“She’s got you all tied up in knots. I tink you’re worse den I was wit’ Mia.”
Remy had glared at his brother while they’d worked on getting the gazebo decorated with twinkling lights.
“You’re probably right,” he admitted grudgingly. “She’s drivin’ me crazy. Every time I tink I’m making a little headway wit’ her, she pulls her walls back up. Lily told me someting bad happened to Kylie in da past. She tinks an old boyfriend might have hurt her, physically, and dat’s scared her. I want to hunt down da bastard, who made her afraid to let others in, and beat him to a pulp.” An angry growl trickled out from between his lips.
Gage went to him and gripped his shoulder. “Easy dere, Remy. Even if dat’s what happened, she’s here now. You just gotta take it slow wit’ her. Like I did wit’ Mia, after what Cole did to her. You just show her, every chance you get, dat you’re not like whoever it was dat hurt her, and she’ll come around. She did agree to go to dinner wit’ you, after all.”
“True, she did. Dat’s a start, I suppose.” When they were finished, he stood back to make sure it looked right. “Thanks for your help today.”
“Don’t mention it. You helped me wit’ my mate, now it’s my turn to help you. Mia’s fixin’ ever’ting you asked for. Go on. Go get your girl. By da time you’re here, I’ll have it all set up and waitin’ for you.”
Remy nodded and headed back to the compound for Kylie. Every time he saw her, she damn near knocked him senseless with her beauty. One of the things he’d noticed about Kylie was that she had no idea just how beautiful she was. She didn’t see the way men looked at her, the way they undressed her with their eyes. Every single time a guy looked at her like that, when she was behind the bar at Scarlet Flux, he had to resist the desire to beat the shit out of them for it.
He kept an eye on her as he took them to the private dock in New Orleans where his truck waited. “We’ve got a bit of drivin’ to get to where we’re goin’,” he informed her once they were on their way.
“You’re being very secretive, Remy.”
“I want dis to be a surprise, cher. If you’re not happy wit’ it, we’ll go somewhere else. You have my word.”
Kylie watched him out of the corner of her eye. “Okay.”
Remy watched from the corner ofhiseye as he pulled onto the little-used road that would take them to their destination. He could see her resolve to not ask questions crumbling as he pulled into what he knew looked like an empty field. A frown creased her brow and he saw her start to turn, most likely to question him, when something obviously caught her eye. There, ahead of them, was the gazebo covered in twinkling lights. “Wow. That’s really…pretty. Where are we?”
“Dis land belongs to a buddy of mine and Gage’s. His father gave it to him to do whatever he wanted wit’ it and he hasn’t decided what dat is, yet.”
“How on earth did you get this set up on such short notice?”
“Wit’ help from my brother and his mate. He helped me decorate, she did da cookin’.”
“I’m going to have to remember to thank Mia and Gage when I see them again. You continue to surprise me, Cajun. What other surprises do you have up your sleeve?”
“Dat, Kitten, was da plan.” He smirked at her. “You’ll have to just wait to find out, won’t you?” he added with a wink. He moved around to her side of the truck and opened the door for her before he helped her out. He kept hold of her hand as he led her to the gazebo.
“It’s beautiful,” she confessed. She sounded a little breathless as she looked at all the twinkling lights.
“It’s beauty pales next to you,” Remy growled near her ear as he helped her up the steps. Was it cliché? Maybe, but it was also the truth. Nothing compared to her beauty, in his opinion.
“You do have a way with words.” She sat at the table and arched a brow as he started placing covered dishes on it. “It all smells delicious. Your sister-in-law did a great job on the food.”
Remy chuckled. “I’ll be sure to tell her you approved.”
Soon they both had plates filled with steaks cooked just enough that they were still pink and succulent, and sauteed shrimp with portobello mushrooms on a bed of garlic linguine, shrimp étouffée, steamed asparagus, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. For long minutes the only sounds coming from the gazebo were pleased hums with every bite of food.
“Tell me a bit about you, Kitten. I want to know ever’ting dere is to know about you.”
Kylie swallowed nervously. “Why?”
“You’re my mate.” For Remy it was as simple as that.
“There’s not much to tell. I grew up in a little town in Maine, close to the US/Canadian border. My father was a lieutenant in the Pard until he died in a freak accident during a snowstorm five years ago. I’m an only child, so there are no siblings back in Maine. None that I know of, anyway. My parents weren’t mates but my father did love my mom. She died in childbirth and almost took me with her.” She shrugged as if her life was boring.
“You said da name of your hometown was Frenchville,oui?” Remy noticed the hesitation on her face when he asked that question.
“Um,yes. Why?”
“I already told you, Kitten, I want to get to know you.”
Kylie studied him. “Okay. There’s…really not much more to know about me.”
