Page 85 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Mafia Princess

“You stayed where I asked.”

“I can follow reasonable instructions.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Talia put the boot back on and stood. “Is the grass safe?”

“For tonight.”

She held out a second bottle of water.

I took it.

“You waited.”

“You asked me to build a life with you. I wasn’t leaving before you finished the first job.”

Talia reached into the truck and lifted a paper bag. “Mabel also gave me two leftover pretzels.”

“Where are they?”

“I ate one.”

“And the other?”

She handed me the bag.

I ate half the pretzel before she spoke again.

“Are you ready to go home?”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

The cabin windows were dark when we turned into the road.

Talia leaned forward as the headlights crossed the porch. “It looks different.”

“It looks the same.”

“That’s because you lack emotional imagination.”

“What changed?”

“I chose it.”

I parked beside the house.

Talia got out before I reached her door. The ground was level enough that I didn’t argue.

Inside, the cabin held the faint heat of a closed summer day. I opened the windows while Talia set her handbag on the table.

She removed her earrings, necklace, and bracelets and placed them inside it. Then she filled two glasses with water and handed me one.

“You need to drink that before I seduce you,” she said.

I nearly choked.

Talia drank from her own glass.