Tanner’s thumb stroked her cheek again, and she felt the tension in his body ease just a little. “Good girl,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Now let’s get you inside and get packed. We’ve got a cabin waiting for us.”
“A cabin?”
“There’s a cabin on the far side of the ranch. It’s harder to reach, which makes it safer. I’ve actually been working on it for the past year or so. I think you’ll really enjoy it. We’ll stay there tonight. If you don’t like it, we can come back to the main house tomorrow.”
As Tanner stepped into the bedroom, he said, “You only need to pack one or two outfits.” At the sound of his voice, one of the hidden frogs croaked loudly from under the bed.
He froze mid-step, head tilting slightly as if he wasn’t quite sure he had heard it right. Junie’s heart gave a little flutter of nervous excitement. She bit her lip, trying to keep her face innocent even as butterflies danced wildly in her stomach.
“Did you hear a frog?” Tanner asked.
His voice activated another frog. A loud, realistic croak echoed through the room. Tanner’s eyebrows shot up.
“What the—” he started, turning slowly toward the sound.
Before he could finish his sentence, two more frogs joined in from different corners of the room—one under the dresser, another tucked behind the curtains. Their croaks overlapped in a ridiculous chorus, setting off yet another hidden frog near the nightstand.
Within seconds, the entire bedroom was filled with a chaotic cacophony of loud, croaking frogs, the sounds bouncing off the walls and filling every corner. Each frog now acted as a trigger for any frogs near it. The croaking would never end.
Junie couldn’t help it. A giggle bubbled up from her chest. She clapped both hands over her mouth, trying desperately to hold itback, but her shoulders shook with silent laughter. The look on Tanner’s face—that mix of pure confusion and dawning suspicion—was too perfect.
He turned toward her slowly, eyes narrowing in that way that had her gearing up to run. “What did you do?” he asked, voice low and demanding, though a smile tugged the corners of his mouth.
Junie pressed her lips together tighter, eyes wide. It was getting hard to hear him for the constant croaking. She lost the battle completely and dissolved into giggles, doubling over as the ridiculous symphony continued around them.
Tanner took one step toward her, arms crossing over his broad chest. “Junie…”
The frogs kept croaking.
Junie tried to look innocent, but she couldn’t hold back another giggle. “I don’t hear any frogs, Daddy.”
He lunged, tossing her onto the bed and tickling her sides without mercy. Junie shrieked with laughter, squirming wildly beneath him. The sound set off even more frogs, their loud croaks echoing through the room.
Tanner laughed, deep and warm, and kissed her hard to silence her. His mouth claimed hers with a hunger that stole the breath from her lungs, tongue sweeping in to taste and possess as he pressed her deeper into the mattress.
Junie arched up into him, a soft moan escaping against his lips as heat rushed through her body in a dizzying wave. His hands slid under her shirt, palms hot as they roamed over her bare skin, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts and sending sparks straight down to her core.
She melted beneath him, fingers threading through his thick hair and tugging gently as she kissed him back with everything she had. The fear that had clung to her all day dissolved under the solid weight of his body, replaced by a fierce, aching need that she knew could only be there because of the overwhelming certainty that she was safe.
Every stroke of his tongue, every possessive glide of his hands, reminded her exactly who she belonged to. Her heart raced as the kiss grew deeper, slower, more consuming.
When they finally came up for air, Tanner rested his forehead against hers. “We’ll deal with the frogs later. They’ll eventually run out of battery. Right now, you need to pack,” he whispered, but it was no use. They packed to the sound of frogs croaking.
As they headed downstairs, Tanner tried to warn his brothers about the frogs, but Junie clapped a hand over his mouth with a giggle.
Then Tanner did something that proved Junie knew her Daddy very well. He gave her a mock-stern look, then tossed her over his shoulder. He carried her out to the truck, her laughter ringing across the ranch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Junie leaned forward in her seat as the truck bounced along the narrow dirt road, her eyes widening when the cabin finally came into view. It wasn’t anything special from the outside—just a sturdy-looking log structure tucked among the trees. Nothing that would make anyone stop and stare.
But the moment Tanner opened the front door and let her step inside, her breath caught hard in her throat.
“Oh my god…” The words slipped out before she could stop them.
The space opened up wide and bright, nothing like what the outside had promised. The inside was massive. Wide-plank wood floors stretched out beneath her feet, and the ceiling soared above her. To her left, a big seating area faced three tall windows that framed the mountains like a painting. Straight ahead, a long dining table sat ready for a crowd, and along the back wall, a beautiful kitchen waited. Her kind of kitchen.
It was like stepping into the TARDIS. So much bigger on the inside.
