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His lips twitch. "Yep. Don't want them creating a search party for us."

"Oh. No. That would be bad," I fret, glancing at my sweaty skin.

He props himself up on one elbow, dragging his eyes over my body once more before planting a quick kiss on my lips.

"That was close," I whisper.

"Worth it." He leans down, lips grazing the shell of my ear, voice dropping low and rough. "I could stay right here for another hour and make you scream loud enough that my entire family hears it from the main house. Want me to?"

Heat floods straight back through me, my whole body arguing in favor of the idea despite every practical reason to get up off this barn floor. "Jagger."

"Just saying." He presses one more kiss below my ear, unhurried, before finally pulling back with a groan that sounds like it costs him real effort. "As much as I'd love to stay buried in this hay with you all afternoon, I know my family. They're three seconds from a search party and you've got hay in places it should never be."

"Don't remind me."

A low and warm laugh flows out of him. He rolls to his feet first, offering both hands to pull me up. My knees wobble, still unsteady.

He catches me against his chest, holding me there while I get my legs back under me. "Easy, darlin'. I've got you."

Getting dressed turns into its own small production, my hands still not entirely steady, my bra hooks fighting me twice before Jagger takes over and fastens them himself, fingers deft and unbothered like he's done this a hundred times.

Because he has.

I shake off the pop of irritation.

He holds my shirt open for me to step into, buttons my shirt while giving me little kisses, then he turns me by the shoulders and starts picking hay out of my hair. "Amazing what can get into a braid."

"Hay has a life of its own," I comment.

He chuckles. "It sure does. Okay, you're presentable. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"You've got a look about you. Thoroughly kissed. I like it on you." He wiggles his eyebrows.

I laugh. "You're impossible."

"You keep saying that like it's an insult." He tucks a loose strand behind my ear, then sobers slightly, some of the teasing dropping out of his voice. "I want you, Charlie, and your mama to come to dinner tonight. At the main house. Georgia's brought desserts, and Dad's got a whole spread planned on the grill."

"Can't get enough of me, huh?" I tease.

"Nope! I like having you close." He shrugs, easy about it, though the flicker in his eyes says it matters more than the casual tone lets on. "And family dinner's kind of a big deal around here, especially with everybody in town for the weekend. I want you all there."

Warmth spreads through my chest at the invitation, though a flicker of nerves rises up right behind it. "Are you sure you're okay with our families being that involved this fast? It's kind of soon?"

"So?" He tilts his head, studying me. "Why wouldn't I want you and Charlie and your mama there?"

I bite back a smile. "My mama?"

"Yep. I'm growing on her."

I can't help but grin.

"Why aren't you saying yes?" he asks.

My face falls. "I don't know. It's a lot. Sebastian and Georgia just got in, everybody's still catching up, and now you want to add me and Charlie and Mama into the middle of family dinner two nights in a row." I shrug, trying to sound more casual than the knot in my stomach allows. "I guess I'm asking if you're doing okay with all of it. Not just me asking for myself."

"Lainey." He steps closer, hand finding my waist. "I know my family is a lot. Loud, nosy, completely up in everybody's business at all times. But I love every single one of them, and having you and Charlie folded into the middle of it isn't a burden. It's the best part of the last two days. And my family is Charlie's, too. So she never needs an invite, but neither do you or your mama. Hell, tell your daddy to get here too, if you want."