Page 57 of Come Back to Me

“Security helps.”

“Strangers,” she grumbles.

“Hey, we were strangers until you married my brother.” I gently nudge her elbow.

I chance a quick glance at her when the road ahead’s barren of life and spy a soft smile curving her lips. I’m not fucking this up too badly. That’s something.

“I feel dumb,” she admits.

“For?”

“Just thinking this could be normal.”

“Colton made it appear normal,” I disagree. “But that was before a lot of things happened that were outside of his control. Now that he’s not just the heir, but the owner of Seven Cs Inc., to us, he’s the same man as ever. It’s the rest of the world, who frankly suck, that we have to watch out for.”

“I should have realized that for myself.”

“How could you have? As far as I remember, this was a quick deal. You never figured you’d fall in love with the doofus.”

She snickers. “He is a doofus, isn’t he?”

“Sure is. Because he should have had this conversation with you before. Have to reason he only hasn’t because you never leave the ranch.”

“I’m leaving it on Saturday and I left it today!”

“As a defense, that isn’t really working,” I say wryly. “Twice in a blue moon?”

She sniffs. “Nothing to leave it for.”

“The only reason none of us are pushing you on this is?—”

“Because it’s none of your business,” is her sweet-as-high-fructose-corn-syrup reply.

“It’s Colt’s, and what worries him, worries us,” I chide. “But Callan’s just as bad as you are.”

“Callan’s fine.”

“Sure he is. But his reasons for staying home aren’t yours, are they?”

“He hates Pigeon Creek too.”

“He doesn’t care if it, or the townsfolk, hate him back.”

“He’s a Korhonen?—”

“So are you.”

“Are you trying to convince me to go out when I’ll be in danger now?”

“You won’t be in danger. You’ll have security with you.”

“You can’t seriously expect me to pop into Harold’s Bakery with a bodyguard,” she shrieks.

“No, but you could send in the bodyguard for butter tarts…”

That stops her mid-freakout. “You mean I’d never have to talk to any of those fuckers again?”

“They’re notallfuckers.”

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