Page 136 of The Last Promise You Made

I huffed out another laugh. “Thank you for trying to do something nice for me, but I’m not really good at letting people touch me.”

Ryder’s eyes grew dark, and his fingers skimmed along my bra. My nipples instantly went hard, and my core ignited. That was all it ever took. A simple touch and I was gone. I kissed him, tongue tangling with his, and our bodies notched together automatically. Coming home.

He pulled away, waving a finger at me. “Don’t distract me, darlin’. As I’m not sure I’m in love with the idea of someone touching you either, I don’t care if you skip the massage. But you will go with Mama and Sadie. They want to do this for you, and I have other stuff to take care of.”

My lips quirked upward. “Bossy much? And what other stuff? What exactly are you planning, cowboy?”

He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear, saying with a sudden gentleness that captured my heart all over again, “Let me keep it a surprise for a few more hours.”

He never lied to me. Never. And now this was his way of asking me not to force him to while he did something nice for me. How could I ever say no to that?

“Fine. I’ll go with Eva and Sadie.”

The smile he gave me was enough to make me want to give him anything he ever asked just to see him light up like this. When he was happy, he looked more like Addy than ever. Or she looked like him? All I knew was that when they both let their guards down and let the joy overtake them, they were absolutely radiant. Stars that I felt lucky to call mine.

? ? ?

After Eva and Sadie picked me up, I’d bypassed the massage but agreed to the facial, manicure, pedicure, and hair trim that made me feel a bit like a movie star. Pampered. Rested.

We feasted on chicken and dumplings for lunch at Tilly’s Café, with Tilly hovering around us, yapping about all the latest gossip in town, including how Willy the mechanic had found himself a new girlfriend. Everyone was hoping this one would last so he didn’t spend another two years crying into his beer at McFlannigan’s.

After our meal, I was whisked away to the mall where they pushed me into a chair in the makeup aisle and hmm’d and ha’d while a makeup artist lined my eyes and my lips. Then, they insisted I pick out a dress and new shoes, as if I’d put up a fight. Little did they know…I didn’t mind shopping. I just rarely had the time anymore, and my simple wardrobe had been what I needed while working for the NSA. But there’d been a point in my teen years when I’d thought shopping was the only good solace for a broken heart. Now, my heart was full, and I still didn’t mind shopping.

I chose an off-the-shoulder floral dress that it was a little too chilly for yet but would be nice and cool once the Tennessee humidity kicked in. I skipped the shoes, insisting I liked the way my blue cowboy boots, scuffed and scraped as they were, looked with the bright magenta and blue flowers. So, they took me to a shoeshine station and had my boots buffed and polished.

By the time we were done, it was nearing dinnertime, and they said we were due back in Willow Creek at McFlannigan’s. That was when I felt the first flutter of nerves hit my stomach. Ryder had said he’d had a surprise, but I thought it was nothing more than dinner and cake at our house with his family showing up.

“Anything I need to be prepared for?” I asked.

Eva and Sadie exchanged soft smiles, and my heart tripped again.

We parked in front instead of out back in the parking lot like the family usually did. What exactly was I walking into? I drew my shoulders back, lifted my chin, and swallowed hard, wishing for the first time in two months that I’d had time to do my sleuthing and uncover enough of Ryder’s secret not to be nervous.

Sadie and Eva walked inside in front of me, but as they stepped to the side, a bar full of people screamed, “Surprise!” and then burst into the happy birthday song. In the dim light, my gaze settled on Ryder with Addy next to him. Shock flew through me as I saw her in a dress for the first time since I’d met her. It was purple, and she wore it with a pair of tan cowboy boots. Her long black hair was twisted into two braids, and she smiled shyly, tucking into her dad when she saw me.

When I turned my eyes to Ryder, my heart slowed to a complete stop as it often did when I saw him after a few hours apart. He had on dark-washed jeans that hung low on his hips and a striped blue button-down that made his eyes pop even at a distance. His cowboy hat was missing and his dark hair gleamed, making me want to run my hands through it and mess it up. But it was the smile on his face as it widened and grew that made my feet come to a complete halt. I wanted to shout, “I love you!” across the bar. I wanted to run to him like one of those romance movies I’d never wanted to watch, where the heroine and hero find their way across a field of flowers.

As my feet seemed frozen, Ryder came to me. He picked me up, shoved his face in the crook of my neck, and spun me around. When we came to a halt, I was facing the door again. He put me down, kissed me softly, and whispered, “Happy birthday, darlin’.” And my entire body burst into flames.

He grinned, eyes slowly strolling down over my body in the lightweight dress in a way that made me afraid I’d be showing nipples to the entire bar. “Damn, you look beautiful. How the hell am I going to get through the next few hours with you looking like this?” he asked quietly, leaning in to kiss my forehead.

“You should have thought about that before you threw me a surprise party in a very public space.”

“There’s always Phil—Sadie’s office.” He winked but then took my hand and twirled me around so I was facing the entirety of the room. “But first, there are some people who’ve come a long way to see you.”

When I saw them, tears filled my eyes, and then I was pulling away from Ryder to run through the tables and chairs until my dad caught me in his arms and held on tight.

Standing at an impressive six foot three that my brother matched, Dad appeared exactly the military man he was, even in jeans and a dress shirt he rarely wore. The white at his temples was hardly noticeable with his dark-blond hair shaved down to stubble.

“You’re here!” I practically shouted, turning from him to my mom.

Her face was one large smile that was echoed in her eyes, the faint lines around them barely visible. Her dark hair was still thick and full without a hint of gray, which I was vain enough to hope I inherited.

Mom hugged me tight, saying, “Happy birthday.”

Ryder joined me, my smile widened, and I grabbed his hand, squeezing tight, trying to communicate how much what he’d done by bringing my family to me meant. “You’ve all met, I see.”

“Ryder picked us up at the airport,” Dad said, voice booming through the bar. “Set us up in some very nice cabins at the ranch.”

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