Page 116 of Lucky Haven

So much for waiting. If he’s still up, that means he knows something. My own fault for telling him that I couldn’t find Haven. But Ridge probably would have heard, anyway.

“Yeah, it is now.” I tuck Haven in next to me, as tight as I can. “Anyone else still awake?”

“No.” He stops close enough for me to see the furious set of his jaw. “Dax had his own drama tonight, and that was distraction enough from the fact you didn’t come back. But word is starting to spread in town. Mercy heard and texted me.”

Haven lifts her head. “Does she know I’m all right?”

Ridge nods.

“Good.” She sags against me.

I squeeze her. “We’ll tell the others in the morning. All’s well that ends well.”

“Hell of a gamble.”

“There wasn’t time.”

“I guess you were sure you could pull it off by yourself.” He says it sarcastically, then tips his hat at Haven. His tone shifts for her, at least. “You all right?”

“I will be.”

“Yeah. That’s the way. Sleep tight.” And then he’s gone, fading into the inky darkness toward his cabin.

Belatedly, I wonder if I should have asked about what the hell happened to Dax.

Haven tips her face up, her brow furrowed in concern at the tension between me and my brother.

I press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “He’s pissed he wasn’t the one to smash Jeb in the face a few times.”

“I want to say that I feel the same, but as much as I fantasized about how to fight my way free…”

“That’s my girl. But I’m glad you didn’t have to.”

“I don’t know that I could have.”

“You’d have found a way, if you needed to.”

“I should have fought harder when he put me in the van.”

“Don’t let those shoulds get in your head. He had the advantage of surprise. By the time you were at the cabin, you had the upper hand, I promise you. I heard you. You kept him talking, and that’s the most important thing you could have done. You know what he didn’t do once you were out of the cabin? Even try a little to distract me from how I was punishing him. He just took a beating like the little bitch that he is.”

“I really thought you were going to kill him.”

“So did he, and that’s what mattered. But I didn’t feel like going to jail again. I’ve got a girl to take care of now.”

I open the door for her.

The first time I brought Haven here, it was under false pretences, and that was a mistake that I won’t make again.

As she steps inside, I catch her around the waist and press my lips to her temple. “I know you need to sleep, but there are things I want to say…that I need to make sure I say before⁠—”

She interrupts me. “I was hoping for a shower. Together.”

My body reacts immediately, a heavy pulse of awareness reacting to her directness. My beautiful, sexy girl. No longer inexperienced. No longer shy with me.

More giving than I deserve.

I close the door and follow her through the dim main floor to the wide staircase that leads to the lower level. Our private space.