The sun was nearly gone by the time everyone decided to start cleaning up and head back. Sabrina volunteered to put the food away, and she chatted with some of the kitchen staff as she helped them place leftovers into containers.
“Hey, you guys seen Annie?” Hardy asked as he jogged up to them, his face a mask of worry. “I swear I just turned around for a second and she was gone.”
Sabrina scanned the area and saw a flash of bright yellow by the line of trees on their left before disappearing. “Oh, I think I see her. Over there. Let’s go get her before she gets lost.” She murmured an apology to the rest of the staff finishing up the work and then signaled to Hardy to follow her.
Together, they jogged toward the direction she saw Annie wander off to, going past the line of trees and walking deeper into the thicket. Bugs chirped around them as they walked along a narrow path covered by a canopy of branches and leaves.
“There you are!” Hardy exclaimed with a relieved sigh when he spotted Annie playing by a large fallen black oak tree. Jogging over, he swooped down and picked her up, sending her into a fit of giggles. “Oh baby, you scared Daddy.” He peppered her face with kisses. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
As he held her tight, Sabrina felt a strange twist in her stomach. Probably my ovaries exploding, she thought to herself. It was just so cute watching the big biker go all soft and melty for his daughter. Her fingers were itching to paint them and capture this memory forever. Might make another nice gift too.
“I shoulda kept my eyes on her,” Hardy said sheepishly. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing, I just spotted her, that’s all.”
His smile was warm and made him look even more handsome. “Annie’s my world, you know? I didn’t think I could do this alone. I didn’t want to at first. But now I can’t imagine life without her.”
“Oh, her mom—”
“Isn’t in the picture,” he said, his tone edgy.
Poor Annie. She reached out and tucked a stray curl from the child’s face. “I’m sure you’re doing a great job.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. Annie began to squirm in his arms, so he set her down, though kept a hand around her tiny wrist to keep her from wandering off. “So are you and Ransom like—”
“Ransom?” She shook her head. Half the time she felt like an annoying gnat he wanted to swat away. “Oh, no.” And the other half? Well it felt like he wanted to gobble her up like Little Red Riding Hood.
His face lit up. “That’s great. I mean,” he laughed nervously. “Just …” He bit his lower lip. “He’s our prez. And I wouldn’t poach on his territory.”
Oh God, was he flirting with her? Had she drunk some kind of love potion in the last twenty-four hours that made all these hot men start noticing her? “It’s not anything like that.”
“Sabrina?”
She froze, her body immediately reacting to the sound of that voice. Oh, why was it that faced with two equally attractive men, her damn traitorous body only wanted one, the one who didn’t want her back?
“Jonasson.” Hardy gave the other man a nod. “Nice of you to finally come back.”
The tension in the air became thick as molasses. Cross came up beside her, his shoulders and back stiff. “Hardy,” he said curtly. Then he turned to Sabrina. “I went to the cabin and you weren’t there. I’ve been looking all over for you. I didn’t think you’d leave.”
“Why wouldn’t I? Am I some kind of prisoner?” she bit out.
His jaw tightened. “That’s not what I meant. I was worried about you.”
“If you were worried about her, then you shouldn’t have left her alone,” Hardy interjected.
Cross’s eyes flashed—no, they glowed. “Was I talking to you, Lone Wolf?”
“Listen here, Jonasson,” Hardy said. “You’re on Savage Wolves turf. You don’t get to speak to me that way.”
“What the hell are you doing out here with her?” Cross growled.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Cross! Please, stop,” she said. “I—”
She sucked in a breath as Cross looped his arm around her and everything went cold. A shiver ran through her as her surroundings shimmered away, and she found herself inside the cabin. “Damn it, Cross, what did you do that for?” she roared at him.
“Why were you alone with him in the woods?” His hand gripped her arm tight.
She wrenched away from him. “If you stopped and used your head for one second, you would have realized we weren’t alone! His kid was there with us. I saw Annie wander off by herself, and so we went after her!”
His face fell. “I didn’t mean to be so gruff. I was worried about you.”
“Well, you know what? Hardy was right. If you were worried about me, you wouldn’t have left.”
“That’s not …” He let out a sound of frustration and scrubbed his palm down his beard. “I had to take care of a few things. To find the people trying to hurt you.” He reached out to touch her shoulder. “And of course, you’re not a prisoner here. I just thought you wouldn’t want to leave. With your … anxiety and all.”
How did he know about that? “Well, it was a nice day, and I’ve been cooped up far too long. And Silke insisted I come to this party, and seeing that she’s my host, I couldn’t say no. Everyone was nice to me,” she said in a soft voice. “We were all having a nice time.” Until you ruined it.
She didn’t have to say that out loud, but it was obvious he understood what she meant from the way his shoulders went taut. “Just say the word, and I’ll bring you back to
