“Don’t thank me,” she muttered, dropping hand. “God gave you them looks.”
I gave big eyes to Hanna, walked her way, and gave her a belated welcome hug.
“Good to see you, darlin’,” I said in her ear.
“Same here,” she said back, pulled away, but didn’t let me go. “Told you when we left, wanted another stay at Glacier Lily. But Knight’s crazy brother wasn’t the reason I wanted to be here.”
She knew about Knight’s crazy brother. I also knew because Deacon had told me Knight’s crazy brother, Nick, was a “wildcard” in some crazy shit that involved Knight that had not yet been resolved.
I was guessing it still wasn’t.
“Was a phone call too much to do prior to you all hauling yourselves up here?” I queried.
“Phones are being listened to,” Hanna replied.
Oh my God!
“Are we in danger?” I asked.
Her head tipped sharply to the side, her brows snapping together, her expression profoundly stunned.
I’d know why when she answered, “Raid wouldn’t let anything harm me.”
No, he wouldn’t.
Same with Deacon.
I relaxed.
She grinned.
Bossy barked.
And then I heard Deacon order, “Cassie, here.”
I let Hanna go and looked to the kitchen door. Deacon was just inside and the others were streaming in behind him.
I didn’t care we had company and thus snapped, “Seriously?”
He came to me, took my hand, and dragged me out of the kitchen.
Bossy followed, dancing around us, and stopping with us in the foyer.
He got me in front of him, kept hold of my hand, but lifted his other to my jaw.
“I’m gonna have to go,” he told me.
“I got that,” I told him.
“You’ll be safe.”
“Of course I will.”
His head jerked.
“Would you leave me if I wasn’t?” I asked.
He stared at me.
“Go,” I bossed. “Do whatever it is you do. Try not to make too much of a mess. Uncle Sam knows you exist now. You don’t need him getting better acquainted with you by introducing you to his penal system. You hear me?”
He kept staring at me.
“Hello, Deacon Deacon Louis Gates?” I called. “Go so you can come back to me. We’re getting married in T minus six months and I kinda need you there when that happens.”
“Cassie Boss,” he murmured.
“That’s me,” I said proudly.
“Fuck, I love you,” he growled.
“Know that too.”
His hand at my jaw jerked me forward; his other hand came to the other side just as his mouth crushed down on mine.
When he lifted his head, my breathing was unsteady, but I’d have to be dead not to be able to be ornery and bossy.
So I commenced doing that.
“You’re far away, you eat and sleep on your way back to me. And before that, you eat and sleep good while you’re away from me. Last, you call me when you’re on your way home so I have plenty of time to make you cookies.”
The grooves dug deep, the crinkles fanned out, his beautiful lips tipped up, and his magnificent tawny eyes started dancing, making me feel precisely what he wanted me to feel.
Warm.
Safe.
Loved.
And happy.
For eternity.
About the Author
Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.