Page 76 of Silos and Sabotage

“Yes, please.” She leaned her head back against the front passenger seat of his Bronco, chuckling, since she knew it was only an excuse to get her back in his arms.

He moved around to her side of the vehicle to open the door. Instead of immediately hauling her into his arms, he pointed at her mouth. “You have two options. Makeup remover or I can kiss your lipstick off.”

She fished out a tissue from her handbag and did the honors. “How’s this?” She puckered her lips and blew a kiss at him.

“Let’s find out.” He leaned inside the vehicle to claim her mouth.

He hadn’t been bluffing about kissing her silly. He drank her in like a man dying of thirst.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on for the ride. “Wow, Gage,” she whispered against his lips when he finally came up for air.

“You mean the world to me, Ella.” He nipped at her lips again.

She smiled adoringly at him. “The wedding got to you, huh?”

“Yougot to me, babe.” He leaned in for another kiss, slower and even more tender than the last one. “I love you.”

His words drew a sigh out of her. “Oh, Gage!”

“Was it too soon to say that?” he asked anxiously.

“I think your timing was perfect.” She drew her fingertips down his jaw line. It was sporting an evening shadow, though it was only midday. “Because I love you, too.”

He lightly pressed his forehead to hers. “I can breathe again.”

“I love you so, so much,” she declared softly.

He was still for a moment. “Never mind.” His voice was thick with emotion. “Breathing is overrated.”

As it turned out, Gage had forgotten to return Jillian’s lake pass to her, which turned into an excuse for an impromptu paddleboarding date. He drove Ella to the same gazebo where her mother and Creston Bolander had faced off in the secluded section of the lake. She and Gage had it to themselves again, which was a good thing since she was down a bodyguard at the moment.

They paddled their boards to the middle of the lake, intermittently splashing each other with their paddles.

She only stopped when he used his paddle to point at the tree line separating them from the larger body of water. “There’s a sniper up in that tree.”

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. If he was joking, it wasn’t funny. But he wasn’t. Her heart thudded sickeningly at the glint of a scope.

“What are we going to do?” Was this the end of the road?

“Nothing. I’m betting they’re on your uncle’s payroll.” He moved his paddle to the opposite bank. “There’s another sniper lying prone behind that pile of rocks.”

“How did my stepdad know we’d be here?” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified.

Gage drifted closer to her on his paddleboard. “Johnny found a tracker on the underside of my Bronco earlier. When he tried to remove it, one of Raleigh Bolander’s personal bodyguards asked him to leave it. He said the groom wasn’t taking any chances on his wedding day.”

No sooner had he spoken than a trio of black Cadillac limos rolled into the parking lot. A man and a woman emerged from the one in the middle. Armed bodyguards spilled onto the pavement to flank them in a semi-circle.

Avery Bolander shaded her eyes to call out, “What are you doing, honey?”

Ella hid a grin and called back, “Enjoying the merger!” With a sheepish look at Gage, she paddled toward her parents.

In short order, they had her and Gage wrapped in beach towels and snuggly ensconced in the middle vehicle with them. The cabin held two wide leather seats facing each other.

“You took a horribly unnecessary risk,” her mother scolded.

“Did we?” Ella gave them a laughing look. “Johnny found the tracker on Gage’s vehicle. And Gage pointed out two snipers embedded around the lake.”

“Snipers!” Her mother gave her new husband a startled look. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

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