Say You're Mine (The Gallaghers Book 1) by Layla Hagen (digital ebook reader .txt) 📗

that plan,” I added. Nothing spelled amazing day like watching Brayden flex those gorgeous muscles while they worked on the tent. And I had ice cream too. This day was glorious.

The guys gave us the side-eye, and I was enjoying it immensely.

“You’re not feeling guilty?” Brayden teased.

“Not at all. It’s not like we can put up the decorations before the tent is ready. And you don’t need us helping with the tent. Too many cooks in a kitchen and all that.” My voice dripped with sass.

Donna and Jana nodded approvingly.

After finishing our ice cream while watching the men work, we brought the boxes from the truck. The tent still wasn’t ready, but if we didn’t start putting up the decorations, we wouldn’t be ready in time for the party. Esther joined us too, mostly giving us directions.

The decorations consisted of strings of lights, green balloons, and some props for pictures. There was also a cute photo booth that needed to be built up from scratch. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’d shamelessly relied on my brothers for this type of stuff my whole life. They’d helped me assemble my IKEA furniture when I moved into my first apartment in Philly, then again when I came to New York. Assembly instructions read like gibberish to me, but this one was mostly about folding paper. I peeked around, assessing if I could rope anyone into helping me, but everyone was busy.

Come on, Isabelle, you can do this.

Ten minutes later, I was sweating bullets, and I was pretty sure I’d folded the paper in the wrong direction.

“You look like you need help,” Brayden whispered from my right, startling me. I’d been so focused on the instructions that I hadn’t heard him walk up.

“Yeah, I think I misunderstood a few steps,” I whispered back.

He glanced between the instructions and the papers I’d already folded. The corners of his mouth tilted up.

I pointed at him. “Don’t make fun of me.”

He kissed the side of my neck quickly before straightening up again and looking at me intently. “Or what?”

“Or... you’ll be sorry.”

I didn’t sound too threatening, but to my defense, when he trained those gorgeous eyes on me like this, I was lucky I could gather my wits at all. I deserved points for that.

“Am I now? How about I throw you over my shoulder and take you out of here? Then I can show you exactly how not sorry I am.”

“Now what kind of excuse would be acceptable for you to get away with that?”

“You don’t know my family yet. We don’t need an excuse for that in the Clarke family.”

He leaned forward a few inches, and the smell of his cologne just took my breath away.

“Is this the country guy inside you?”

“Hell yes.”

Smiling, I winked at him. “I like it. And you’re welcome to show me that side of you in a lot of detail. As soon as we finish this photo booth.”

I focused on the instructions again but was acutely aware of Brayden moving right behind me, bringing his mouth to my ear.

“That will take no time at all. And then I’ll have my way with you.”

Goose bumps formed on my arms. My God, his voice was so deliciously sexy.

We both worked on the booth, and under his guidance, I managed not to screw up the rest of it. He’d been right, it was easy to set up. But after we finished it, Esther asked me to hang the balloons all around the perimeter while she and Brayden went about hanging the strings of lights.

I finished twenty minutes later and went inside the house for a drink. My throat was dry and raspy.

Esther was in the kitchen, and she poured me a glass of mineral water, adding a slice of cucumber and two slices of orange inside.

“Why do we need the tent at all?” I asked after gulping down the drink. “The weather is so beautiful.”

“Oh, we’ve had a couple of years where it turned from sun to rain in less than an hour, and we had to move the party indoors. It’s safer if we just put up the tent.”

“You’re right. I didn’t think about that.”

Esther came around to me, putting an arm around my shoulders, smiling at me. “Thanks for bringing my boy home. I’ve missed having him here. He can be so stubborn.”

“What’s that, Mom?” Brayden’s voice boomed from behind us. “You’re bad-mouthing me too?”

Esther let go of me as we both turned around.

“No, your mom was giving me valuable insights,” I said, holding my chin high.

Brayden pinned me with his gaze, smiling wickedly. “Mom, I want to show Isabelle around before the party. Do you need me to do anything else before?”

“No, no. You kids go and have fun. There’s nothing left to do anyway.”

Was this the part where he wanted to make good on his promise to have his way with me? By the intense look in his eyes, the answer was a resounding yes.

Esther returned to the yard, carrying drinks on a platter for everyone.

Once we were alone, he took my hand, pulling me toward the main entrance.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I want to show you around. You haven’t seen the country part yet. We have huge fields behind the house.”

“Wow. The ones I saw through the window upstairs?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I know this will sound silly, but I hadn’t realized those belonged to you. Is the security detail following us?”

“No, we’re staying on the property. They’re guarding the perimeter.”

We went out through the front door, then through a narrow path between the house and the fence that opened up into a cornfield. It stretched out so wide that I couldn’t see anything past it.

“Do you want to see where I wrote my first song? Part of it actually made it into the lyrics of our first hit.”

“Sure. Show me everything.”

Taking my hand, he led me along the pathway snaking between the cornstalks. It was all new to me. As a kid, I’d also spent most