Page 28 of Gray’s Surrender

“She’s just persuasive.”

“Just like her daddy,” I reply with a small laugh.

Ruby smiles and closes her eyes while I begin reading. She lasts three pages. Her breathing deepens, and her fingers loosen around the panda. I finish the paragraph before closing the book. Gray pulls the blanket higher over her shoulder. His hand rests briefly against her hair before he stands. We leave the door open a few inches and step into the hall.

“Thank you,” he says.

“For reading three pages?”

“For getting her out of the house. For standing between her and those men.” His gaze moves over the bruise on my cheek. “For still being here.”

I touch the corner of his swollen mouth. “Don’t confuse what’s between us with gratitude.”

“I’m not.” His hand closes gently around my wrist. “I wanted you before today. You know that.”

“I do.”

“I just need you to know I saw what you did, what you did to keep my daughter safe.”

My throat tightens. “She knew the route. She did the hard part.”

“You bought her the time to use it.”

Neither of us looks away. Gray’s hand slides to the back of my neck, but he waits there, giving me the last inch. I close it. His mouth comes down on mine, careful of the split in my lip but certain everywhere else. I grip the front of his shirt and pull him closer. He backs me against the opposite wall, his body shielding mine from the open end of the hallway while the clubhouse noise carries faintly below us. When he lifts his head, his breath is warm against my mouth.

“Come with me.”

I glance at Ruby’s partly open door, then at my room across the hall, knowing that she’s safe and fast asleep. I take his hand. We cross the few steps together, and I close my door behind us.

EPILOGUE

SIX WEEKS LATER

Gray has one hand under my shirt and is kissing me when his phone vibrates against the kitchen counter.

He ignores it and carries on kissing me slowly. The second vibration rattles the keys beside the sink. The third is followed by three hard knocks on the front door.

“Tank,” I say against Gray’s mouth.

“Let’s ignore him.”

“I’m not sure my brother takes being ignored very well.”

Gray grips my ass and pulls me closer. The repaired house smells faintly of fresh paint, and afternoon sun lies across the new side door. The locks have been upgraded once, not twice, because I stopped him before he turned the place into a bunker. Ruby is at Emma’s birthday party. Gray has checked his phone four times since she left and only called Mrs. Carr once. Progress comes in strange forms. The knock lands again.

“Gray,” Tank calls. “Kane says church moved to five.”

Gray lowers his forehead to mine. “I could shoot your brother right now.”

“Tessa would object.”

“Not for long.”

I fix my bra and pull down my shirt while he adjusts his jeans. Then he opens the door. Tank stands on the porch in his cut, looking deeply unimpressed.

“I’ve got a phone,” Gray says.

“You weren’t answering it.”