“It would honestly make me feel better having a man I can trust live on the property with us.”
Now, he looks at me.Reallylooks at me. There’s determination on his face, purpose in his eyes, and the little devil-me on my shoulder does a happy dance while the little angel-me slaps her forehead.
“All right. Let’s do it.”
It’s all I can do not to clap my hands and jump up and down. There’s nothing wrong with using my feminine wiles to get what I want, not when it comes to someone I know for certain I’m destined to be with. Not when I have only the best intentions.
And now the world starts to spin around me again, thoughts of three mates right here with me, within reach, flooding my mind.
I don’t have time to bask in these thoughts right now. There’s too much to do.
“I’m going to call for a dumpster drop-off. I’m sure I can get them to bring it here in the morning. Then, you and I can get to work clearing this place out as soon as you’re ready.”
Leading the way to the door, my phone’s flashlight on, I wrench it open and let him see the disarray I’d found earlier.
“I do want to go through the stuff. It looks like mostly trash, but just in case.”
“Of course.”
“And I’ll do some research on trailers and call the utility companies. I don’t know how long all of this will take, but as soon as it’s all done, the place will be yours.”
We stare at each other, quietly assessing. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but I definitely know my brain is filling with fantasies I have no business imagining this fast.
Something about this hulking man with the soothing scent is doing all sorts of crazy things to my insides.
I just have to get through hauling trash with him and setting up the new trailer. Get to know one another better. Then, I can make a move on my cowboy Alpha.
Chapter Five
Idefinitely shouldn’t be here. Not uninvited. Not unannounced.
What was Jasper thinking? What wasIthinking?
I’m in Adley Pepper’s driveway, my sedan parked behind a brand new SUV that sparkles in the setting sun. There are lights on inside the house, the glow escaping through the blinds and mismatched curtains on the main and second floors.
I should leave. This was a mistake.
But my fingers won’t press the ignition button. I’m like a statue sitting in the seat, staring at this one, rotting shingle just beyond the SUV.
My destiny is in that house. The woman I’ve waited for my entire life. The one who’s undoubtedly going to smellrightto mewhen no one else ever has. Years of yearning, hope and despair, all coming to an end.
If I could just get my ass out of this car and walk up to that porch.
Move, dammit.
Two raps on my driver-side window have me leaping out of my skin, grasping at my racing heart.
I think I might have screamed.
I turn and find the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen hunched over outside my driver’s side window. Her brown hair falls in waves beyond her shoulders, her big dark eyes are wide, full lips in an O of surprise before turning into a cringe.
“Sorry!” she says, her voice muffled through the window and door.
I’m speechless as I shake my head and reach for the door handle. When I open the door, she steps back to let me out.
“I heard a car pull up and—”
Her voice cuts off abruptly as I stand to my full height and look down at her, watch her throat bob on a swallow. Our nostrils flare in unison, and when the scent of orange blossoms invades my lungs, my brain, I nearly cry with relief.
