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Sweet, juicy grapefruits freshly picked, I’m glad everything worked out the way it did. If I had been the one kidnapped, my dad would have gone totally ballistic, and things would not have ended with anyone talking it out over chocolate chip cookies.
“Cass is making eyes at your brother,” I whisper when I turn back around.
Ransom does the thing where he looks when he shouldn’t look and then whips back around quickly, his hand over his mouth to hold in a chuckle. “He’s making eyes at her too.”
“What?” Now I’m the one doing the classic thing and whipping around to look when I shouldn’t. “He’s not even looking at her. He’s staring straight ahead.”
“Trust me,” Ransom says in his deep, bass voice. He says it right near my ear and nuzzles my neck. “That’s his version of it.”
“Wow. Just…wow. I hope he knows what he’s in for, and I hope he can hold his own. Cass is usually shy. If she decides to come out of her shell for him and sets her sights on him, I have no idea what will happen.”
“Lennox can deal with it. Out of all of us, he hides his scars the best, but he had it the worst. He hides behind humor, but he still goes to therapy.”
“What? Would he ever…would he ever hurt—”
“No. Never.” It’s said with such conviction that I believe him.
I can only wonder what his brothers lived through. How could anything be worse than what Ransom just told me about himself? I want to wrap my arms around him, but I also don’t want to tip us out of the boat and into the water.
Ransom keeps peddling, and soon, we’re at the end of the loop. He pulls the swan boat up to the wood docks, jumps out without so much as rocking the boat because he’s also insanely athletic on top of everything else, then offers me his hand to help me. He isn’t satisfied with just curling his palm around mine…no way, and I’m glad. He keeps my hand in his and hauls me into his arms, pressing me up against him where everyone can see, and you know what? I’m okay with this because I’m done with hiding. I’m not going to hide my affection for this man. Never. Again.
“Thank you for the lovely afternoon, an unforgettable swan boat ride, picnicking with my crazy family, having the world’s most open mind and the bravest spirit, possessing a great sense of humor yourself, and for second chances.”
Gah. Wow. There goes my entire body, lighting up with insane amounts of delight, gushy sensations, mushy feelings, and a heck of a lot of wicked electrical currents.
“If you kissed me right here with all your family looking at us and watching us, would they be grossed out?”
“My brothers would pretend to be, but Granny would love it.”
“Well then. I guess you had better do just that.”
You know what else Ransom is amazing at? Kissing. I bet you already knew I was going to say that, though. Right there on the dock, he lowers me in his arms, dips me down, and kisses me until there is laughter and clapping and a shocked hoot from somewhere not on the lake, but I hardly notice any of it. I’m too busy focusing entirely on this man and happily putting everything else in the world on pause.
CHAPTER 15
Ayana
“Can I take this off now?” It’s a little bit strange walking into someone’s house and having them immediately blindfold you, but I trust that it’s for a good cause. Trust, yes. It might be fledgling and fragile as a feather, but it’s also there—real, powerful, and growing every day inside me. So, trust, yes. I do trust Ransom.
I trust him not to lead me into his living room and stick my foot into something vile just because he thinks it’s funny. I trust him to keep me from barking my shins, stubbing my toes, and jamming my funny bones into things as he propels me forward. I trust him, his hands around my waist, his massive body at my back like a big oak shading me. I trust that this might go somewhere fun.
Oh, hello, nipples yet again. My lady parts light up accordingly, flashing like strobing lights—the fun kind, the ones you see dancing all over people’s houses and garages at Christmastime. My whole being comes alive when I think about what this blindfold might actually mean. If it has to do with Ransom stripping me down, stripping himself down, or stripping us both down, I’m definitely down. I’m wearing a long maxi dress today in my favorite shade of cherry red, and I can just imagine all the fun things Ransom could do with it. Preferably with it off, but there is a crazy amount he could do with it on too.
