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“You don’t have to,” Kinsley says. “I have my own grizzly bear mate. I know how crazy you guys can get from a whiff of tail. But we do have to figure this out or the only way that you’ll spend time with Ellie is with steel bars between the two of you.”
I sip on my coffee as my brain races to come up with a solution. Finally, something comes.
“What if I say that I escaped?” I offer. “I was lost in the mountains for two days and Austin found me.”
“That works, but what about the lions?” Austin says.
“We don’t say anything about that,” I say. “Who knows what kind of evil shit those guys were into? Maybe another rival crew took them out? You’re the Sheriff. Maybe you can ‘interpret’ the evidence like that.”
Austin is nodding his head as he thinks about it. God, he’s hot. His forehead is all scrunched up as he thinks and I kind of wish that Kinsley would leave so we could ravage each other once again.
“I like it,” Kinsley says after she thinks about it for a while. “I don’t think anyone would ask too many questions about that.”
We all agree on the story and spend the next little while ironing out the details. I like Kinsley. She’s fun and makes me laugh. I think that if we met in different circumstances, like at school or at work, we’d be good friends. I’m excited to get to know her better.
“You have to come to dinner at our place tonight,” she says when she’s getting ready to leave. “You have to meet everybody. They’re going to love you!”
“Okay,” I say as my excitement builds. Her enthusiasm is contagious.
We agree on a time and she says bye and then leaves.
My excitement starts to turn to panic as we watch her drive away.
Meet everyone?
Oh, God…
I just hope it goes well.
I’ve never seen such big men in my entire life. The three of them are brothers.
The Ridge Brothers, Kinsley introduces them as. Damon, Everett, and Cash. Each one has a happy and completely satisfied-looking girl by their side. There’s Kinsley beside Damon, Chloe beside Everett, and Zoe beside Cash.
They’re all very welcoming and keep peppering me with questions as Kinsley brings me a glass of wine.
I tell them about the past few days, keeping it PG even though I know they know that I’m leaving out all of the dirty parts.
They eat up every word and keep telling me that it’s only going to get better over time. “The bond strengthens with each day that passes,” Chloe says as she shoots her mate a seductive look.
I keep one eye on Austin as he talks with the boys in the kitchen. He’s got his big hand wrapped around a beer bottle, making it look so tiny.
Every time I see him, I get this intense feeling of gratitude that we found each other. It took the worst event of my life to find him, but if I had the choice I would have gone through the kidnapping again just so he could find me.
We sit around the table for dinner as Kinsley and Damon serve a roast beef with potatoes and corn. The boys’ mouths are watering as Damon slices it up. I’m squeezed between Zoe and Everett with Austin sitting in front of me.
“Welcome to the family,” Zoe whispers to me. “You have mountain blood in you now.”
I’m about to ask what she means when Damon stands up for a toast.
“Thank you all for coming,” he says with his glass in the air.
His brother Cash throws a roll of bread at his chest. “Shut up so we can eat!” he says with a laugh.
“Don’t make me put you in time-out again,” Damon says with a grin. “We have a new member of the family here so use your manners.”
My cheeks start to blush as I realize that he’s talking about me.
“To my new mother-in-law,” Damon says with a grin as he lifts his glass to me. “I’ve never seen this big guy look so happy. He’s waited a long time to find you, Ellie. A loooonnng time. How old are you, Austin? Eighty? Ninety?”
“I’m still young enough to whip your ass,” Austin answers and we all laugh.
“I’ll take that as eighty-years-old,” Damon says with a chuckle. “Like I was saying, he’s waited a long time to find his mate, and I know by the way he looks at you, that all that time and torture was worth every second.”
Austin nods as he looks at me with pure love in his eyes. I can’t help but blush with those sexy blue eyes locked on me across the table.
“Goddamn newlymates!” Everett says as he jerks in his seat and bumps the table with his knee. “That’s my leg, Austin. Stop playing footsies with me!”
