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Like the first night they’d met.
They were fully clothed, standing on a public sidewalk in the center of town. But somehow it felt more intimate than the first time when he’d been naked and buried inside her. And far more terrifying.
She knew him now. She knew that when he slept he preferred the left side of the bed. But his favorite way to fall asleep was with his arm slung around her waist, right beneath her breasts, tugging her ass up against his groin. If they hadn’t already made love that night then the position usually led to it.
She knew that while he could wake up as early as any of the farmers around, he was a bit of a bear before he’d had his first cup of coffee. She knew he loved animals but didn’t have any pets because he didn’t feel like he’d have enough time or attention to give them. She knew how he loved it when she teased him by ever so lightly scraping her teeth along the ridge of his cock right when he was on the edge of coming.
She knew all of that and a hundred other things. She’d found all that out in just two months. How much more was there to discover? She could spend a lifetime and not know him completely. Because he’d be constantly changing and evolving and oh God, how she wanted to be there to see it. To be part of it.
And in his eyes, she saw the offer—the offer of everything. No holds barred. No restricted access. She could have all of him if she’d just reach out and take it.
When she blinked, a tear streamed down her cheek.
Hunter finally spoke. “You keep talking about how you run away all the time. But what if you’ve been looking at it all wrong? What if it’s not running away from the bad stuff? What if it’s more about running towards something good?”
She could only blink at him. Everything she was feeling, and then his words… Could she really—
“I gotta go.” He held her face and kissed her hard before pulling back again. He kept cupping her cheeks as he looked her in the eye. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
She nodded. She felt a bit speechless at the moment.
“Remember to act surprised.”
She nodded again and he pressed another kiss to her lips before turning to walk toward his truck.
Isobel took a deep breath and then let it out through her teeth. After the emotional night of revelations and the freaking rejected proposal, all she really wanted to do was go climb in bed with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
Hunter wanted to marry her. Could she even wrap her head around that?
Nope, she decided. Not at all. And there was still a surprise party to get through. So she tried to bottle up all her emotions as best she could, and then she turned toward the door.
“Surprised, act surprised,” she whispered to herself.
Then she pushed open the door and put on her best surprised face.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ISOBEL
The bar erupted as soon as she opened the door.
“Surprise!” was yelled from everywhere at once and a confetti cannon erupted right in her face. And into her open mouth.
Isobel coughed and waved confetti out of her face
“Jesus, Reece,” Jeremiah said, smacking his twin on the back of the head. “Give the girl a second to catch her breath, will ya?”
“Oh no!” Mel laughed, coming forward and helping Isobel get confetti off her shirt and out of her hair.
As soon as she’d gotten most of the confetti out of her mouth, one server with a tray of champagne glasses handed one to her, and another approached with a big slice of apple pie. With a crumble topping.
Isobel took the pie and champagne, immediately looking around for Nicholas. He was always easy to spot in a crowd since he was a head taller than everyone else. He was standing toward the end of the bar near Liam, who was bent over his phone. She lifted the plate of pie toward Nicholas and mouthed thank you.
He nodded, then looked away, seeming embarrassed at the acknowledgement. That man. Mel was right. Whoever caught him would be lucky indeed. She handed off the champagne and took a bite of the pie—the waiter had brought a fork with it. It melted in her mouth it was so delicious.
People crowded all around to wish her happy birthday. Not just the guys from the ranch but everybody and anybody from the town who she’d even remotely had contact with through the veterinary practice. She was glad that Mel stayed by her side and helped her field all the well-wishers. She was glad too for the pie. Whenever she couldn’t remember someone’s name, she’d just take a bite. Except soon the pie was gone.
But then it was Liam to the rescue. He came and grabbed her arm right as one of the elderly farmers was starting in on how he was worried that switching to a cheaper feed might make his cows bloat. “Sorry, I gotta steal the birthday girl away,” Liam said, then snatched her and pulled her behind him.
