He frowned. “Well, I’m sure not asking you to live with me out of wedlock. My mother would have a coronary. Not that she and Dad will be around all that much. They’re in their fifties now and want to semi-retire when Grandpa passes on. Mom wants to travel a little, and Dad’s only goal in life is to make her happy. But it is the family ranch, and they’ll still live in the other house when they come home to roost.”

Erin felt her mouth curve into such a big smile that her cheeks ached. “Can you, like, maybe, actually say the words? I mean, nobody has ever proposed to me, and I really want to hear those words just once.”

With the agility and strength that she’d so often admired, he moved in one fluid motion to get on one knee and faced her with his heart shining in his blue eyes. “Erin De Laney, I love you with all my heart. I have for months. Will you please put me out of my misery and do me the great honor of agreeing to become my wife?”

He still hadn’t said the words that she’d always dreamed of, but the sincerity behind his request made up for it. Tears spilled over her lower lashes onto her cheeks. He reached up to thumb them away. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“Happy tears,” she said in a squeaky voice. “And my answer is yes. I’ve been in love with you for a while, too. I just didn’t think you’d ever return my feelings.”

“I’ve returned them from day one. Well, no, that’s a stretch. I didn’t have much use for you that first day, but after that, every time I saw you, my heart dug a deeper hole for me to wallow in. I was so hung up on you that I actually woke up one night in the middle of a wet dream, and Tex and Kennedy were gaping at me. I don’t know what I said or did to wake them up, but it was one of the most humiliating moments of my life.”

Erin caught his face between her hands. “No more of that! From now on, I won’t be a dream. I’ll be real, and you won’t be sleeping in a bunkhouse with other men.”

She started to get up, her mind already on the pleasure awaiting them inside the tent, but Wyatt grabbed her arms and made her sit still. “I’m not finished. Ever since that text came from Julie, I’ve been thinking that we should make it a double wedding. How do you feel about that?”

Erin thought it sounded heavenly. “But we don’t have a marriage license.”

“We can go back to town and apply for one. I think we can get the license right away, but we’ll have to wait three days before the ceremony, so we need to do it fast. I was thinking that we can just use Julie and Blackie’s preacher. Unless you object for religious reasons, that is. If you want another man of the cloth, I’m okay with that, too.”