“I’ll grab some.” He stood. “Becky, do you want pops too?”
“Yes, I’d love some. Thank you, Caleb. See, Tuck, why can’t you be more like Caleb, grabbing me popcorn and insisting Barbie movies are okay?”
She listened to the couple bickering and tried to wrap her mind around how or where her life had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the twilight zone. Because there was no place else this could be but the freaking twilight zone.
14
The Barbie movie was made a hell of a lot better by Dalton’s grumbling and Lina putting him in his place when their kid clapped his hands, bouncing on their knees in time with the songs. The kid clearly loved it. His dad… not so much.
He glanced down at Rose’s head. About half an hour ago, her eyes had drooped closed, and she’d snuggled up next to him as if she’d always belonged tucked into his side and drifted off to sleep. He’d ignored the raised eyebrows from Tate and the low teasing from Kentucky. He’d pay them back eventually. Now, he had a bigger problem: figuring out if he should wake her or if he could get his seatbelt around them both for landing. She shifted against him, her fingers on one hand bunching into his shirt, the other on his thigh, dangerously close to finding out how attracted he was to her.
You’re killing me, baby girl.
“Strap her in,” Kacey advised from his position on the couch across the way from them. His brother was clearly getting way too good at reading his mind. “It’s safer, and we’ve got those cross winds as we land.”
He nodded and stroked his hand down her back. It sucked when his brother was right. Thankfully, he wasn’t the kind to gloat about it… much. “Baby girl. It’s time to wake up. We’re gonna be landing in a few minutes.”
“Mm.”
Over their heads, the seatbelt notification chimed, and the light came on. “Hey,” he whispered softly, “it’s time to wake up.”
“Wha—I’m up.” She jerked away from him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“You didn’t get much last night.” She didn’t know what that blush did to him. He was supposed to only be helping her out of a sticky situation. He wasn’t supposed to be bewitched by whatever spell the woman was casting over him. She was drawing him in with every passing moment he spent with her, and she didn’t even know it. “Let me help you with your belt.”
“I got it.” She moved back into her own seat, and he bit down on the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from demanding that she return to his side immediately.
Get a fucking grip, man.
But despite the stern talking to he was giving himself in his head, he didn’t want to get a grip. He wanted to explore and find out if she was feeling what he was—attraction like he’d never felt before.
Once the plane touched down, they waited until almost everyone was up and moving ahead of them. He knew there wasn’t a hope in hell Dalton would allow Lina and their son off the plane if there was so much as a sniff of danger, never mind if it was actually present. When the boss and his family were through the doors, he got to his feet and offered his hand to Rose. “Come see the ranch you wanted to spend some time on.”
He was grateful to see excitement was more evident than apprehension on her face. He never wanted her to be scared of anything again. He led her to the door and stepped out in front of her, keeping his body between hers and the outside until he’d scanned the airstrip, much as Dalton had done a couple of moments before. He caught her fingers in his. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She paused outside the plane, and he could hear the surprise in her voice. “Am I the only one who finds it weird that there are trucks just sitting alongside the plane, waiting with nobody to watch them?”
“City girl,” a woman’s voice that she didn’t recognize teased. “I’m Willow, Cormack’s wife, and you are Rose.”
All of them adored Willow. She might be the youngest of the wives, but she had a good head on her shoulders. Trust the military brat to bring her into the fold.
“I’m not sure who Cormack is.”
“That one.” Willow pointed to her husband. “They all called him Jeep, didn’t they?”
Rose nodded. “Yes, I thought it was a weird name. I should have figured out it was a nickname.”
“My man is good with his hands…”
“Eww, Willow.” Kacey carried a suitcase under each arm and one in each hand toward the trucks. “It’s bad enough that you and the old bastard you hooked up with desecrate my kitchen. I don’t need to know what the hell he does to you with his hands.”
“Jerk.” Willow smacked him. “Just you wait and see. I’ll salt every single one of your pies for that wisecrack.” She pouted, then glanced over her shoulder with a smile as Jeep hauled her against his chest. “Hey, love.”
“Are you pissing off my woman, Kace?” Jeep growled. “Because I’d have to punch you in the balls if you are. I might even ban her from being in your kitchen, too.”
“If she salts my pies, I’ll ban her myself.”
Caleb shook his head at their grumbling and teasing. These people were the closest thing he had to family. They were wild, crazy, and they drove each other batshit most of the time. But there wasn’t a single one in the bunch he wouldn’t have on his six in a firefight. If one of them scared Rose off, he would make their lives miserable. As the person who supervised the training schedules, he could make payback freaking hurt.
