I pouredthe pasta salad into a serving bowl as Ramsey slid a platter of marinated chicken into the fridge. I couldn’t help but study the space around us. I’d only been in Ramsey’s house once, and just the entryway. If I didn’t know Ramsey had a way with food, I wouldn’t have thought the kitchen fit the man at all. It was light and airy with a massive range, a second oven on the opposite wall, a farm sink, and enough gadgets to sink the Titanic.
Warmth hit my side. “What is it?”
“I’m just picturing you in this space.”
Ramsey grinned. “You know I like to cook.”
If I’d forgotten, he’d made that abundantly clear when we’d gone to the grocery store earlier. When I suggested getting already prepared foods for the barbeque, he’d looked at me as if I’d suggested shooting him in the chest.
“And you’re good at it.” I licked the pasta salad dressing from my thumb. “Nothing I make ever turns out this good.”
Ramsey wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close. “I’ll cook for you any time you want.”
“Careful, I could get used to that kind of treatment.”
“I want you to get used to it.”
Apprehension and hope battled within me. I wanted that so badly, to rest in everything Ramsey was to me, the comfort he brought, and so much more. But it terrified me, too.
Like always, Ramsey seemed to sense that battle. He dropped his forehead to mine. “You’ve got the reins, remember? This is your show. Your pace.”
“It’sours.” I didn’t want this thing between us to be solely mine. It had to be something we built together.
“Okay, it’s ours. But you have to use the brake if you want it.”
“I will.” What worried me more was that I’d always be too scared to step on the gas. I wanted Ramsey with everything I had in me, but I couldn’t seem to get myself to take that first step for more.
A buzz sounded, and Ramsey pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He tapped the screen a few times. “Your family’s here.”
“How’s the five-angle shot of them?”
Ramsey chuckled. “Clear enough to see your mom brought that lemon meringue pie with her.”
I simply shook my head. Within a matter of hours, Cain and his team had wired Ramsey’s ranch to within an inch of its life. Cameras showed each fence line, and they’d put more on each gate. There were motion detectors around the houses and each of the outbuildings. No one would get onto this property without being seen.
Ramsey draped an arm around my shoulders and guided me towards the front door. “The cameras aren’t exactly inconspicuous. That should be enough to keep people away.”
I hoped he was right. But whoever was behind my attack wasn’t exactly thinking logically. I had to believe that they would at least have some sense of self-preservation.
We stepped out onto the front porch just as four SUVs pulled to a stop in front of the house. “It looks like a presidential motorcade,” I muttered.
Ramsey squeezed my arm as he held me close. “It’ll be good.”
I looked up at him, searching for any signs of regret. There was a hint of tension in his jaw, but that was it. He wanted this for me. Even if having a bunch of people in his space made him twitchy.
Elliott jumped out of Hayes’ SUV. “Shiloh!” He charged towards me, hitting my middle with a force far greater than his size should’ve allowed.
I let out a softoomphand looked up at Ramsey.
He shrugged. “I asked Hayes to pick up Elliott and Aidan, too.”
I ruffled Elliott’s hair. “I missed you.”
“Me, too. I’ll come to work with Aidan tomorrow, and we can hang. I missed Onyx, too. How is she? And where’s Kai?”
Aidan shook his head, but a grin played on his mouth as he climbed the porch steps. “One question at a time.”
Kai bounded out of the house in answer to one of those questions. Elliott dropped to his knees and threw his arms around the dog.