“Okay, good food, big cake. Got it,” he repeated.
“I believe I said huge cake.”
He snickered. “Huge cake.”
“Don’t worry, Jasper will make it. He’s a master.”
“I have no doubt,” he added. “Are you scared, me talking about marriage? You usually start to freak out when I talk about our future,” he taunted.
I shook my head and inhaled a sharp breath. “No. You know what? Every moment of your life can’t be planned out. My mother married a man she met after only a weekend together. Evie and Milo have been a couple for less than half a year. Suda Kaye and Cam fell in love as teens, separated for ten years then married quickly after coming together again. Love has no time limit. It just is.”
He put his arm around me and pulled me closer so he could dip his face toward my neck. “This is good, because I was going to ask you to move in with me while on the ride back home on Monday.”
I stopped where I stood and pressed my hands to his chest so I could look up into his gorgeous eyes. “Really?”
He grinned. “Isa, I want you in my bed. Want you teaching Hope how to make breakfast every day. Want you bringing home treats from the bakery that I have to work my ass off in order to keep those abs you love so much.”
I ran my hands over said abs. “They’re pretty awesome, honey.” I did not hide the sexiness in my tone.
He tunneled his hand into my hair at the side of my head. “Want these wild red locks all over my pillow at night. Want to hear my girls chatting it up, giggling and laughing after a hard day on the job.”
“Ky...”
“Want you in my life every day, Isabeau. Every day. Not when we have time. The time is now. I don’t want to wait for my happiness anymore and I’m not going to.”
“Okay,” I said softly but he kept going.
“Want to make love to you every... Wait. Did you say okay?”
I smiled wide and lifted my arms up to the sides of his neck. “I’ll move in with you.”
“You will? When we get home? Not three months from now when you think enough time has passed.” He squinted as if to assess I wasn’t about to pull any fast ones.
I shook my head. “I’ll move in with you when we get home, after you’ve talked it over with Hope. Made sure she’s comfortable with the idea. Deal?”
He grinned. “Deal. Perfect fuckin’ woman,” he whispered against my mouth and then took said mouth in a heated, absolutely indecent kiss. So indecent his hand had traveled down my back and over my bum where he gripped hard enough to make me moan.
“Um, excuse me, kids. I believe that kind of display is inappropriate,” Jasper teased.
“Yeah, get a room!” Lincoln hollered as they walked by, heading farther down the path hand in hand.
Kyson kissed me once, twice and then three times in quick succession. “You made me happy, baby.”
I smiled and he took my hand as we followed the rest of the group. “Um, Ky, can we go back to the part where you said you want to make love to me?”
He shook his head. “I’ll tell you all about it, when we’re alone, in our hotel down the road after the reception.”
“But I’m supposed to be staying at Toko’s and...” The words dropped from my mouth as Kyson sent me a searing look so filled with lust my lady parts throbbed in response. “Okay.”
He smirked. “Perfect fuckin’ woman.”
Twenty-Two
The wedding reception was a blast! Milo’s parents got so drunk on Native American wine they started singing and dancing in front of the bonfire. Evie did not care one iota. She got up, dragged her husband to where they were boogying and danced slowly alongside them.
We drank. We danced. We feasted. We celebrated Evie and Milo. We celebrated being a family.
One of the best days of my life to date. The only downside was neither Hope nor my parents were there. If I’d had that, then it would have been perfect.
We spent Sunday showing Kyson the reservation, took another horse ride and had a family dinner outside. This one made by me, Jasper and Toko. Jasper and I pulled out the big guns. Making bacon-wrapped, blue cheese-encrusted filet mignon, risotto and a seared kale, spinach, arugula side dish that we sprinkled with crunchy prosciutto and olive oil. Toko made his world-famous fry bread and an antipasto platter of mixed cuts of dried meats, fruit, cheese and the like.
Sani and Lina were nursing major hangovers, so they left us girls and our men, including Jasper and Lincoln, to our own devices.
We ate under the stars and later roasted s’mores over the fire pit.
Toko told us more stories of our people and his upbringing, along with when he met Topsannah and married her.
The wedding and the time spent connecting as a family this weekend was magical. I’d remember it the rest of my life, and I couldn’t wait to call my fathers on the way home to tell them all about it. They knew I was worried about meeting Toko and attending a family event here on the reservation, but they also told me I was a “Collins Woman,” which was supposed to remind me that I shouldn’t be afraid, and taking risks were part of learning. I was taught that there were no greater rewards than the ones that were taken after letting go of fear.
They were right.
Now it was Monday and we stood in front of my SUV, bags packed in the back of the truck, ready to head home where we’d pick up Hope. She should have just gotten out of school since she had half days as a kindergartner and was being picked up by Kyson’s mom. We were going to take the three-hour drive straight to her house, where I’d meet his mother for the first time. She had dinner planned out and all her boys were set to be there. Which meant that Lincoln and Jasper were also saying their goodbyes and heading back in Linc’s truck.
I passed Kyson my keys as I heard his phone ring. He pulled it out of his back pocket and lifted it to his ear. “Hey, Mom...” he said, and I turned around and tugged Evie into my arms.
“Gorgeous wedding. I’m so happy I was here to see it.” I pulled back. “You’re staying another day and then heading to Denver?”
“Actually, Milo has a major meeting we couldn’t pass up on Thursday, so we changed our plans. We’re going home for a few days, then heading to Turks and Caicos for fun in the sun! Milo scored us this private cabana, sitting right on top of the water. There’s a see-through window in the floor so you can view all the fish and ocean life swimming around. And you can jump right off and into the ocean from our deck...”
“What do you mean she was picked up by her mother!” Kyson roared into the phone.