Page 126 of Fragile Sanctuary

She sent me a mischievous smile. “Oh, trust me. I know how wicked you can be.”

My dick twitched at the husky promise in her words. “If I have a hard-on walking into dinner with your family, I’m going to spank your ass.”

Rho only smiled wider. “Promises, promises.”

“Hell,” I muttered.

She tugged me toward the farmhouse, a skip in her step that came from knowing she was torturing me. The little witch.

I tried to focus on the house itself. It was huge with white siding in immaculate condition. A porch wrapped around the entire building with countless rockers and two porch swings. It looked like the house out of that old showThe Waltons. Picture-perfect with sprawling pastures surrounding it and a barn.

Just as we reached the top step, the door opened to reveal Lolli. She wore a billowy dress with an accompanying shawl made of so many colors I couldn’t identify them all. Necklace after necklace looped around her neck, and I was pretty sure one of the chains had a pot leaf dangling from it.

Her blue eyes sparkled as she took in our joined hands. “Finally, someone is testing out the brooding god’s goods!”

“Mom!” Nora shouted from inside.

“Oh, hush, child. Don’t ruin my fun,” Lolli called back. She turned to me. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my Rho for long. Now, I hear you were a Fed. Please tell me you aren’t one of those anti-marijuana sticks-in-the-mud who thinks missionary position is the only way anyone should ever have sex.”

“Lolli!” Her name was shouted by at least three people at once, including Rho.

Fallon appeared then, wrapping an arm around the older woman. “I’m so sorry, Anson. You’ll have to excuse Lolli. She’s going a little senile.” Fallon gave her a stern look as if to punctuate the point.

Lolli just made apfftnoise and waved her off. “I’m not going to let my granddaughter be stuck in missionary position for the rest of her life.”

“Donottalk about Rho and sex in the same sentence.Please,” Trace said with a shiver. “It’s just wrong.”

Lolli rolled her eyes as we followed her and Fallon into the house. “How did I get stuck with such a prudish family? Sex is a natural thing.”

Kye shot her a grin from his spot on an overstuffed chair. “Not all prudes, Lolls, don’t you worry.”

“At least I raised one of you right,” she harrumphed.

Rho burrowed into my arm, trying to stifle her laughter. “If she only knew what you can do with a bullet vibrator and a determined tongue.”

Fire swept through me. “I’m going to make you pay for putting that image in my head right now.”

Her laughter came free and easy. “Well, welcome to Colson chaos. I always knew it would be a hell of an introduction.”

One of the doors at the back of the massive living space swung open, and Keely raced inside, Arden following behind her. “We rode for a full hour! We even galloped!” she cried.

Trace sent Arden a warning look. “You said no galloping.”

Arden winced. “It was more like a fast canter.”

The little girl ran right past her dad and skidded to a halt in front of Rho and me. Her eyes went wide as she took me in. “You’re not Supergran’s boyfriend, but are you Auntie Rho’s?”

Shep choked on a laugh. “Not sure you call someone a boyfriend when they’re thirty-five, Warrior Princess.”

Her brows pulled together as she frowned up at me. “Man friend? Grown-up friend?”

Kye started coughing from his spot in the corner. “That’s what I’m going to start calling it now.”

“How about you just call me Anson?” I asked the little girl.

“I gots to call you Mr. Anson because my dad says that’s having manners. But you can call me Keely,” she said easily.

Rho leaned into me, patting my chest. “I don’t know, I’m kind of partial to grown-up friend.”

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