CHAPTER 52
Special K
I race back to my house at noon and find Frankie sitting out on the deck. She’s found a book, and she’s reading so intently that she doesn’t hear me come in the front door and move through the house.
I stand in the doorway, just looking at her.
Frankie sits in the same chaise lounge, her legs tucked beneath her. She’s not wearing a speck of makeup. Her hair is all over the place.
She’s the most stunning natural beauty I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Emma must have loaned her the yellow sundress she’s wearing. I think I recognize it… vaguely. But I sure as hell never had this kind of reaction to it.
On Frankie, you’re sunshine itself.
I’m going to buy her all the yellow dresses she wants. And yellow flowers. And a dainty necklace of the finest gold.
Slowly, she looks up from her book and smiles at me. “Are you spying on me, Kevin MacLaine?”
“If I were spying you’d never know I was here. This is just looking. I’m looking at you.”
“You can do that.”
I walk toward her and kneel beside the lounge. “I wish I could ravish you right here, right now, but they’re waiting for us.”
“They?”
I nod. “It’s MacLaine family barbecue time on my father’s back deck. It’s a summer tradition. Are you feeling up to it?”
“Of course! I haven’t gone to a barbecue since I was a teenager!” I take her hand and stand with her, and we walk together to the door. I open it for her, and as she passes me, her lips graze my cheek.
“You can ravish me, later, cowboy. Don’t you go forgetting either, because I’m counting on it.”
Her words whispered on my cheek make my cock spring to attention. I adjust myself during our walk to my father’s house, but then my eyes stray to Frankie’s ass and I’m in trouble all over again. I need to get a grip.
When we arrive, everyone greets Frankie warmly, as if she’s already part of the family.
I enjoy watching how she is with everyone. She has an easy way with whoever she’s speaking to, moving the conversation to them instead of herself. She fits in so well at Yosemite Ranch. It’s like she was made for ranch life. For MacLaine life.
I shut my eyes for a second and will myself not to think about how I’m about to help her disappear. Just for tonight, I pretend that this could be forever—Frankie, me, and my family.
Just for tonight, I’ll let this be real.
We sit down for lunch, and everyone digs in while Dad continues to work the grill.
“So, I know you mentioned you worked in the entertainment industry, but I wondered if maybe you were a dancer,” Phoebe says to Frankie. “You look like a dancer. I’m so jealous. Evander and I are taking lessons for our wedding dance, but I just can’t seem to get it right. And Evander’s so smooth!”
“It’s okay, Phoebs.” Evander kisses her cheek. “I’m smooth enough for the both of us.”
A collective groan goes up around the table. Fuck me. Evander’s wedding is going to be insufferable.
“What kind of dancer are you?” Summer asks.
Of course, Summer would ask that. It’s always Summer. I hold my breath, wondering just how Frankie is going to answer.
“I’m a stripper,” she says and scoops some potato salad onto her plate.
Aunt Phyllis drops her fork.
“Ow!” Dad yells and sucks on a finger that just hit the grill.
Declan chokes and his face goes purple. Summer slaps his back hard between his shoulder blades.
“Called it,” Summer says in her sing-song voice.
There it is. It’s out. Phoebe is biting down on her lips, trying not to laugh, while Victoria and Emma can’t hold back any longer and start guffawing.
Evander looks like he’s about to have a mini-stroke. Finn is rigid in his seat, probably afraid to move, and Cal’s got a crooked smile planted on his face.
“To exotic dancers,” Victoria says, raising her glass.
“To strippers,” Frankie says, raising hers. “Exotic dancers are amateurs.”
“I stand corrected,” Victoria says. “To strippers! Thank you for your service!”
We all clank our glasses.
During the lunch cleanup, Aunt Phyllis grabs me by the back of my shirt and drags me down the hall to a storage closet, and closes us in.
“What are you doing, Kevin Eugene MacLaine?” she demands.
Uh-oh. She’s upset about the stripper thing. Aunt Phyllis isn’t normally the judgmental type, but maybe it’s the shock of finding out the way she did that’s got her knickers in a twist.
“I would appreciate it if you would cut her some slack,” I say.
Aunt Phyllis slaps my arm. “I’m talking about you! That woman is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Don’t let her slip through your fingers. You do right by her. Do you hear me, young man?”
I nod, but I’ve already made a promise to Frankie to let her slip through my fingers. I promised to help her disappear.
No matter how much I want her to stay. Or how much it hurts.
Unless…
Evander asked me yesterday if I planned on disappearing with her.
Maybe I do. It wouldn’t be forever. Once she’s safe and the threat’s been neutralized, we can both come home to Yosemite Ranch.
If she’ll have me. If she wants this to be her home. With me.
I’ll be damned.
I never thought that in my life’s most pivotal moment, I’d be standing in a closet with Phyllis while Declan’s words of wisdom floated through my head.
“Fuck it. I’m goin’ in.”