Page 64 of Lost and Found

Then she turns and walks away with a determined stride, like she's in a hurry to be somewhere. I'm still swimming in pleasure, my legs weak, and I have no idea how she can move so fast right now. Was she less affected?

Somehow, I manage to catch up. "Where are you going?"

She looks at me, her cheeks still flushed, her eyes still heavy-lidded, and I bite back a smile. She's obviously pretending to be less affected than she is. "On to the next competition. We've wasted enough time trying to find your contact. My team needs me."

"Dani." I grip her shoulder and slide my hand down her arm to lace our fingers together. She doesn't pull away. "Stop for a minute. Don't you think we should talk about what happened back there?"

She sighs and turns to face me. "Don't go developing feelings for me, Ranger. We had a moment. A really good moment. Clearly, we're attracted to each other and sexually compatible. I wouldn't be opposed to trying it again. But we aren't friends and we definitely aren't romantic soul mates."

"Yet," I say, because I like Dandelion Weston and I'm determined to win her over.

She huffs and starts walking again, pulling her hand from mine. I have no idea what's going through her mind, but I want to know. I want to know everything about her.

I keep pace, but hesitate as we pass the pigs, lounging in overgrown grass. "Did Annette actually steal those pigs from a slaughterhouse?"

"Is that what she told you?"

"She implied her possession of them might not be entirely legal."

Dani snorts. "Aunt Annette loves to cause trouble. She got them from a family who thought they'd bought micro-pigs for each of their triplet daughters. When the pigs didn't stop growing, they realized they'd been hoodwinked."

"And your aunt just happened to know these people and could take the pigs off their hands at the right moment?"

"Honey called Aunt Annette the night we brought Mari home to ask Annette to round up the cousins so we could get the fence built. Aunt Annette had probably told her hairdresser, neighbors, doctor, mail carrier, grocer, and dog walker about the farm within twenty-four hours. These pigs likely came from the friend of a friend of an acquaintance of Annette's."

From somewhere comes a loud clanging, and Dani freezes in her tracks. "Darn it. That means the games are paused. It's time to eat."

I watch her walk away, unsure for a moment about my place here. I'm not her boyfriend and I don't need to interrupt her family's dinner time.

She turns to look back at me, squinting in the sunlight dipping toward the ground behind me. "There's a ton of food and everyone who takes part in the games is welcome."

It's not exactly the invitation I was hoping for, but I'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity to spend more time with her.

I need to let go of the dream of me and Kaia, and I have a suspicion Dani can help me do that.

***

"This is the best veggie burger I've ever had," I say around a mouthful of food.

Dani smiles. "I prefer beef, myself, but there are some talented cooks in this family who can make anything taste good."

"Well, it was really nice of them to make some vegetarian options."

"Don't go thinking it was for you," George says from across the table. He's sitting next to his wife, May, on one side and his father, Bart, on the other. We're all seated outside at an odd arrangement of card tables, dining room tables, and picnic blankets. There have to be at least a hundred people here. "May and I are vegan, and Jared and Brit are vegetarian."

"It wasn't for you either," Dani says. "I have several cousins who are vegetarian. Including one of my aunts, who cooked all this food."

"Oh, hush," an older woman, with hair that's in two long braids down her back, says. "Eighty percent of this food I pulled out of my freezer or bought at the deli in town. I gave up spending a pretty summer day in the kitchen ten years ago. I'm too old for it."

"Well, it's delicious," I say. "Thank you for feeding us."

"Yes," Dani says. "Thank you, Aunt Esmeralda. Breakfast and lunch are on us tomorrow."

Esmeralda waves a hand in dismissal. "Consider it my contribution to this sanctuary farm. I plan to visit often and snuggle that cow of yours for free any time I want."

"Deal," Dani says. "You're welcome here any time."

Esmeralda pats Dani's back and walks away, just as a couple of newcomers step up to our table.