Page 51 of The Last Promise You Made

Other than the huge tantrum Addy had thrown at the mall, we’d had a good day. I didn’t want to break the little thread of calm and comfort she seemed to have found—we’d found.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. We’re just getting settled in.”

“It’ll just be us and Sadie. Just one more person. Dinner is ready and waiting, and after, she can see the kittens. I saw the way her eyes lit up when I mentioned them.”

So did I, and I wasn’t interested in bringing a cat into the mix. I already had my hands full.

But if we stayed here, I’d have to cook, and while Mama had filled my fridge, I still wasn’t sure what I’d make.

“Fine,” I groused.

She snorted at my obvious reluctance. “See you soon.”

Addy was watching me with curious eyes. “I guess we’re going to the ranch for dinner. Mama wants to show you the kittens. It’ll be just my parents and my sister Sadie.”

Her brows raised, but that blank look that had preceded her terrifying tantrum didn’t return.

“Get your shoes and your new coat. I’ll go let Gia know.” The idea of putting Gia and Sadie in the same room gave me heartburn. My little sister already thought something had happened between Gia and me, and while we had once exchanged a goddamn kiss, it had been punishment more than pleasure. Although, which of us it had really punished was unclear, as I still couldn’t escape the taste of her.

I knocked on Gia’s bedroom door.

“Yeah?” she hollered. I twisted the knob and stepped inside. She was on the bed, her ponytail now tied into a messy knot on top of her head, and her feet were bare. Bright-pink nail polish glimmered on her toes. The color was somehow surprising when black or a deep purple would have suited her snarky attitude better. Even when I’d thought she was a journalist, there’d been an edge to Gia that had made her seem rough and tumble rather than soft and girlie. And yet, that color felt all girl. All woman.

If it weren’t for the computer and papers strewn about her, she’d look like she’d just woken from a nap. My dick responded to the idea of her in bed, soft and warm and messy. My body wanted to push her work aside, take off her clothes, and see what other kinds of mess we could make. My brain told my body to take a cold shower and put as much distance between us as possible. The feelings I was having for her after our day together, along with the hole in my resolve about women and relationships after my talk with Sadie, had my mind screaming danger.

Maybe it was that prick of alarm that had my words coming out colder than I intended when I said, “We’re heading to the ranch for dinner. If you’re busy, don’t feel like you have to come. There’s plenty of food in the fridge now that Mama loaded it up.”

A look crossed her face that might have been hurt, and I immediately felt like an ass. I wouldn’t have gotten through the morning without her, and now I was making it sound like I didn’t want her with us. And while it was true, because having Gia with us would allow her to continue chiseling away at the barrier I’d put up between me and my desire for her, it was also equally true that I liked having her around. I liked those flames that licked through me when our skin happened to brush.

“Or come,” I grunted out. “Doesn’t matter. Either way.”

“Wow. How badly did that hurt?” she asked, mischief lighting her eyes, as if there’d never been anything else there a moment before.

I huffed and turned around so I wouldn’t be tempted to kiss the look right off her face. “We’re leaving in five minutes if you’re coming.”

“I need ten.”

“I can give you seven.”

“You’re such an ass.”

I came out of the room to see Addy wearing the new flowered coat Gia had picked out. She had her backpack on again and the stuffed jaguar in her arms. I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to bring the bag with her, but that would likely rip her sense of security away. I’d just have to hope she’d realize soon enough that she didn’t need it.

We made our way to the kitchen, and I saw the Escalade key fob on the counter where Gia had dropped it when we’d come in. I picked it up and headed for the garage. I opened the back passenger door of the SUV for Addy, and she climbed in. Then, I went to the driver’s side, backed the seat up, and started adjusting the mirrors.

When Gia joined us, she’d brushed her hair back into a smooth ponytail, pulled on a sweatshirt that read University of Pennsylvania, and slid her feet back into the blue cowboy boots she’d had on since I’d seen her in my brother’s office. Boots that I’d harassed her about the first time she’d been at the ranch, saying they were what city folk thought actual country folk wore, but they’d never hold up to the rigors of life on the ranch. The boots looked scuffed and worn now, but they also looked like they’d held up just fine, making me wrong about yet another thing when it came to Gia Kent.

When she saw me in the driver’s seat, her eyes narrowed. She opened the passenger door, put her hands on her hips, and demanded, “What are you doing driving my car?”

“I don’t like being a passenger,” I told her.

“Ryder, get out of the driver’s seat.”

“Climb in. We’re already late.”

“You’re not driving my car.”

“It isn’t really your car.” But it made me wonder what kind of car she actually owned. The last time she’d been here, she’d been in a similar vehicle.

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