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“Yeah?” I kissed her again for good measure. Heck, I couldn’t keep my mouth off hers. I’d lost track of the number of kisses we’d shared—not that the number mattered, as long as all her kisses were shared with me. And only me from now on.
“We gotta go,” she said regretfully, “or we won’t get back in time for that date. And they might find two kissing popsicles frozen on the trail.”
“But what a way to go.”
“I can think of better. Like fifty years from now.”
“You’re right. Let’s go.”
And hour and a half later, the lodge and outbuildings came into sight. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so relieved. My body ached, and I couldn’t wait to jump under a hot shower.
To my surprise, I head Pete growl. We were walking side by side now that we’d broken the tree line and left the path, so her annoyed sound was loud and clear.
That’s when I saw the guy striding toward us, dressed remarkably similar to how we were.
“Brad?” I asked, reaching for her hand.
“Yeah.”
I glared his direction, but it wasn’t enough to make him stop rushing toward us with his arms out.
Not on my watch.
I stepped in front of Pete, hoping she wouldn’t be pissed by the move. “You’ll stop right there, if you’re smart,” I growled. “Touch her, and I’ll ram my ski poles where the sun don’t shine,friend.”
Pete’s fingers curled around my arm, but she didn’t attempt to move me. She did shift so she was only partially behind me, though, reminding me this wasn’t my battle—or she thought it wasn’t anyway.
Brad stopped, because apparently, he wasn’t as stupid as I’d thought, and crossed his arms. He glared at Pete.
“What is this, Petunia?”
“Excuse me?” she asked. And if that wasn’t a death threat, I wasn’t sure what was. Everything in her tone put him on notice.
He chose to ignore that.
“This.” His hand waved at me.
“First of all, I broke up with you almost three years ago. “And second, what the heck are you doing here?”
“You’re supposed to marry me.”
When I glanced over at Pete, her brows couldn’t have been any further into her hairline. This was news to her.
“Let me guess,” I said, wedging my hand beneath Pete’s pack again and pulling her to my side. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. All the while, I kept my glare on Brad. “You didn’t tell Daddy that you and Pete broke up. You’ve been pretending everything’s fine, and you’re having a long distance thing—”
I looked down at Pete. “Which would never fly in my book, Flower. Just so you know.”
My eyes narrowed back on Brad. “And now you’re here because it’s time to lay proof to your lies. Tell me if I’m warm.”
If he could have shot lasers from his eyes, I would have been dead. “You don’t know anything.”
“But don’t I?” I asked. Yeah, maybe, I was ready to take him in a fight after he threw the first punch. I might have to defer to Pete out in the wilderness, because that was her jam and she knew way more than I did. But down here, when dealing with spoiled punks… No one was messing with my girl, and I’d be her wall of defense.
Now, I crossed my arms and staredhimdown. “I have plenty of experience recognizing guys like you. So I think maybe I’m right on the nose, here. When’s the supposed wedding?”
Still beside me, Pete gasped. I pressed my lips to the top of her head again. “Not happening, Flower. The only one you’re marrying is me.”
“That a proposal?” she asked as if Brad wasn’t gaping at us and making strangled sounds. “I mean…it’s only been a minute and we haven’t really—”
