Page 100 of Lead Me Knot

“Ah.” He rolls back to his side as understanding seeps back in. Closing his eyes, he says, “I had that drawn up for you. You’ll never have to worry about rent again because you’ll own it.”

“With a mortgage, right?” God, how am I going to pay that?

He lifts his lids again, but I can see he’s struggling to stay awake. “I bought the building outright. Even the delinquent taxes were paid in full as well. The unpaid taxes helped in the negotiation.” His lips curl up at the sides even though his blink has kept his lids closed longer than they should.

My heart is jumping so hard in my chest that I can barely contain it. “Baylor?” When he opens his eyes again, I ask, “For real? This is real? This is what you were going to give me? The entire building?”

Reaching over, he runs the back of his fingers over my cheek and down the side of my neck. “Yeah, baby. It’s all yours if you want it.” His grin is dreamy and as sweet as this gift he’s given me, enticing me to want to make love again. “I already signed it. All you have to do is sign it, too.”

“I can’t.”

Fully awake now, he adjusts his shoulder, angling his head slightly away as he looks at me out of the corner of his eye. “Why not?” he asks, as if he can safeguard himself from bad news.

“Because there’s one major mistake.”

“Which is?”

“My last name isn’t going to be Knot anymore. It’s Greene.”

I’m dragged by my hips under his body so fast that I squeak and burst into giggles. With one of his knees spreading mine as he pins my wrist to the mattress on the sides of my head, he kisses me once, but only as a tease of what’s to come. “Lauralee Greene. Sounds perfect together. Like it was meant to be all along.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him closer, and whisper, “Destiny.”

Lounging in the hammock,I point at the fort. “I think there should be a window on the back to see the river and on this side so they don’t have to open the door to look out toward the house.” I pop another piece of popcorn in my mouth and then take a sip of my water.

Baylor pokes his head out the opening where you enter the tree house. “Would you like to come up here and help build it?” He’s gotten a little snippy since the beginning of August is hotter than Hades in Texas. Four days in and they’ve built the main hangout, but since they want a fort, the plans call for an expansion deck elevated on the roof.

Beckett and Macon are playing in the river not too far away, but Baylor is determined to finish this in the nexttwo days so he can work on the car again. After only a few evenings with a spotlight aimed under the hood, he’s not gotten more than the engine attached. It’s not running in any capacity, though.

Tagger hasn’t said a word about him working on it either.Yet.We know the bet will eventually need to be addressed. I’m thinking sooner than later.

“I’d be happy to, but I know there’s not enough room for me and your ego to work inside that small space.” Entertaining myself, I smirk.

“You know what, Shortcake?”

“What, stud?”

“You’re looking fine enough to take for a dip in the river.”

My hand stops just before tossing another piece into my mouth. Is he serious? “Is that a threat?” I chomp down again.

“It’s a promise, baby.” He hurries out, starting down the ladder.

Popcorn goes flying as I spin to work my way out of the captivity of the hammock. “Oh no, you don’t.” I finally land on my feet just as he jumps to the ground, and I start running for Christine’s house. “No, Baylor!”

I don’t stand a chance, and when I look back at his sexy hunk of a man all shirtless and sweaty—to die for gorgeous—my steps slow. I’m scooped into his arms and tossed over his shoulder over fake protests. “Oh no.” I emphasize each word and slap his ass. “What are you going to do to me?”

Swinging me around into his arms, he’s already laughing. “You’re a bad girl, Mrs. Greene.”

I lift to bite his bottom lip and then lick it. “You take me back to that new truck of yours, and I’ll show you how bad I can be.” About-facing, he starts in the right direction. As much as I’d love to mess around with him in the air-conditioning of that big truck, my responsible side comes out. “We can’t leave the boys at the river.”

That same bottom lip is now sticking out. I kiss it just before he claims, “That’s a shot of reality. Maybe I don’t want kids after all if I can’t fuck you anytime I please.”

“Aw, we can do it later when they get bored and leave you to finish the fort yourself.”

He sets me on my feet and wipes the sweat from his brow. “Remind me again why I agreed to build this.”

I purposely bump into him as we head back to the building site. “Because you’re a great uncle.”

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