Blackstone Ranger Charmer - Alicia Montgomery Page 0,35

it around enough, it would become the truth?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been dodging Gen’s calls for a while now.”

“But—surely she won’t make you marry anyone else if Temperance is your mate,” Ginny reasoned. “That would be cruel.”

“I hope not.” But he wouldn’t put it past Gen to make his life miserable until he agreed to her wishes. “I’ll figure it out, Gin. Listen, I gotta get Temperance to work and then head in for my shift. You need a place to crash while you’re in town?”

“Normally I wouldn’t say no to an offer from you,” she said with a laugh. “But I think you’re gonna need your privacy for a couple of days.”

“Thanks, Gin.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll wait here, and we can ride out together,” she said, walking over the sectional and plopping down on it.

Pushing all thoughts of Gen and Vicky from his mind for now, he headed to his bedroom to get ready. When he finished dressing, he swiped his phone from his bedside table, surprised to see that there were already several messages from Anders. “Geez, it’s not even four.” Opening the messages, he groaned as he read each one.

So, got that plane ready?

We can leave after your shift tonight. Jansen and Grover said they’d cover our shifts for us, but we need to return the favor next month.

Cannot wait for Vegas! It’s gonna be sick!

I’m gonna get so much cat emoji.

Hooked us up with some special party favors. Wink emoji.

The last message was simply the eggplant emoji, water droplet emoji, and peach emoji.

“Fuck me.” He had been so busy with Temperance, he forgot about the bachelor party. With the wedding happening next Saturday, this weekend was the only time they would be able to do it, which meant he had a couple of hours to get everything ready and somehow convince Damon to go along with it.

He could tell Anders to pound sand, but Gabriel wasn’t the type to back out on an agreement. Now he had to get in gear and plan a bachelor party that the groom didn’t want with the time he didn’t have.

This was going to be expensive party. But it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it. If anything, he was more annoyed at the thought of being away from Temperance while their relationship was still developing. His lion, too, was not happy.

Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll figure something out, he said, trying to mollify his animal.

It chuffed at him and tilted its chin upwards in an annoyed gesture, as if saying, you better.

Chapter Eight

After finishing her shower in Gabriel’s luxurious guest bathroom, Temperance dressed in her freshly laundered clothes from the night before. As she put Gabriel’s shirt in the washing machine, she prayed silently that Rosie wouldn’t notice that she was wearing the same jeans and shirt from yesterday.

However, while the thought of last night made her go through all kinds of emotions and blush furiously, the one thing she didn’t feel was regret. Though they hadn’t done anything else after their encounter on the couch, it had been the most intimate she’d been with anyone since Tony. Her ex had been a good lover she supposed, though it was obvious in the waning weeks of their relationship he had been going through the motions. But Gabriel … he had all his attentions on her, and didn’t even ask for anything in return. It was refreshing, but at the same time, she didn’t know what to do.

With a deep sigh, she tiptoed out of the guest bedroom. Much to her surprise, Ginny was there, plopped down on the couch, TV remote in hand as she scrolled through the channels on Gabriel’s humungous flat-screen TV. Sensing she was there; Gabriel’s sister turned her head toward her.

“Hey, come and join me for a bit,” she said, waving her over.

Seeing as she had already caught her, Temperance couldn’t exactly backtrack to the bedroom and hide out there, despite desperately wanting to. So, she padded over. “Um, hey.”

Ginny’s gaze was welcoming as she sat, but then it flickered down to her cheek, and Temperance froze, realizing she’s forgotten to arrange her hair.

Meeting new people always made Temperance anxious, as they would either gawk at her scars or awkwardly tiptoe around them, pretending they didn’t exist. The worst were the pitying looks and those people who simply couldn’t stop themselves from asking about how she got them.

“It was a house fire,” she explained quickly, wanting to get this over with. “Happened