CHAPTER ELEVEN
Boone rolled his truck to the curb and parked down the street from Calliope and Lucas’s rental house.
He was late to the party, thanks to Sassy not cooperating with the farrier when he was fitting her for new shoes.
She was always happier and more comfortable after she’d been shod, but she seemed to forget that during the process.
He turned off the ignition, reached over, grabbed his black Stetson from the passenger seat and pushed it down on his head. It was what his dad called his goin’ out hat. Those were the cowboy hats you only wore for special occasions like weddings, funerals, or parties and such.
He reached over to the passenger floorboard and grabbed the brand-new bottle of Tito’s Vodka—Calliope’s favorite. Yes, they told him no gifts, but his mom taught him to never show up at a party empty-handed.
As he made his way down the sidewalk to Calliope and Lucas’s place, he recognized the trucks and SUVs lining the street, especially Cole’s sweet, black Range Rover.
They were renting the place while their home was being built on a piece of property about a mile up the road from Boone’s property. In the country, that was considered a good stretch of the legs, and it would be nice to have them as neighbors.
He walked up to the door, heard laughter over the sound of music playing in the background, and gave a sturdy knock.
“Come in!” the birthday girl shouted.
Boone stepped inside and removed his hat. From all around the room, his teammates lifted their chins or their bottle of beer in that way guys did to acknowledge his arrival. He returned the chin lift, and his eyes scanned the group searching for one person in particular.
With this many highly skilled operators in one place, their neighbors had no idea how safe they were.
“Welcome!” Lucas strolled over, and they knocked knuckles.
“Calliope’s going to be glad to see you.
You can hang your hat on one of these pegs, if you want.
” He tapped a sturdy shelf on the wall with a row of pegs beneath it.
“Luna’s in the kitchen with Dulce, Marigold, and Charlotte.
They’re getting the food ready. That’s who you’re looking for, right? Luna?”
“Yep.” Boone smiled and held up the bottle of vodka. “This is not a birthday present. Consider it an early housewarming gift. So don’t let your fiancée kick my butt.”
“Amazing how quickly you’ve come to know your sister.” Lucas chuckled and accepted the bottle. “Thanks, man.”
“Thanks for coming, bro!” Calliope called out from across the room, where she stood by a man he’d never seen before. Her eyes fell to the bottle of vodka. “What the hell?” She started their way like a bull seeing red. “I told you no gifts.”
“Settle down, darlin’.” Lucas held up his hand, and she stopped. “It’s an early housewarming gift.”
“Oh, well, then … thanks!” She smiled and returned to her conversation.
“The man she’s talking to is her dad, Gabriel Daniels. The one over there, on the left, talking to Cole, is Jacob Daniels, her granddad. They’re fascinating guys.” There was deep respect in his voice when he spoke of them. “I’m sure they’ll want to meet you.”
“How long are they in town for?” Boone had been so busy since leaving the military, relocating for his job with Dark Ops and getting his house livable, that he hadn’t had the chance to meet them in person yet.
Though, thanks to all the fascinating stories Calliope had shared, he felt like he already knew them.
“They flew in for the party yesterday and will be heading home in a couple of days.” Lucas chuckled. “Jacob worries about his girls.”
“His girls?” Boone wondered if Calliope’s granddad might be a ladies’ man.
“His chickens.” Lucas snickered. “Even though Gabriel’s girlfriend is staying at the house and taking care of them, Jacob still frets about them.”
“It’s great they could both be here for her birthday party.” Mission-dependent, Boone hoped to make it home for his mom’s birthday in a couple of months.
Now, more than ever, he was anxious to spend some time with his folks.
Maybe Luna would be interested in going with him.
Whoa, Nelly. It’s a little early in the game to be thinking about taking her to meet your parents, don’t you think?
“All the drinks are in the kitchen. Why don’t you take this with you?” Lucas smirked and handed him back the bottle of vodka. “It’ll give you a good excuse to go in there.” He clapped him on the back, then walked over to Calliope and curved his arm around her lower back.
Boone didn’t need an excuse to see Luna.
After all, it wasn’t like he’d been hiding his interest in her over the last few weeks.
He was just taking things slow, letting her get used to him, and easing her into the idea of giving him a shot.
A shot at what, he wasn’t sure. But he was beginning to accept that he wanted more than just friendship with her.
He headed toward the back of the house, and the sound of female voices and laughter filtered down the hall. Before he could make his presence known, he overheard them talking about their day at his ranch a few weeks back.
“I had so much fun,” Charlotte said, excitement filling her voice.
“The horses were so beautiful, too, weren’t they?” He recognized Marigold’s voice. “Of course, Sassy looked a lot smaller when Viking got in the saddle.”
“Well, yeah. He’s like, what … almost seven feet tall?” Charlotte teased.
“Six foot eight, thank you very much.” Marigold’s exaggerated indignation on her behalf of her fiancé was charming.
“Hey, you’re the one that calls him Sasquatch,” Luna said, and they all laughed.
Boone didn’t want to risk hearing something he shouldn’t, so he cleared his throat before stepping into the small kitchen.
“Hi, Boone!” Charlotte gave him a little wave before returning to arranging raw vegetables on a platter.
“Hey!” Marigold looked up from whatever kind of dip or spread she was stirring. “We were just talking about how much fun we all had at your place.”
“I’m glad you had a good time.” Boone turned his attention to Luna. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Holy hell, the way she blushed every time she looked at him did dangerous things to his libido.
“You look nice.” Understatement of the year—she looked fucking amazing.
“Thanks.” Her hand stopped midway through spreading chocolate frosting on a cupcake.
She wore a pair of dark jeans that were tucked into knee-high boots, and she had on this lavender sweater that looked soft and made his fingers tingle with the need to touch her. It fit her sweet little body like a glove and made her eyes stand out like bright, ice-blue diamonds.
Boone stepped closer, and their eyes connected.
“Um, Charlotte, why don’t we … uh … take the veggies and dip into the dining room.” From the corner of his eye, he saw Marigold jerk her head in the direction of the other room.
“But I …” Charlotte looked back and forth between Boone and Luna. “Oh, yeah, we should definitely do that.”
They grabbed the platter and bowl of dip and scurried out of the kitchen.
“How are you?” Luna asked. “I was thinking about you today.”
“I’m doing much better now.” Just being with her made him feel better.
She gave him a small smile that chased away his agitation.
“Did you make those?” he asked her without breaking eye contact.
“Make what?” Luna still held the knife against the top of the cupcake.
“The cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes?” Her eyes were still locked on his. “Oh, yeah, I was just putting frosting on them.”
Boone couldn’t help himself—he stepped right into her personal space. “Can I help?”
“Sure.”
A single tiny word, uttered in that raspy, needy whisper of hers, was all it took to snap his tightly wound control.
He resisted the impulse to yank her into his arms and kiss the shit out of her.
Instead, he locked down his control, set the vodka on the counter, and carefully took the cupcake and knife from her hands to set them next to the booze.
He moved up to her slowly, as if approaching a newborn foal, crooked one finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to him.
He lowered his head until he was an inch or two from her face and waited to see if she might pull away from his touch.
Boone wanted—needed—one taste of her, that’s all. One little taste to satisfy his curiosity.
Her eyes searched his face, and she whispered, “Please, Boone.”
Far be it for him to ignore a lady’s plea. He closed the scant distance between them until he felt her warm breath against his mouth and was just about to settle his lips against hers—
“Boone, my granddad …” Calliope’s voice crashed through the haze of lust. “Ah, shit.”
Luna’s eyes popped open, and she dropped her forehead to his chest. To his surprise, she didn’t jump back from him.
He couldn’t measure how pleased he was that she hadn’t pushed him away.
“Sorry, guys.” Calliope cursed and started backing out of the room. “Return to what you were doing.”
“It’s all right, Calliope.” As much as he’d like to do just that, he thought it best to pick up where they left off another time. A time when there wasn’t a roomful of people mere feet away.
“You sure? Because I can—” His sister pointed over her shoulder.
“It’s okay, really.” Luna looked up at Boone, gave him a sweet smile, and turned to Calliope. “What were you going to say?”
“Boone, my dad and granddad would love to meet you and hear about your ranch.” She snorted. “They’re both really into that Kevin Costner TV show about that ranch in Montana, and they’re curious to find out how true-to-life it is.”
“Come on.” Luna surprised him again when she looped one arm through his and started toward Calliope. “I’d love to hear more about your ranch, too.”
His whispered close to her ear, “We’ll pick up where we left off later.”
She faltered a step and gave him a long look.