Page 245 of The Defiant Curse

“Sign me up,” she said. “I’d love a date. Can we triple?” she asked. “Or do you want to do it alone? I have a feeling that even though Ivan isn’t here, Michael is going to want to hover over me—just in case, and Finn will want to be there to do the same over Gabby. Men like to hover.”

Well, yeah.

That was a natural thing. When you had your mate, you wanted to be all over them.

As for the triple date…

Ethan liked company.

The more the merrier.

“Sure. I’m going to get tipsy, so we’ll need a driver anyway. I like you tipsy because then you get handsy after the fact, and I like when I’m your focus for some drunken mauling.”

She laughed.

Well, yeah.

That was half the fun.

“Then, I’m going to maul my girl right back,” he said, biting her on the neck, through her thick sweater.

The mouthful of wool had been worth it, too. Her response made him giddy.

“Well, then, let’s make that happen,” she stated. “Saint Michael!” she called, getting her son’s attention.

When he heard her, he turned in his saddle, glancing back at her.

“You good, Boo?” he asked. “There’s no rest stops on this journey, so I hope you don’t have to pee. You’re not going to like where I point.”

She laughed.

He was ridiculous. While she had the bladder of a woman who’d birthed big babies, she wasn’t that bad.

Yet.

“Yeah, we want to go into town tonight to get lit at the pub and dance on the bar. You in?” she asked.

Ethan laughed.

“That was NOT what I suggested. I said get tipsy. There was no drunken counter carousing in that suggestion, Elizabeth.”

Tomato.

Tomatoe.

It was all the same to her.

Besides, why not throw caution to the wind? When in Rome, do an orgy—or something like that.

Michael shrugged.

“I mean, I’m always down for a bar fight,” he said. “They think Graham can’t hold his own. I hear he gets into fights in alleys.”

He gasped.

“ONE TIME, LAD! ONE TIME!” he admitted. “And I was being blackmailed. I had to take out the trash, and the alley seemed like the most appropriate way to do that. Besides, may I point out that you came here, and the trash followed you, so whose fault is that?”

Michael laughed in amusement.