Page 133 of Shadowing You

A laugh slipped out of her, and she covered her mouth.

The sound loosened the knot in his chest. “We can have meals together. I assume there’s a kitchen. I’ll cook for you.”

“You’re a terrible cook.”

“I’ve learned.” He brushed his thumb across her knuckles. “I could walk you to your door after our date and kiss you goodnight, if you’ll let me.”

Her cheeks pinked. “What if there’s only one bedroom?”

“I’ll sleep in the barn.”

Her gaze flicked to the windows. “It’s too cold for camping.”

“Anything to be near you.”

“You are crazy.”

He grinned. “Crazy in love.”

She searched his eyes, and he held his breath until she nodded. “We can try.”

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then backed away. “Oops. I guess I shouldn’t do that.”

Her smile was shy. “I’m not complaining.” She didn’t let go of his hand as they crossed the room.

Gavin and the other man had stepped outside and were talking beside an SUV with Maine plates. They both turned when the door opened.

“Ethan, Mei Lin. This is Asher Rhodes,” Gavin said. “Cici’s fiancé.”

This wasn’t just a driver but an almost-family member. It meant something that Gavin had called him, and that he’d come. Ethan shook Asher’s hand. “Glad to meet you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Asher had dark-brown hair and light blue eyes. His voice was deep, his expression serious.

“Asher’s a bodyguard.” Gavin shifted to face Mei Lin. “He’ll be staying with you until Lu Feng is in custody.”

There went another bedroom. Ethan smiled anyway. He’d sleep on the floor. He’d sleep on the porch. He didn’t care.

He opened the car door for Mei Lin, waited until she was settled, then closed her door before speaking to his father, his volume low. “We’ll both be staying at the house.”

Gavin’s face broke into a smile, and he clapped a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Well done, son.”

Ethan leaned in. “But not together. So…am I going to be sleeping on the floor?”

Gavin’s only answer was a laugh.

From the backseat, Ethan peered through the windshield as Asher maneuvered the SUV along a narrow driveway that wound through a pine forest. They’d been climbing for the last half hour, high enough that his ears had popped.

The higher they went, the colder it must be outside. The snow had started in patches where no sunlight could reach. Now, it covered the ground and the gravel beneath them.

Through the trees, a house came into view. It rose two stories of stone and timber against a white-gray sky. There was a pond on one side, dark gray at the edges but white in the center where ice and snow floated.

Mei Lin leaned beside him to get a better look through the windshield. “Whose house is this?”

Gavin twisted to face her. “It belongs to my company. It’s a perk for employees and business partners.”

Asher parked in front of a garage. “Wait here.” He got out, tapped a code into the door, then disappeared inside.

“He’s already been here,” Gavin said. “Turned on the heat and checked out the security.”