Ridge raises a brow at them. “Did you have trouble finding the bathroom, Vanessa?”
She turns rosier. “A little.”
“Rush ‘helped’ you, huh?”
Vanessa fidgets even more. “A little.”
“For the last twenty minutes?”
Finally, her embarrassment gives way to laughter, and she whirls on her husband. “I told you they would notice.”
Rush gives her a devilish smile. “Oops.”
As Sophie begins the last song of the show, Rand heads over, shepherding a teenage boy and his guy friends in our direction. The blonde he came with is deep in a flirty conversation with Ethan.
“I didn’t get to introduce y’all earlier,” Rand says to his brothers and the wives. “This is Dustin. He helped Sophie and me escape the parade after shots were fired. We promised him an up-close-and-personal payback for his help.”
“Thank you for everything.” Ransom automatically extends his hand.
Without Dustin’s assistance, Sophie and Rand may not have made it out of the crowds and chaos alive that fateful Fourth of July. Thankfully, they got to safety, and the police caught the shooter Sophie’s former manager hired to kill her a few days later. The evidence the investigators dug up among Dorinda’s effects helped to convict him.
Dustin shakes with my husband, looking at me a little longer than Ransom will like. Sure enough, the minute he pulls his hand free, he slides his arm back around my waist, fingers pressing urgently into my hip. The gentle bite of his grip is likely to leave a faint bruise.
I suck in a breath. My husband knows I love his marks on my body, so he leaves them every chance he gets.
There’s an important, nine-month mark he’d love to leave on you…
So far, I’ve put Ransom off. I’m only eighteen. We just got married. We have plenty of time for kids, right?
But he wants more children. You want them, too. Age is just a number.
Ransom introduces me as his wife. I know the expression on Dustin’s face. He wants to know why I married someone so much older. But Dustin doesn’t understand. Most people don’t—and that’s all right. We do. That’s all that matters.
Rand makes the rest of the introductions. The blonde with Dustin is apparently his sister, who’s a huge fan of Sophie’s…but she must like something about Ethan because she hasn’t taken her eyes off of him since he sauntered in her direction.
After some chatter, Dustin, his pals, his sister, and Ethan listen to the end of Sophie’s final number, then head out in the limo she hired for their fun.
“Wish you were going with them?” my husband asks.
I know they’re all my age, and they’re going to have a blast, but… “No. I’m right where I want to be. How soon before we can go upstairs so I can show you?”
“You’re playing with fire, babygirl.”
I merely smile as Sophie exits the stage with one last bow and heads straight into Rand’s waiting arms. Rush and Vanessa both hug her next and commend her on a great set. Ransom and I join in, along with Ridge and Kristi.
It’s one of those shimmering moments of happiness that makes me know I’m exactly where I should be.
“Twitter is already saying how amazing you were,” Kristi tells Sophie. “People are losing their minds. I’m retweeting some of this stuff. It’s gold!”
“Thank you.” Soph flashes her a bright smile, arm still curled around her husband’s. “If you’re serious about changing jobs and becoming my assistant, you’re hired.”
“Tania really isn’t coming back?”
Sophie shakes her head. “She loves being a new mom. In fact, she loves it so much, she’s pregnant again. So…she’s decided to stay home with the kids. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have on my team more than my best friend.”
“Yes!” Kristi says so loudly the backstage crew turns to stare. “Seriously yes.”
The pop princess looks stunned. “I wish. But you’d have to move here…”
Ransom looks at Ridge, who stares back. They both nod. Now is the time.
“Funny you should mention that…” my husband says. “Ridge and I have been talking. Now that Ethan is out of school and leaving for training, there’s nothing holding us in Vegas. In fact, we’d both like distance between us and the remnants of the Donzelli clan, even though Sal is going down for life and Donzelli himself for much longer. The rest of the organization has scattered to the dark corners like the roaches they are. But we’d rather not tempt fate, and it was never really home for either of us.”
Ridge nods. “So we’re relocating and setting up shop here.”
Rand looks stunned for a moment, then his grin widens. “That’s the best fucking news I’ve heard in…well, since Soph told me she was pregnant. I’ll have two of my brothers nearby. Mom will be thrilled, and the kids can grow up together.”
Sophie takes Ridge’s hand. “Thank you for not separating me from my bestie.”