Page 90 of Tango

“I’d ask what he did this time,” Mia chuckled, “but I’m fresh out of caring, thanks to the twins this morning.”

“In the barn again?” Savi asked.

“Worse, I found the little rugrats playing with Keith’s toolbox up at the chopper hanger. Keith would have a fit if anything went missing.”

“Boys,” Savi sighed, “they never really grow up.” Savi nudged my arm then held up her own hand and wiggled her fingers at Mia. Mia immediately homed in on my finger.

“Oh, my God,” she snagged my hand and beamed at me, “did we just gain another sister?” Mark chuckled again as he walked by, and Mia rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“We did,” Savannah yelled and drew me into a hug.

Ty appeared with his parents and Shelly and pulled me to his side. My uncle came over with my mother, and they stood beside us.

“What’s going on?” Mom asked, and I took her hand and gave it a warm squeeze.

“Guys,” Ty looked around at everyone, “I want you to know I asked Ivy to marry me.” His family’s faces lit up as I held out my hand and, I could feel their acceptance as they took in the news.

“Oh, honey! I’m so happy,” my mother gasped.

A cheer erupted from Connie, and suddenly the entire room was cheering as word got around. People’s faces started to blur as I was pulled into hug after hug. By the end of it all, my face hurt from smiling.

“Come on. Let’s get something to eat.” Sloane pulled me away as the gushing crowd began to disperse.

“Thanks. I was starting to eye Mike up at one point, I was so hungry.”

“Mike, huh?” She smirked.

“He’s colorful, like steak shish kebab.” I shrugged as I eyed the wonderful spread of food in front of me. I looked up for a brief second and realized my uncle and Abby had begun to open their gifts. I liked that the attention was only partly on them as we all served ourselves. I looked back at the array of choices and decided to throw caution to the wind and heaped my plate with waffles and strawberries then topped it off with a heap of whipped cream.

Laughter broke out as Abby held up a pair of towels and my uncle’s face turned beet red.

“I couldn’t help myself,” Daniel roared, and Sue covered her mouth. Obviously, there was a story there, and I made a mental note to ask about that inside joke later.

“So, there I was,” Mark sat super straight and shook his shoulders like a happy little girl, “with this wig on and an overcoat, tryin’ to be the best looking handcuffed and gagged female I could. You know, all helpless and stuff. I see one of Castillo’s dipshits comin’, holding his weapon, ready to shoot. I wait for him to get close, then at just the right moment, I slam my door open, and WHAM, right in his kneecaps. He went down, and I took him out.” He looked super serious. “Do you know how hard that is with a bunch of fake hair in your face? I don’t know how women do it.” He pretended to fling back a piece of long hair from his eyes. Everyone died laughing. Even Keith was getting a kick out of Mark’s story.

“And people wonder what these guys do for a living. I’m not really sure where to begin,” Olivia joked, making her mother laugh harder.

“My question is,” Cole pointed his fork at him, “where’s the wig now?”

“What can I say? Mia is into some kinky shit.” He ducked when Mia elbowed him, but he grabbed her and kissed her hard. “I know you can’t resist my charm for long.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I need therapy,” Olivia muttered. She was becoming quite sarcastic for her age. I was intrigued with this girl, and I looked forward to being around to see what she’d be like when she was older. Good luck to any man who crossed her path.

I dove into my food as Ty arrived and pressed a kiss against my temple. He grinned at my full plate.

“Looks good.” He eyed my waffles, and I saw he had pancakes. “You know, I should really try some of those for you. I mean, you never know. They could be laced with poison. I don’t mind taking one for the team.”

“Oh, yeah?” I took a big bite. “I think I’m good.”

“So sexy.” Mark chuckled as he reached over and wiped a bit of cream from my chin. He took a seat across from us. “I bet you’re hungry,” he muttered and grinned.

“You see Zack’s plate?” I shot back, and his face twisted into a glare. Then his eyes went slitty as something devious crossed his mind.

“You know, Mia ate like that when she was pregnant with the twins.” Ty choked on his pancakes.

“No, I think you had it right the first time.” I chuckled. I knew I’d been careful in that department.

“Are you,” Ty drew my attention to him, “could you be? Oh, my God, I should have—”

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