“Mama! Mama!” He wiggled in Ransom’s arms, so he handed him over to Isabelle.
“Hello, baby.” She kissed his nose, breathing in his sweet scent. “Did you miss me? Did you have a good time with Daddy?” Ransom tensed, and she realized what she had accidentally said, those words that had remained unspoken until now. Finding her composure, she straightened her spine. “Thanks, um, for watching him.”
“Of course.”
The look on his face as he stared at Evan made her feel warm and fuzzy all over. “So, I don’t want to keep you—”
“It’s fine,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, I’m done at the garage for the day. Silke has a checklist of things she wanted me to accomplish around the lodge and the property, but if there’s anything you wanted to do—”
“I’m all good,” she said awkwardly. “I mean, you should get a move on with that list.”
“Would you and Evan want to come with me?” He rubbed the back of his head. “I … could take you on a tour. I know Silke said she’d do it, but she’s got her plate full because the lodge’ll be at full capacity soon.”
The hope in his tone made it hard to say no. “I guess that would be okay.” Besides, it’s not like she had much else to do. “I’m sure Evan could use the fresh air and sunshine. Except for the parks in New York, he doesn’t get to go outdoors much.”
And so, she and Evan accompanied him as he did errands around the lodge, driving around in his truck. First, they went to the one of the cabins to check if Hawk and Ink needed help in replacing the heater in the unit. Since they had everything in hand, they headed to the recreation area where Snake and Axle were doing some maintenance work with the lights in the tennis courts.
“I’d be done sooner if this guy didn’t play with his phone every two minutes,” Axle groused.
“This is serious work,” Snake said. “Lizzie needs my code right away.”
“Lizzie?” The other Lycan’s eyebrows rose at the sound of the name. “You didn’t tell me it was a girl. Well? Did you show her your code, yet?” He elbowed Snake.
“It’s not like that,” Snake replied.
“I bet it’s not.”
“Besides, she’s already got a boyfriend … I think.”
“All right, ladies,” Ransom scrubbed a hand down his face. “Show me what needs to be done so we can finish this before Evan goes off to college.”
For the rest of the afternoon, Isabelle and Evan followed Ransom around as he checked off each item on Silke’s checklist. She realized two things that day. First: It took an enormous amount of work to keep the lodge running, and second: Ransom cared about the place and the people as much as Silke did. He listened to every problem each member of the staff raised, giving his own input or promising to let Silke know about their concerns. It was obvious, too, that they looked up to him—not just the members of his MC, but all the employees. He was a natural born leader, very Alpha-like. Strangely, he reminded her a lot of her own parents while they were ruling Alphas of their respective clans.
They ended the evening at Bo and Arlene’s cabin where the couple insisted that they stay for dinner. Silke and Sabrina joined them, too, and Isabelle had to admit, it was a good way to end a fun day. When things wound down and Evan began to get cranky, they reluctantly said their goodbyes and headed back to Ransom’s cabin.
“Thanks,” she said as he helped her out of the truck. He had already taken the car seat out and carried it inside for her. When he handed her the seat, their fingers brushed together. Heat coiled inside her, along with a touch of disappointment because despite his proclamations yesterday, Ransom had not tried, well, anything at all. In fact, he was the perfect gentleman the entire day.
“Are you, uh, going to bed?” she inquired nonchalantly when he didn’t follow her toward the stairs.
“I have to take care of some business with the club,” he said. “But I’ll be back soon, I won’t stay out too late.”
She bit her lip. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”
“Goodnight, Isabelle.” He glanced down at Evan. “’Night, Evan.”
She stood rooted to the spot as he closed the door gently behind him. Her wolf cried out longingly at the loss of his presence. Yes, Ransom didn’t try very hard today. But he didn’t have to try at all, as just the thought of him made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.
Evan’s cry in the middle of the night woke Isabelle up as it usually did. He’d been so tuckered out the last two days with all the excitement that he’d slept through the night both times, but she knew he was due for another late-night tantrum.
Rolling out of bed, she reached into the crib. “There, there, baby.” She checked his diaper, and seeing as it was wet, changed it immediately. However, he continued to bawl, even as she rocked him back and forth.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” She danced and swayed, but he didn’t stop crying. “I know, I know,” she soothed as he continued to bawl.
“Isabelle? Is everything okay?”
Swinging around, she saw Ransom standing in the doorway. He was rubbing his eyes and was dressed in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. Evan’s continuous crying, however, distracted her too much from appreciating his magnificent body or feeling self-conscious about the fact she was wearing the flimsiest sleep dress she owned and nothing else underneath. “I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “Did he wake you up? I’m doing my best—”
“It’s all right.” He padded inside and cringed as Evan let out a particularly loud, outraged cry. “Whatsammatter, Evan?”
“He doesn’t like new surroundings,” she shouted over her son’s screams of fury. “He was pretty
