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“What?” I asked, pausing before starting the engine.
“Be careful.”
“Of what?” I asked. “No one’s gonna shoot me at the Cole house.”
Dakota gasped beside me, and I slid her a dry look.
Colt chuckled in my ear. “That’s good. But I meant… Just don’t fall for her, okay? We’re leaving as soon as this wraps up, and I don’t need you moping about it for the whole ride back to Colorado.”
“I won’t,” I said through clenched teeth, already annoyed at how accurate Colt’s read was. “I gotta go.”
I hung up before he could say anything else and tossed my phone into the cupholder. But as I turned the key in the ignition, Dakota’s voice cut through my thoughts.
“Ready to meet the fam, boyfriend?” she teased, her eyes dancing with mischief as she leaned toward me, and for a moment, all I could do was stare.
It should’ve freaked me out. It should’ve sent warning bells clanging through my mind—this fake dating, this family dinner, this whole charade. But instead, I felt something entirely different. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I felt a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth, one that I couldn’t quite suppress.
I shook my head, trying to get a grip. “Let’s do it,” I muttered, putting the truck in drive. “But we’re bringing my brother.”
“Oh! Yay! Ilovethat kid,” Dakota said, her voice bright and excited, like we were going on some sort of adventure.
I side-eyed her, my disbelief clear. “You don’t even know him.”
She shot me a look that said I was missing the point. “Boy, I swear. You need to get with the program.”
14?/?
dakota
“There’s so much to unpack from that conversation with Shifty,” I mused, breaking the silence as we drove into town. Tucker had been quiet for the first few minutes, his gaze focused straight ahead, lost in thought. But if he planned to sit there and puzzle out this treasure hunt on his own, I wasn’t having it. “Do you think Syd’s partner is your client?”
His lips pressed into a tight line as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel, but he didn’t immediately answer.
“Oh, come on now. Don’t clam up on me! We’re partners, remember?”
His eyes flicked toward me, one brow lifting. “We’re apparently more than that.”
I waved a dismissive hand. “Only for show.”
He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over the trim beard along his jaw, his movements slow and deliberate. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this.”
“Which part?” I asked, turning in my seat to face him. His profile was sharp and unreadable, but something told me it wasn’t just the fake-dating part that was bothering him.
“We’re about to go meet your family, Wildcard,” he said, his voice low and gruff, but there was an edge of unease in it that Ididn’t miss. “I’m going to sit at their dinner table and pretend to be interested in you. It doesn’t sit right.”
“Aren’t you?”
His gaze cut to me, a look of surprise crossing his face. “Aren’t I what?”
“Interested in me?” I asked, not even bothering to stop the sly smile that spread across my lips.
The strangled laugh that burst out of him warmed me from the inside out. I took it a step further and poked his massive bicep—which I quickly regretted. Even through his thick jacket, Tucker’s arm felt like a brick wall, and my finger throbbed like I’d just jabbed it against a tree trunk.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m interested in you,” he hedged, sliding me a smirk. “Who wouldn’t be?”
I chuckled bitterly, turning my gaze out the window. “Well, currently, a man I like to refer to asDr. Dummy. He was into me for a hot minute, but apparently, I’m…”
When I didn’t finish the sentence, I felt Tucker’s curious gaze on me. He made a slight motion with his hand between us, encouraging me to go on. “You’re…?”
