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“Also, I saw you going into her suite the other night,” Asher added.
Chloe’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my God,” she breathed.
“Hey, it’s okay. The question is, do you want our mom to know about it?” Asher asked. “Fair warning, but it’s going to be pretty much impossible to keep from her.”
“It’s okay,” Chloe said.
I squeezed her hand, lifting it to dust a kiss across the back of her knuckles. I was relieved when she squeezed back. I held it close in front of my chest, almost as if I could hold her in my heart. “I’ll talk to her.”
“She already suspects,” Grady offered.
“She does?” Chloe gasped.
“Yes. She mentioned it to me the other day,” Grady replied with a shrug.
“Oh, I’m so embarrassed.” Chloe bit her lip, her cheeks fire-engine red.
“Why? You’re both consenting adults. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Asher pointed out.
“This job is really important to me,” Chloe said, straightening her shoulders.
“Yeah, we know. You’re amazing at it,” Cole chimed in.
“Oh, thank you.”
“You didn’t know that?” He looked legitimately puzzled.
“I think I’m pretty good at my job, but I didn’t know you guys noticed.” Chloe shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip, which was zero help with getting my need under control.
“Of course we noticed,” I offered with some force. “We absolutely noticed.”
“You are awesome,” Asher chimed in.
Grady continued, “You keep our schedule running. And that day you went on the snowshoe hike and we took all the calls and messages? That was a job, man.”
Chloe giggled and I wanted to kiss her all over again. “So are you guys just going to stand there and stare at us?” I finally asked.
Cole rolled his eyes. “No. I guess we’ll leave you be. Should we close the door?”
That question came just as our mom appeared from behind my three brothers, who completely blocked her view. “What’s going on?” They parted like a gate swinging open. She glanced from me to Chloe and then clasped her hands together in front of her chest and let out a happy sigh.
“Oh, I love this.” Her gaze sobered instantly and she pinned it on me. “Don’t you hurt her.”
“Oh, my God, Mom. Of course not.” I held her eyes. My words came out before I could stop them, quiet and absolutely certain. “I love Chloe.”
Everybody went silent, and Chloe stopped breathing.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe
He loves me
I love Chloe
* * *
I’d honestly been in complete shock. When I tried to do the math on how long things had been happening between me and Lincoln, from the ahem, encounter, in the kitchen to his declaration in front of three of his brothers and his mother, it had been ballpark two months. I wasn’t even counting that kiss from last winter. I still didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t think he knew what to do either.
