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“Just warming up the grill,” I bullshitted.

“We were just discussing the best way to cook an exceptional steak,” her dad said as he winked at me.

“Over a beer,” she said with a laugh.

I had a feeling that Reese knew that her dad was grillingmeand not the steaks, and she was trying to rescue me.

“We’re good,” I told her, sending her a glance that told her that I was fine chatting with her father. “It won’t take long.”

“What are you two cooking up in there?” her father asked.

Reese sent her father an adoring smile. “Potatoes, sweet corn, and salad. I made a hummingbird cake for Devon because it’s his favorite.”

I put a hand over my chest and rubbed it without consciously realizing what I was doing.

Hell, I’d never get used to the fact that Reese didn’t think twice about doing something nice for me just because she wanted to do it.

I’d discovered that the cake wasn’t exactly something she could whip up without going to a lot of trouble.

“One of my favorites, too,” my father reminded Reese.

“Then I guess you two will have to fight over it,” she said with a bright smile right before she closed the slider and went back to the kitchen.

Kevin nodded at my hand on my chest. “I guess you’re not accustomed to having a woman do something for you just because she wants to make you happy.”

I shook my head as I started to put the steaks on the grill. “Never had one who wanted to before,” I admitted. “Maybe because I have enough money that I can order anything I want from anywhere in the world.”

“It’s not the same as something given to you from the heart,” Kevin said as he reached for the steak spices to help me out.

“I discovered that the first time she made that cake,” I answered. “You raised an amazing woman.”

“That part was mostly her mom,” Kevin said with a chuckle.

I doubted that.

I was fairly certain that Reese’s strength and her character had been a combination of both of her parents.

Not that kids coming from a good family always turned out like Reese, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

Kevin and I argued good-naturedly about exactly how a good grilled steak was achieved.

He gave in to my secret spices.

I gave in when he insisted on napping the steaks to make them juicier and more flavorful.

When we were finally ready to eat, the dinner turned out to be one of the most entertaining meals I’d ever experienced.

Reese, on the other hand, wasn’t so thrilled when her mother started telling all of her embarrassing childhood stories.

But I enjoyed every moment of it since my mom had told more than enough of mine to Reese.

I was generous and shared the hummingbird cake.

I did, after all, plan to have the baker of that cake with me for a lifetime.

Reese Monroewasgoing to be mine.

All I had to do now was get her to agree to marry my sorry ass.