Page 38 of Bride ’N Boots

“Grandmother,” I clarified absently. “When I was a baby and I tried to say grandmother, it came out Muddy.”

“Cute.”

I looked at the door. “My suitcase is outside. And my keys are still in the lock.”

“Both will be there tomorrow morning,” Declan remarked. “I might like a bit of danger in my life, but I’m not opening that door so a grizzly can make a spring snack out of both of us.”

“Fair point,” I drawled. I twisted my long, chestnut-colored hair into a messy top bun and secured it.

“Why didn’t you head to the main house?”

“I didn’t want to wake them up.”

If I’d woken them up, then I would’ve had to explain why I’d come home in the middle of the night without warning. And I wasn’t ready to explain it.

“Ah. And since you didn’t know about me, you figured you’d crash in the cabin and head to the main house in the morning.”

I nodded, my gaze dropping to his naked, sculpted chest. He had a tattoo wrapped around his upper arm like a cuff and another on his left pectoral.

“Do you have a shirt?” I asked pointedly.

“Several.” He grinned. “I can lend you one to sleep in.”

“Oh, that’s not what I⁠—”

“You can have the bed.”

“I’m not taking the bed.”

“The sheets are clean,” he promised.

I sighed in exasperation. “I meant, I’m not kicking you out of your bed. I intruded on your space. I’ll take the couch.”

“And then I’ll have to tell Connor that I let his daughter sleep on the couch? No way. Take the bed. I don’t mind. Really.”

I nibbled my lip and inclined my head. “That’s very . . . chivalrous of you.”

“Aww shucks, ma’am,” he drawled with a teasing grin.

Before I knew it, I was grinning back.

No. Bad girl. No.

“Follow me. I’ll get you something to sleep in,” he offered.

The cabin wasn’t large. It had a single small bedroom, a separate bath, and a kitchen and living room area with a wood stove.

My sister and I had spent many nights in this cabin with friends, having sleepovers and movie nights.

“You took down the twinkle lights,” I stated as I stood in the doorway of the bedroom.

Declan went to the dresser and opened a drawer. “Hmm?”

“The twinkle lights. From the porch.”

“Oh. Yeah, well I plugged them in and a few of the bulbs went out and the whole strand went dark.” He pulled out a faded gray T-shirt and a pair of flannel boxers. “This okay?”

“I usually know a man’s middle name before I wear his boxers,” I joked.