Page 58 of Enticing Her Love

The girls gasped, and her brothers uttered “damn” and “holy shit.”

Her mother’s hand covered her heart. “Oh, sweetheart. I can’t imagine how scary that was. I’m in a panic just hearing about it.”

“It was horrible, but he knew just what to do, and he didn’t hesitate. One second we were laughing, and the next he was dead serious and taking action. He was incredible.”

“It sounds like we owe that man heaps of gratitude,” her father said.

Everyone concurred.

Indi turned to Archer. “How come you’ve never saved me from a snake?”

“Baby, you don’t need saving. You like my snake,” Archer said.

“Ew,” Jules said, and they all laughed.

“Tara almost bit it on the sidewalk the other day, and I totally caught her. That’s almost as cool, right?” Levi said proudly.

“Bit your snake?” Leni teased.

“No!” Tara blushed.

“It’s more like a worm,” Jock said, earning more laughter.

Sutton listened to their banter, thinking about how many years their family had lost and how wonderful it was to be close again. As she watched her parents, and her brothers and sisters with their significant others, teasing and one-upping each other, she ached for the kind of true love they’d all found. There had been moments in the rainforest when she’d thought maybe she and Flynn were headed for that type of bond. But now she knew they weren’t, because her siblings and their significant others would fight to the death to be with each other, and Flynn had been able to turn off any feelings he’d had and walk away. Last night’s texts gave her pause, but there was a world of difference between a fun friendship with a white-hot sexual connection and soul-deep love.

She told them more about the trip, purposely leaving out the part about having only one tent. “Being there changed how I see myself and what I am capable of. Foraging for food and water gave me a good dose of perspective, making me even more grateful for everything I have.”

“Like hazelnut coffee,” Leni and Jules said in unison.

“I meant the basics, like food and water and a bathroom, but yes, coffee, too.”

“Sutton, honey,” her mother said. “Since Flynn was better on the trip, are you still thinking of leaving the show?”

“Of course she is,” Archer said emphatically. “They risked her life sending her to that damn rainforest. She never should’ve gone.”

Sutton glared at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Seriously, Archer,” Jules snapped. “Sutton can do anything she puts her mind to.”

“I didn’t mean because she can’t handle it. It was irresponsible of them to send her there. She’s not trained for pit vipers and whatever else is in that place,” Archer explained.

“You’re not wrong,” Sutton conceded. “But I’m not trained to go to any of the places they send me. To some extent, that’s what research is for—although no amount of research could give me the skills I’d need to survive in the rainforest by myself.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Archer said.

“But they didn’t send me alone, Archer, and they wouldn’t have sent me with Flynn if they didn’t believe he had the skills to keep me safe. After seeing him in action, I can see why they trusted him.”

“Does that mean you want to stay with the show?” her father asked.

“No.” I slept with my boss, and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be horribly awkward, which adds to my reasons for leaving. “I’m just saying that I’m glad I’m going on tough assignments and seeing the world. GNN hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but the job they have available sounds like what I’ve always wanted, so if they get back to me, I want to follow it through and see where it leads.” She tried to ignore the dull ache in her chest at the idea of not seeing Flynn every day, despite knowing things would be awkward.

“I think that’s smart,” her father said. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

“I agree with your father,” her mother said. “I wish the job wasn’t in California, but I’m a firm believer that fate has a way of guiding us through big life decisions.”

Sutton was on the fence about fate for many reasons, one of which was what had happened between her and Flynn. Why would fate finally lead her to a man she ended up really liking, and feeling connected to, only to leave her worse off than she’d been in the first place? “Mom, if that were true, shouldn’t fate have stepped in and taken Jock’s and Archer’s hands sooner than the decade it took for them to find their way back into each other’s lives?”

Jock and Archer exchanged a guilty glance, but their mother’s loving expression didn’t change as she said, “Some things take more time than others. I have to believe that everything our family went through had to happen in order for us to become whole again. If they’d tried sooner, maybe one or both of them wouldn’t have been ready, and it would have made things worse.”