Page 144 of Boss of Me

I cringe. “Yikes.”

“Not exactly Father of the Year material, I’ll admit.” Maverick chuckles, rubbing his shadowed jaw. “Anyway, on this particular day, he took us to the shooting range, which we always enjoyed. On the way home afterward, we stopped at a bar. It was a seedy hole in the wall, but Dad swore they had the best hot wings in town. There was a group of rowdy rednecks sitting near our table. While we were eating, they kept eyeballing me and Gunner. We were still wearing our prep school uniforms, and we could hear them calling us ‘rich pretty boys’ and ‘chickenshit pansies.’ We ignored them, but when they started getting handsy with our waitress, Dad told ’em to leave her alone. The greasyscumbags didn’t take kindly to him intervening, so they got up and surrounded our table.” He snorts. “Big fucking mistake.”

My eyes are wide as saucers. “What happened?”

“We kicked their asses, that’s what happened.” Maverick grins broadly. “One minute they were running their mouths, the next minute fists were flying and boots were stomping. Gunner broke a chair over one guy’s head and laid him out cold. I busted another guy’s nose and knocked out a few teeth. Dad smashed a bottle over the ringleader’s head and tossed him and another asshole over the bar counter. It was glorious,” Maverick recalls with a hoot of laughter.

“Holy crap.” I’m grinning hard. “Don’t mess with the Ransom boys, huh?”

“Damn right. See, they didn’t know that Dad was a fellow redneck who grew up brawling in bars and taught his sons how to fight. They fucked around and found out.” Maverick leans back in his chair with a contented sigh. “Good times.”

I’m still laughing when Gunner returns to his seat beside me. Glowering at his brother, he wraps an arm around my shoulders in an unmistakably possessive gesture.

Laughing that wicked laugh, Maverick unfolds his long body from his chair and saunters off to the bar.

“What were you two talking about?” Gunner asks, sounding suspicious.

I pretend to look guilty. “Oops. Busted.”

His eyes narrow. “Meaning?”

I lean close to him as if confiding a deep secret. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but Maverick and I have been plotting to run away together?—”

Gunner scowls. “Not funny.”

I laugh softly, nibbling his faint chin dimple. “Don’t be jealous. You know you’re the only man I want.”

His mouth curves. “If my brother had gotten to the bar before me that night, you would’ve met him instead of me.”

“But he didn’t.” I lift my eyes to his. “It was always meant to be you, Gunner. Only you.”

He leans in and kisses me, ignoring the catcalls and whistles from his brother and friends.

Chapter Thirty-Four

marlowe

“You and gunner are couple goals,” Quinn says to me two days later when we meet for lunch at our favorite café. “Seriously, Mar. Love looks good on you.”

I smile. I can’t seem to stop smiling these days. Being in love has turned me into a total sap. I’m even composing a song for Gunner. Yeah, I’ve got it bad.

Quinn bites into her veggie pita. “So now that you’re officially a couple, how much longer are you gonna work for him?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. Right now I’m just focused on saving money and finishing school.”

“I hear you. But doesn’t it feel a little weird being your boyfriend’s housekeeper?”

“You would think so, but it doesn’t. Not really.” I smile softly. “To be honest, I enjoy taking care of his home. It feels almost . . . natural.”

“Wow,” Quinn marvels, staring at me with both wonder and amusement. “Youarein love.”

I laugh and take a sip of my latte.

She motions to my pinstriped blouse and fitted charcoal skirt. “Why are you all dressed up anyway?”

“I have to give a presentation in class.”

“Oh, cool. Nervous?”