Page 33 of Cruise

The bar was a nice mix of good food, music, and a fun atmosphere. They’d had the steaks along with baked potatoesand fried zucchini. Lexi had told him that if he hadn’t tried fried zucchini, he should. She was right. He’d followed her lead and dipped it in ranch. And the steak had been one of the best he’d ever had. Perfectly cooked and tender.

But Lexi in his arms and the great food hadn’t made the twitchy feeling he was still getting go away. A couple times, he’d felt eyes on him and chalked it up to being new in town, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Having Lexi’s full figure nestled against him was playing havoc with his control. The only thing helping him was reminding himself this was a mission. They needed to draw out her brother. Twist was hanging at a table with Maureen and Compass. Each time he’d looked Twist’s way, Twist had shaken his head, letting Booker know nothing had happened at the ranch yet.

“Babe, I know we’ve talked about being together, and I know I haven’t officially proposed. But when I do, have you thought about what you want?”

Lexi smiled up at him with that grin he wanted to put on her face for the next fifty or sixty years.

“As long as Mom is there, I don’t care where. I guess I always pictured either outside or in a rustic barn. I just want to be with you. I wasn’t one of those girls who dreamed about the perfect wedding. I dreamed of the perfect boy I’d left behind. I don’t want a big dress. In fact, I actually have a pretty dress that, when I bought it, I wondered about it for a wedding dress. I was optimistic, even though I hadn’t found my man yet.”

Booker nodded. He craved for Lexi to be his permanently, the sooner the better. If they could get the threat taken care of, maybe they could get married the weekend of the baby showers if the couples didn’t care. Everyone would be there. Their honeymoon could be some places on the way to the next book signing. Then he could plan a bigger trip when Lexi had a larger space in her schedule.

“I think that is the perfect wedding. What would you want me wearing?” Booker asked.

Lexi giggled, then answered, “Well, since the way you were on the cover of that book would be too risqué for some of the people, then I’d say dark jeans, a shirt, and your cut. I mean, without Bluff Creek sending you to check on Compass, who knows if we would have ever reconnected.”

He was guessing there would be no way now to keep his side job from the ladies of Bluff Creek, but the chance for Lexi to be friends with them outweighed his possible embarrassment at their teasing.

He leaned closer, brushing a kiss against her neck and then nibbling on her ear. “Well, I’ll be glad to model what I had on the cover for you any time you’d like,” he whispered.

“You’re a tease to do this to me when you and I both know that Twist and Cowboy will think we need a freaking briefing when we get back,” Lexi muttered.

“And on that note, it’s time to go. Twist just motioned for us to leave,” Booker said.

He hated cutting their night short, but they’d have plenty of nights later. He only hoped the action at the ranch was because the guys caught her brother.

Chapter Sixteen

Lexi sat with her cup of coffee at the table. They’d returned last night because someone had tried to break into the house. Dodge and Cowboy had given chase but lost them in the dark.

They’d met this morning. Lexi, Booker, Dodge, Cowboy, and Twist were heading out with the younger ranch hand, Chance. They were splitting into three groups to check the cabins all atthe same time. Compass and Maureen were staying in the house. The older ranch hand would take care of a delivery from the feed store in town that was expected. A storm was forecast, so they were hurrying to get back before the weather moved in.

Lexi had shared, after prompting from Booker, exactly what her brother had done when he’d found her on the road in her RV. She hated reliving what had happened. To know her brother had sunk low enough to try to poison her mom and hold her up at gunpoint. The only thing that had saved her when he’d accosted her had been that he was high. It had caused him to not keep his eyes on her.

Lexi had knocked the gun out of his hand by hitting him with her crock pot, which had been full of hot food. The gun had gone off, the bullet hitting the wall of the RV’s bathroom and traveling through to the garage. Her brother had run because the hot food had burned him. Lexi wondered what could have happened if she hadn’t been standing by her crock pot. Would he have killed her? Heck, she’d actually considered a marriage of convenience to Booker to at least foil her brother’s plans if he succeeded in killing her mom and her. But it would just paint a target on Booker, and she couldn’t have that.

“Let’s get a move on. Doors are locked except for this one we’re going out. Compass has the monitors to watch and an arsenal at his disposal. Lexi and Booker, you’re taking a pick-up to cabin three. Dodge and Chance are taking the side-by-side to cabin two. Twist and I are taking the other side-by-side. We want to get there as fast as possible and check them out. We don’t want to take too long if he’s there for him to get away,” Cowboy said.

Lexi dumped the rest of her coffee and put the cup in the dishwasher. She had her thigh holster on and slid on her shoulder holsters too. She wanted one plainly seen if someone was watching. Maybe it would dissuade her brother from coming after them. The two shoulder holsters would be hidden underher coat. She wanted some edge if someone caught them unaware. She slid her coat on and kissed her mom.

“Stay safe. We’ll be back in a little bit,” Lexi said.

“We’ve got this, honey. Compass and I will have some more coffee and keep an eye on what’s going on around the ranch,” Maureen said.

Booker slid his arm around her and nodded goodbye to her mom and Compass. Following him out to the truck, she had this horrible feeling sweep over her. Scoop and Sarah had called this morning. Both ranch hands had come back clean. No strange payments into their accounts and, as far as they could see, no interactions with her brother.

Booker held the door of the pickup open as she grabbed the handle and hoisted herself in. Booker’s hand grasped her butt cheek and helped give her a boost. She turned and arched her brow at him.

“Seriously, I told you I can’t resist your beautiful junk in the trunk.”

She giggled. He’d been trying out different phrases for her ass. He’d mentioned that the kids had a swear jar at Bluff Creek. If he’d planned on staying there, he was probably going to do their subscription, which cracked her up that the kids had thought of that. She was even more curious about visiting now.

Booker was irritated. They’d spent an hour and a half checking all the cabins. They’d come up with nothing. They were all headed back to the ranch. Compass had texted that the delivery was at the gate and he was letting the truck through.

The skies had been gray when they left, but the wind had picked up while they were gone. Sleet had started coming down an hour ago, but they all agreed they had to check the cabins. The dirt roads weren’t bad, but when they crossed the pasture, places were getting a little slick.

He slowed down to cross the little bridge that spanned one of the creeks on their property. His tires slid a little as he went up.

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