Page 70 of A Rancher's Vow

“This isn’t sex.”

He grinned. “No, but permission to change your mind is not limited to bedroom activities.”

Which somehow made the butterflies in her belly calm down. “Okay.”

A blast of laughter escaped him. “Tee. Help me out here. Whichokayis it? Into the hall or off to the Beach?”

She laid her hand on his thigh. “Into the auction. I did promise to do that thing for the Silver Stone ladies. Which Fern is so excited about, because it seems there’s some record for purchasing a bachelor, and Tansy’s about to lose her crown or some such nonsense.”

“Fern is a great little sister. Knocking older siblings off their perches is in the youngest sibling rule book.”

She forced herself to wait until he rounded the truck and opened her door to help her down. When she would have headed straight to the doors, he tugged her against him for a brief, intense kiss. Heat wrapped around them, the urge to lean in closer and just hang on sticking hard.

When he pulled back a few minutes later, Charity was no longer worried about the auction. She was no longer worried aboutanything. “My brain just short-circuited from a lack of oxygen.Thatwas a kiss.”

“That was a thanks for saving me.” His expression turned more serious, although still happy and content. “I mean it. Thanks, Tee, you’re the best. Don’t worry about today. No matter what happens, I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

“I know.” The warmth enveloping her was no longer just sexual, but a sweet heat unfurling in her chest. The look in his eyes—

Charity stepped away before she could do something dangerous. She grabbed her purse from the truck before tilting the side mirror to fix her lipstick.

While she worked, Dustin leaned on the door beside her, contentedly watching. When she tucked her lipstick away, he caught her hand in his and escorted her into the hall.

The Stone family had taken over a section to themselves on the far right of the floor. Charity eyed the space, looking for a nice safe place to sit that wouldn’t mean being too surrounded.

Ivy wasn’t there, and neither was their youngest, but Walker had both Chloe and Carter at the table. Tamara and Caleb’s youngest son Tyler sat next to Carter. Their teenage girls were seated with some friends at the opposite end of the table from their parents, Sasha waving her hands excitedly as she spoke. Luke and Kelli filled in the gap on one side of the middle of the table, and a couple of empty chairs remained on the other side next to where a very pregnant Ginny sat beside Tucker.

Dustin guided Charity directly to the open chairs.

So. It was straight into the firepit, then.

Ginny leaned back and put her feet up on the chair Tucker turned for her. “Perfect. I can now continue to be entertained and fed pie.”

“You want mine?” Tucker asked, holding out the piece in front of him.

She accepted it happily. “You should go grab another piece.”

Tucker winked at Charity. “Of course. What flavour do I want this time?”

Ginny poked at the crust. “Pumpkin again is a safe bet. Maybe apple.”

“Two pieces of pie, coming right up.” Tucker offered Charity his chair. “And what type of pie do you want?”

“Whatever Dustin picks, apparently. Definitely cherry.”

Ginny snickered. “You learn fast.”

Dustin just grinned, pacing off at Tucker’s side to where the pie table waited.

“They’re good, but not up to Tansy’s standard.” Ginny licked her fork then leaned in close. “How are you holding up?”

Feeling like a fish out of water? Charity shoved down the worries about being surrounded by the Stones and focused on Ginny alone. It was hard to be intimidated by the woman who was glowing like a Madonna.

“I’m okay. Frankly, it’s fun to be here without the stress of having to bid. The auction is for a good cause, and I like supporting the community, but the bidding tends to get expensive, really fast.”

“Especially when Tansy is around,” Ginny pointed out.

“True,” Charity agreed with a laugh. “Just my luck that the one year she’s not here to drive up the prices, I already have a date.”