He is fierce, though. His face looks like he’s scowled for twenty years, and now the lines around his mouth might crack if he tried to smile.
“I’ve invited them to stay longer,” Luna says.
Ridge snaps his head up. “What?”
“And they’ve agreed,” Zane says levelly. “For the summer, in fact.”
I’m not sure I actually didagreeto that plan, specifically, but the way he says it, there’s no room for disagreement.
And I’m pretty sure that if I tried to run now, he’d just track me down and carry me back on his shoulder.
Ridge opens his mouth, but before he can argue or growl or whatever he was about to do, Bellamy races around the kitchen island and bares her teeth at him.
He stares down at her. “What are you doing?”
“You won’t bite me,” she says with all the confidence of a three year old who has been promised afactby someone as trustworthy as Zane Kincaid.
He rocks back on the heels of his cowboy boots. “How do you know that?”
She points at Zane. “He said you’ll only bite monsters.”
He nods slowly. “Probably true.”
“Do you like pancakes?”
“Not really.”
She frowns, suddenly suspicious.
He shrugs. “More for you?”
“More for me tobite,” she says solemnly.
“Okay,” I intervene, finally finding my voice and holding out my hand. “Hi. Sorry about my daughter. Nice to finally meet you.”
Like his brother, his grip is firm and warm, calloused from work on the ranch. Unlike his brother, his touch doesn’t turn me inside out and upside down. “Welcome to Kincaid’s Refuge.”
I glance at Zane, who busies himself with giving everyone breakfast. Ridge fills his Thermos with coffee, then heads out. Luna eats one square of pancakes, then heads back to her studio.
“Call upstairs when you’re ready to go the greenhouses,” she tosses over her shoulder.
And then we’re alone again, just the three of us.
Zane gets Bellamy set up with breakfast, then he tugs me into the hallway.
“Good morning,” he says quietly before covering my mouth with his.
I press up into his kiss, clinging to him as I slide my tongue against his in a stolen, breathless greeting.
He rubs his knuckles against my cheek as he smiles at me. “Did you sleep?”
I nod.
“Any nightmares?”
I shake my head.
“Good. I talked to Cash last night. He’s going to find out where that asshole is, and we’ll go from there for protecting you two. I’ll find you as soon as we have some information. I bought some trail cameras yesterday while I was in the city, and I’ll be setting these up around the perimeter of the ranch today. Do you need anything else before I head out?”
