Page 36 of Catch and Release Groom

And even though Imogen hated theJust Marriedgolf cart with a fiery passion, she wished it was here now, blasting its digitized atrocity of “The Wedding March” and providing aid to the elderly couple.

“I’ll be right back.” Easton dragged his hand across the small of her back, leaving a tingly trail of heat and jumping out of the basket with ease, looking every inch a country boy.

Acountryman, her inner monologue corrected as she watched him approach Bill and Judith. The elderly woman beamed at whatever he said to them, and Imogen’s heart swelled as he and Bill formed a seat with their interlocked arms to carry her.

With the two men working together, they arrived at the balloon within a couple of minutes. By then, the pilot had turned on the burner, and with each hiss of propane and blast of flame, the basket bounced and skimmed the ground.

“See, I was afraid of this,” Judith said in a voice that quivered with distress. “Whenever my bad hip flares, I become such a burden. It’s telling me for the second time today that I should just sit this one out.”

Already Imogen was shaking her head—she’d always been better at doling out reassurance and grace to others than herself. “No way. Didn’t you hear? We already came up with a group motto, and it’s literally ‘No honeymooner left behind.’”

“It is?” Clearly, Bethany hadn’t caught the hint from her and Paul’s side of the balloon.

“Yep, and it doesn’t matter if I just made it up, because our group also has a very strict ‘No takesies backsies’ policy.”

Easton smiled up at her, a teasing of teeth between kissable lips and a beard she very much wanted to stroke, and her stomach flutters had nothing to do with the few inches they kept lifting in the air.

“I’ll hold ’er as steady as I can,” the pilot said.

“See those footholds?” Imogen pointed. “Don’t worry if you have trouble getting your leg over. I had to have Easton’s help, too.”

Judith’s apprehension faded a little, and in the name of distracting her while they assisted her into the basket, Imogen continued rambling. About how she’d refused Easton’s assistance and his advice the first time he took her fly-fishing—never mind it’d been mere days ago. “Sometimes it’s better to accept help than to fall in the river and have to wear wet clothes the entire ride home—I learned that the soppy way.”

Buoyed by the fresh air and the mushiness overtaking her internal organs, Imogen bent at the waist, letting the basket catch her lower half as she cupped Easton’s chin. “Especially when the man offering is this handsome.”

For someone so pompous, surely that wasn’t a bashful pink tint to his skin. With a shake of his head and a loud clearing of his throat, he and Bill boosted Judith as Imogen spotted her from inside the basket.

Bill and Easton climbed in after, and the couple thanked them for their help before they all settled into place for the safety spiel.

Then, as if the hot-air balloon couldn’t wait a second longer, they began floating up, up, up. Imogen folded her arms across her stomach, as if that’d prevent it from mimicking the motion, and bumped her shoulder into Easton. “That was very nice of you, by the way.”

He shrugged, ever so casually and drawled, “If people need help, you help them.”

“Fewer and fewer people are willing to do that these days.” Imogen was often frustrated by her physical limitations, although she and Mallory could combine their powers to get difficult and heavy tasks done. Brett had rarely paid attention to anything outside his bubble and had advised her to do the same to avoid potentially dangerous situations. As if that was logical, or even plausible.

“Sounds like you’ve been hanging out with the wrong people.” Easton bumped her shoulder the way she’d done to him. “Then again, I seem to remember a comment about country folk not being as friendly as they’re rumored to be during that same fishing trip you related to Judith.”

“Yet you still came to my rescue that night after my tipsy dinner, and again when I was getting bested by a swan.”

He snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think I should get credit for that second one, since you called me over and made it sound like I didn’t actually have a choice.”

“Ah!”She elbowed him in the side, keeping it light and careful, despite not being far enough off the ground to do much damage if he fell. Any damage was too much for Easton to sustain, and she found she liked the way he teased her.

Almost as much as she liked the way he caught hold of her upper arm and towed her closer. “That was when I knew I was the one in trouble.”

He tucked a lock of hair that’d escaped her ponytail behind her ear, his fingertips grazing the shell and sending an intoxicating zing down her spine, and she took him in again. Today she’d seen him in a whole new light, and not only due to the climb in altitude that left them nearer the sun. He’d made her laugh throughout the tasting, and his comment about the heart-shaped balloon reminding him of her red lips echoed through her head on a delicious loop.

Lips he was homing in on now.

“Question.” Bethany poked her head into their personal space, either not noticing or not caring she was interrupting their moment. While there hadn’t been a shortage of kisses since they’d arrived at the vineyard, Imogen had spent so many years without, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get her fill.

Imogen wrestled her mouth into the friendliest smile she could manage under the cockblocking circumstances. “Yes?”

“I guess it’s more of a statement,” Bethany said. “Because I’d be livid if my husband not only expected me to settle for having our honeymoon at his place of business, but also worked during part of it.”

Shit.They’d been so focused on selling the newlywed act, they’d neglected a lot of the minor details that might give them away—and ordinarily meticulousness was her greatest strength.

“Luckily, Imogen’s an easygoing gal.” Easton draped his arm over her shoulders and gave her cheek a quick peck. “It’s one of the things I love about her.”

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