not imagine thinking for eleven hours that his wife was on the verge of dying, but when he went to the Cruiser and saw then grabbed her purse from the backseat then saw and grabbed her bag from the back, he couldn't help but think that regardless of how extreme the play, Julius was right. All's well that ends well. And Julius's play had ended spectacularly well and Walker's errand was conclusive evidence of that fact.

He carried them both upstairs, left her bag by the railing, took her purse to the island, dug through and found she had all the boxes in her purse. She didn't check them, had them close all the time. Definitely a smart decision. Probably also an emotional one.

He found the one he was looking for, opened it, pulled out the jewelry box inside, flipped it open and saw both rings embedded there. He tagged them and moved directly back to his wife, resuming the exact same position but with her torso more on his so her left arm was not caught between his body and the couch.

Then he positioned the rings and slid them on her finger.

Lexie didn't give him the chance to do what he intended to do and that was put his lips to them. She did a face plant in his chest and he felt her body rear and her breath catch on more tears.

He let her hand go and wrapped both of his arms around her as she slid her face up and pressed it into his neck.

Then he waited. This jag didn't last as long, she got a handle on it and he listened to her pull in steadying breaths. Then she lifted a hand and swiped at her face. Then she settled cheek to his shoulder. That was when he lifted a hand and slid her hair away from her face and off her neck, feeling its softness fall and glide down his shoulder and arm.

He missed that. He knew he missed it but having it back he realized he missed it.

Then he wrapped his arm around her again.

"Now, baby, tell me what you wanna take," he said gently and heard her pull in another breath.

Then she asked, "Are you okay?"

His answer was immediate and he tightened his arms on her when he gave it. "Fuck yeah."

He felt her smile against his skin before she lifted up and gave the smile to him visibly.

Then it faded slowly and she said, "I don't mean now, honey, I mean with everything that's going on."

His head tilted slightly on the pillows. "Everything that's going on?"

She bit her lip, hesitant, unsure and, fuck him, scared.

Fuck.

He gave her another squeeze and asked, "Baby, what the fuck?"

"With Tate," she stated quickly and he got it. She was bringing up what bought her his anger and caused him to act like one serious dumb fuck, breaking her and nearly destroying them.

"Do not hesitate with that shit, mama," he told her. "With me, do not hesitate with any shit."

"Ty " she said quietly, still unsure.

"Lex, do you think, six weeks without you, I didn't learn my fuckin' lesson?"

She blinked.

He kept going. "I learned, baby. Lived raw for six fuckin' weeks, wasting my own goddamned life and yours. Downloading on-line divorce papers..." He shook his head, not going back there, not fucking there, doing that shit cost him too much, he couldn't go back there. So he finished, "Fuck yeah, I learned."

"Lived raw?" she whispered and he felt his brows draw together.

"Yeah, lived raw, the way a man lives when he fucks up his own life and does it by hurting the woman he loves in a way he cannot fix. A man like that lives raw and I was a man like that."

When he was done speaking he saw her lips were parted again but she just stared at him, silent.

"What?" he asked.

Lexie kept staring at him so he gave her a gentle shake.

"What?" he prompted.

"The woman he loves?" she breathed and it was his turn to blink.

Then he confirmed, "Yeah."

"You love me?" she asked like it was a concept she'd never believe and her response shocked the shit out of him.

"Uh... yeah," he answered. "Babe, a man like me who got fucked like me doesn't share, at all, unless he trusts who he's sharin' with, unless their opinion matters, unless they matter and the way I got fucked, no way a man got fucked that way would share with pussy, any pussy and you know that. But with you, I shared. You played me to distract me but I wasn't hard to distract because I wanted your distraction. Spent five years with ninety-nine percent of my headspace taken up with my grand plan o' vengeance, I get out, ready to take that on and a few days later I'm tourin' fucking Vegas then headin' to Moab and then at the fuckin' garden center. I fuck up and lose you, I risk it all to go to Dallas to track you down and see to the errand of makin' sure Shift gets where I'm at, will always be and I do it in a way he won't forget and I do that by further breaking my parole, committing a crime and beatin' the shit outta him and two of his crew. Two weeks later, I find out where you are and I pick up a phone and call a man who does not like me because, years ago, I took a fuckload of his money at a table but I know he's got more money, lots of it. I also know he lives two hours away in Aspen and I know he's got a private jet, the only hope I got of flyin' cross country without getting tagged and sent back to California. Luck shines because this man may not like me but I lay it out for him, all of it, mama, and I find this fuckin' guy is a fuckin' romantic. He fuels up his jet, lies on flight logs sayin' Tate Jackson is his passenger and flies me to fuckin' Florida. This guy is so much of a fuckin' romantic, I come back to the airstrip without you, swear to fuckin' God, he looks near as devastated as me. Now, no man does all that for a woman he doesn't love and definitely not a man like me."

He stopped speaking and saw her lips were not parted.

Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were huge.

Then she snapped her mouth shut.

Then she asked, "You beat up Shift?"

"Bessie called me, told me he was dickin' with you, got outta bed, hauled my ass to Dallas and, yeah, the one word he spoke he had to spit out a mouthful of blood to speak it."

"You beat up Shift." This time it was a statement so Walker didn't respond. Then she asked, "You arranged a ride in a private jet to get to me?"

"Mama, you were in fuckin' Florida. First, I cannot take that time to drive it, too much of a risk someone findin' out I'm gone and where I went. I did not want to bring you back only to be sent away. Second, I take that time to drive it and find you've moved on, I lose that time. I had to catch a flight and that was the only option open for me."

Lexie didn't speak, she just stared at him.

So he started, "Lex " but got no further.

And he got no further because she whispered, "You know, I love you too."

That thing, that thing she gave him that started to settle again, shifted and warmed, digging deep, taking root.

"Lexie " he whispered back, his arms convulsing around her but he again got no further.

"Fell in love with you when I opened my eyes in Vegas, turned in bed and saw you put my bouquet in a vase."

Fuck him.

Fuck... him.

"Shut it, mama." He was still whispering.

"At the pool, when you showed, my day started."

His arms now gave her a warning squeeze.

"Shut it," he growled.

"Sitting at the breakfast table, seeing your wedding ring, being able to really look at it on your finger up close for the first time, I had to touch it so I could remind myself I was the one who got to put it there."

Fuck.

Him.

"Shut it." This time, it was a rumble.

"The next morning, when you didn't show at the pool, I had to find you so I could start my day."

He rolled and shifted until he was on top of her and he repeated, "Shut it."

"Six weeks without you, I'd wake up and hours later go to sleep and not once did my day dawn."

"Baby, shut... it."

"You took the shadow off my world."

All right, his woman wasn't going to shut it; he was going to shut it for her.

So he set about doing that.

And when she was reduced to making nothing but those sexy-as-hell noises in the back of her throat each time his slowly slid his cock in and filled her then whimpered when he slowly slid it out, he was again ready to talk.

But he was going to be doing the talking.

"Look at me," he ordered after filling his wife with him, his voice thick and her closed eyes instantly opened, the small arch she had in her neck righting and he had her attention. "I don't give a fuck we're both still raw. I don't give a fuck, even without that, we're still new. I don't give a fuck we got shit out there pressing in; I wanna plant my baby in you."

One of her feet was in the couch, the other leg wrapped around the back of his thigh, both arms were around him, hands roaming but at his words, both legs curved around his hips and both arms went tight.

And he had his answer.

"Ty," she breathed.

"We both know we got no time to waste."

One of her hands slid up to wrap around the back of his head.

Then, pure Lexie, no bullshit, no hesitation, she gave even though he already knew he had what he wanted, but even if she said no, he was lying on top of the only thing in the world he every truly wanted and she was filled with his cock.

"Okay," she whispered.

"You go off the pill tomorrow," he ordered and she instantly nodded.

Pure Lexie, no bullshit, no hesitation, she gave.

Instantly.

He grinned at her. His woman grinned back.

Then he slowly pulled out and slid back in again as he watched her eyes drift closed.

Then he dropped his head and kept going slow, but, lips to her ear, he asked, "How many you want?"

"Four," she answered immediately and he quit moving, luckily on an inward glide and his head came up.

"Four?" he asked.

"Four," Lexie answered.

"Four kids?" he added detail in order to confirm.

She grinned again. "Four kids."

"Shit, mama, good thing we're gettin' started tomorrow."

She giggled.

Walker didn't watch. He dropped his head so he could feel her laughter on his tongue.

Then he felt her laughter on his tongue.

Then her laughter stopped because he again got busy.

Chapter Sixteen.

Official Steel Magnolia's Rulebook Ty Ty was still brushing his teeth when Lexie finished, spit, rinsed, reached and shoved her toothbrush back in the holder affixed to the wall between their two basins. Then she took a side step closer to him and he watched in the mirror as her head bent and she dug into some flowered bag that was sitting on the counter between their sinks. She pulled out a pale pink, round case, turned and walked into the little room with the toilet. He heard something small splash into the toilet and again and again and again and this went on awhile. Then she turned, walked out of that little room, dropped the case in the small trash bin and her eyes slid to his in the mirror.

Then she grinned.

Then she reached into the shower stall and turned on the water, tugged off his tee she wore to bed and shimmied out of her panties. Then she stepped in.