Page 69 of Bodyguard By Night

Merry hugged my arm. Her familiar powder scent made my eyes sting. “I really don’t want you to go.”

“Hey, look at it this way—you can come out to the orchard after your boards.”

Even as I said it, I knew she would probably never come visit. Maybe if I wished for it hard enough, she would come upstate.

“Yeah?”

I leaned into her. “My Aunt Laverne will pamper you and my cousins are pretty hot.”

“Hotter thanhim?”

“You’re going to swell his head.”

“Which one?” she asked without bothering to whisper.

Ransom slid his hand along my hip, his fingers twisting in the beltloop of my jeans. His breath teased my ear. “As much as I enjoy you talking about how hot I am, can we move this along?”

“You’re an ass.”

“You like my ass.”

I glanced back at him. “What is going on with you?” He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t say that kind of thing out loud. My inside-my-head voice was loud enough for three people.

Merry looked from me to Ransom and then back again. “Can we talk?” She gave Ransom a bright smile. “I’m just going to steal her for a minute.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets “What do you want me to start moving?”

“Well, you did get three more boxes.” Merry pointed to the large boxes in the corner of the living room.

I froze.

Ransom’s jaw tightened. “When?”

“Every day since you left. Actually, we got one that night from FedEx.”

He stalked to the pile. The boxers were oversized and the bottom one looked similar to the flat pack box that had started all of this drama.

Bending at the waist, he lifted them all at once and muscled his way to the door.

I met him at the door, opening it for him. “Ransom.”

“Not here,” he said through gritted teeth.

I noticed the familiar logo on the box. “Why?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll be figuring it out.” He pressed a quick, but firm kiss on my shocked mouth.

“I’m so confused, but I’m equally jealous,” Merry said from behind me.

I watched him run down the stairs then navigate the crumbling walkway as if it was even blacktop on his way to his truck. He lifted the boxes up and over the side of the truck as if they didn’t probably weigh over eighty-damn-pounds.

Yes, it was hot, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about him taking over, even if a small part of me was relieved.

And why did he keep kissing me all of a sudden?

I looked out into the misty gray and shivered. I’d taken my slicker off during the drive, not that it would have kept me warm, anyway.

I half expected him to notice I was cold, but he wasn’t paying attention to me any longer. He had his phone out, calling someone. Poe? Aidan?