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“How about after breakfast you can show me some stuff? My famous French toast in exchange for your photography expertise.”
My stomach growls, and I grin at him. “I’m pretty sure I’m getting the better end of this deal.”
After our breakfast, we spend the next few hours in the woods outside of Grizz’s cabin. I teach him how to adjust his camera settings, and he takes a few dozen photos including a few of me.
“Do you like photography?” He asks. “You said you do it for the products.”
I shake my head. “No, but it’s one of those skills that I need to have for my business. I’d like to outsource it when I have the funds. Right now, a lot of what I earn goes back into advertising and marketing, getting the word out about my show.”
He reaches for a different lens in his bag, but I stop him. I hand him a different one, and he grins at me. “Most businesses don’t make a profit for the first three to five years. It was hard as fuck to keep the camping store going at first.”
“And now, look at you, a successful entrepreneur,” I tease.
His ears turn red again, and it’s so adorable to see him blush. He can say the filthiest things to me in bed, but the moment I compliment him, he turns the shade of a tomato.
I hope that he did knock me up this morning because I want to carry my brother’s best friend’s baby.
He captures another shot of the flowers in the meadow before his phone dings. He pulls it out of his pocket and frowns at the display. “It’s the security system for the store. Something must have set it off. I need to investigate.”
The last time it went off, a black bear was prowling in the area. It tried to get into his shop and while it didn’t succeed, there was some minor damage to his outdoor displays. “I’ll go with you.”
He pauses. “You know what this means, right?”
I nod and try to muster up my most confident look. “I know. Greer will be waiting for us at the shop.”
10
GINGER
Grizz takes my hand once we’re in his truck. His thumb traces soothing circles across my skin. Somehow, he can sense my anxiety without a word. “Tell me what’s on your mind, my pretty girl.”
I stare out at the overcast sky from my window. “I don’t want him to be mad at me.”
“He’s not going to be mad,” he answers.
Greer is the only one who’s always been there for me all my life. He taught me how to throw a punch and drive a stick shift. He got me into therapy when the anxiety started. He listened to my petty girl drama in high school. Through it all, he never once judged me. Will he hate me once he finds out I’m sleeping with Grizz, that I’m in love with his best friend?
My throat grows tight as I think about it, and I struggle to swallow around the lump. “What if he hates me? He told me I belong there at the ranch. He can’t take that back, can he?”
Grizz guides the truck onto the side of the mountain road and turns off the ignition. Then he’s sliding me across the bench seat and pulling me into his lap.
I don’t even realize how much I needed him to do that until I’m burying my face into his flannel shirt as the tears come fast and hot. I don’t know how long I cry for but when the tears finally pass, Grizz cleans my face with the sleeve of his shirt. “Tell me.”
I hiccup softly. “I was one of the New Kingdom kids.”
“The cult that’s around the state border?” He asks.
It was a big scandal about fifteen years ago. A religious cult living on the border of North Carolina. The state came in and seized most of the kids from the place because of the neglectful conditions.
I nod. “They believe the kids are just everyone’s. You know, it takes a village and all. Except that nobody looks out for you then. It’s a compound. Half of the adults there are high, and the other half have crazy religious ideas. You end up dirty and hungry and lonely.”
“I kept having nightmares about having to go back there. That’s why I ended up in therapy. It helped some with the anxiety, but I never got adopted by the Maples. Not officially. Greer could send me away.”
“The fuck anyone will send you away,” Grizz says fiercely. “You’re not alone anymore. You belong to me now, and I love you.”
I search his face, barely daring to hope. “You love me?”
“You’re everything to me. You’re the whole damn world. I’m never letting you go, Ginger. You’re my girl.” He wraps his arms around me and hugs me tight while he brushes kisses along the top of my head. “My sweet girl.”
