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Gilbert waved his hand. “Please, no need to be so formal. Just call me Gilbert.”
“Gilbert, it is. May I take your coat?”
Bradly appeared again, introduced himself, and took Gilbert’s coat.
“You have a beautiful ranch,” Gilbert stated.
I nodded. “Thank you. My father and uncles work hard to make it the success it is. My older brother, Blayze, as well. He’s been slowly stepping into my father’s shoes.”
The sound of laughter coming from my right made my insides feel weird just as a warm sensation rushed over me. I could hear my parents talking to Kipton, and I didn’t want to gawk at her, so instead, I focused my eyes straight ahead on her mother and father.
“Are you excited to do the show?” Laura asked.
I let out a humorless laugh. “I’m not sure excited is the word I’d use. A bit scared might be a better choice.”
They both laughed before Gilbert looked to his left.
“Aw, there she is. Hunter, this is our daughter, Kipton.”
When I turned to look at her, I had to force my legs not to give out on me. Then I had to concentrate on not letting my mouth drop open. Last, I had to keep my eyes on her stunningly beautiful face, even though they were begging to do a sweep of her entire body.
“Kipton…it’s great to finally meet you in person,” I said as I shook her hand.
I just barely ignored the little jolt of energy that raced up my arm when our hands touched. Then she smiled—and I was pretty damn sure my knees felt a little weak.
The pictures of Kipton hadn’t done her justice, neither had the Zoom meetings. She was about five-three or four. Most of her light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with two long strands left down to frame her face. She wore little makeup, nothing more was needed, and her eyes… Her eyes were the softest blue I’d ever seen. If I had to describe the color, I’d say they were baby blue.
When she glanced over my shoulder, and her eyes went wide—most likely from seeing the large group of people in the other room—they almost seemed to change to gray.
Someone suddenly pushed their way next to me and reached for Kipton’s hand. “Ms. Howse, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Bradly Littlewood’s my name.”
He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it with another wink—at her this time. Now, I did roll my eyes. With a hard pull on his shoulder, I directed him behind me as my father handed him Kipton’s coat.
“Since you’ve appointed yourself the person to hang up jackets, here you go, Bradly.”
Bradly flashed a smile back toward Kipton, then quickly made his way to the closet with her coat.
“I’m sorry about that. Usually he’s on the shy side, but clearly not tonight,” my mother said with a laugh. “Shall we all head into the living room? We’ve got the whole family here tonight.”
Kipton’s brows rose as her mother grinned from ear to ear and said, “I can’t wait to meet them.”
My mother led Laura, while Father walked next to Gilbert and quickly fell into a conversation. I started to follow when I felt Kipton grab my arm.
“Hunter?”
I stopped and faced her. “Yeah?”
She looked nervous as she chewed on her lower lip. “Is there anywhere we can go to talk in private?”
Blinking at her rapidly, I replied, “Um, yeah. Sure.”
I motioned for her to follow me farther down the hall toward my mother’s office. Kipton took in the house as we walked.
“Your parents’ house is beautiful,” she said softly as she slowed to peek into a room. “A library! Oh my gosh, I’d get lost in here.”
I chuckled and said, “Let’s talk in there, then.”
Kipton walked in and stopped in the middle of the room, spinning around slowly as she looked at the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She wore dress pants and a sweater with black high heels. She had an athletic build, but she wasn’t stick thin. I’d heard Rose and Lily talking about how they loved that Kipton had curves, instead of the typical super-thin body that many beauty pageant contestants seemed to prefer.
