Page 64 of Rescued Dreams
“I’m not normally adorable.”
“I like it.” Ridge touched his lips to hers.
The woman she wanted to be now kissed him back. That was when she knew there was no turning back.
Ridge was what she wanted.
TWENTY-TWO
Ridge wedged the last pizza box into the trash, finally done cleaning up the town house. He eased over to the couch, slumped down on what would be his bed for the night, and let out a long sigh.
The doorbell rang.
He groaned and got up again. Given the state of things lately, he checked the app on his phone and saw it was Kane and Maria at the door. They’d missed pizza, but they were here now? Who was watching the house?
“Hey.” He stepped back, opening the door all the way so they could come in. As usual, the twins had upped the temperature in the house because it was chilly outside. They didn’t know he set it to lower dramatically overnight and then kick back on and warm the town house an hour before they woke up.
Maria came in first, then Kane. “Hey.”
“I thought you guys were supposed to be watching the house.”
Kane offered him a fist bump. When Ridge tapped it, Kane said, “Cameras are set. We’ll get alerts if anyone tries again, but we searched the place top to bottom. There’s no money to find.”
Ridge said, “And the other night?”
“We scared them off. If we’re elsewhere, we’ll get more information. The cops can use the camera feeds as evidence to make arrests.”
Ridge knew how to put out fire, save lives, and protect property. He didn’t know how police investigations worked or even have a clue what skills Kane and Maria had between them.
“Maria is gonna stay here.” Kane stood in his entryway. “We’re going out.”
“I’m so tired I’m about ready to fall asleep,” Ridge said. “Where are we going?”
“Out. Get changed.” Kane waved at him. “You need to look…rough. Being tired will help. You’ll look like you’ve been on a three-day bender.”
“Great.” Ridge probably had something older at the back of his closet—a checkered shirt he should’ve thrown out years ago and jeans he wore when he worked on his truck. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
He trailed down the hall and eased open the door to his room. The center of his bed had a lump, a form smaller than his, covered in enough blankets that there was only a small section of blonde hair visible.
She’d gone to bed shortly after they’d arrived, after just enough time to eat half a slice of pizza and tell the twins she would have more for breakfast. Apparently “everyone” knew pizza tasted better cold the next day? Ridge wasn’t sure he believed that. She was exhausted from everything though, and rest would help her recover better than anything.
Ridge padded to his closet, through the bathroom. He changed quickly into a couple of things from the back, behind what he normally wore, and retrieved a pair of boots he’d had for years that he used when the weather was bad. He carried those back to the hall where he quietly shut the door.
Having Amelia in his bed like this wasn’t something he’d contemplated much before. Thoughts like that just got a red-blooded male into trouble he didn’t need to get into. Especially when he was living God’s way right now.
It wasn’t the scenario he’d ever envisioned, and she wouldn’t be here long. No matter what happened, he’d be on the couch until there was a wedding band on her finger.
Right now, his focus needed to be on making sure she wasn’t in any more danger, not thinking too much about kissing her again.
He knocked on the twins’ door.
“Yeah.”
Ridge stuck his head in. “I’m going out with Kane. Maria is here.”
Maddie’s expression lit up. “Sweet!” Both girls got up and came out with him.
Kane drove, which was fine by Ridge. The guy had a nice car. But Ridge still didn’t know what they were doing. “Where are we going?”
