Chapter 14

Les

Les observedas Raelynn laughed while watching the sand shift out, leaving only rocks. Over and over, he shoveled in a new scoop, but they hadn't found any sapphires yet. It didn't seem to bother the Little girl in front of him, though, she seemed more than happy just trying. The process fascinated her, how the table worked sifting away the sand and seeing what might be hiding inside.

Les was bending for a new scoop of sand and rocks when he saw Raelynn's feet leave the ground. At the same time, she yelled, "look!"

As Rae-Rae continued to bounce and point, Les looked where she was pointing and saw a glimmer of blue shining as it shifted on the table, catching light at new angles with each pass. Les had seen multiple shards of sapphires be found; he'd even come and done this from time to time when he wanted to feel close to Raelynn. He must have become used to it because watching her excitement was contagious.

"You found one, baby! Look at you go!" Les lifted Rae-Rae and swung her around in a triumphant hug as she laughed and kissed his cheek. When he set her on her feet again, Les couldn't help just staring as excitement lit up her eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

It wasn't until Rae-Rae asked, "How do we get it out," that Les shook himself from his reverie and flipped the switch to turn the table off. He then grabbed one of the containers meant to transport shards and a pair of tweezers to extract it from the rocks surrounding it. He hadn't even finished his task when Rae-Rae was ready to find another.

They ended up spending three hours sifting. They found eight shards in that time. As they walked back to the main building, Rae-Rae held her shards like they were a pirate's treasure anyone would be likely to steal. He smiled fondly at the thought.

"Arrrg, what have ye there, missy?" he asked in his best pirate imitation.

"None of your business, you treasure-stealing fiend!"

Rae-Rae took off running, Les hot on her heels as he pretended to steal her treasure. She was giggling and laughing outright as she dodged and weaved to avoid him. Les saw it coming before she did, and sped up even as his bum leg protested, so when Rae-Rae tripped over a tree-root, he was right there to catch her.

She was breathing heavily from the chase and when she looked up at him, there was so much trust and caring in her eyes, he felt like he'd won the lottery, but when desire mixed in with the caring and trust, he knew he'd not only won the lottery, he'd hit the fucking jackpot.

Raelynn

She'd just knownshe was going to fall on her butt, when she tripped over that root, but her Daddy had been there to protect her. As Raelynn looked him in the eyes to thank him, she lost her breath. The look he was giving her was like she was the absolute most important thing in the world to him. She hadn't remembered just how hot that was until she saw it again.

Desire for the man had soaked her panties and probably her overalls too but in that moment, she couldn't care less. She just wanted him to make it better. To make her feel good. She just didn't know how to ask for it.

As Raelynn sether jar of shards on the nightstand, she decided that she wanted to get some of those battery-operated twinkle lights to put in the jar, so they'd shimmer always. That could wait, though. She needed to find something to wear to dinner. Something appropriate that also screamed, "Take me, Daddy!" She wanted him and she knew he wanted her too. Their time was limited. She didn't want to waste any of it, then end up regretting it later.

Unsure what to wear, she sent a text. Within ten minutes, the first knock had sounded on her door. Before much longer, all three of her new friends were present and on a mission to help her look her best, and more importantly, her sexiest.

While they were all gathered together, Raelynn laid out her ideas for Repeat Day. It was only two days away. Once she'd finished telling them everything she'd thought of, the girls looked between them, then back at her and declared it a perfect plan. Before the last bow had been added to her hair, the details had been mostly planned out. Any others would be worked out the next day because if Raelynn had her way, she'd be way too busy to make it to the bonfire tonight.

Les

He paced and waited.He'd made reservations at the Mexican restaurant to be sure they got a private table. He was ready. He wanted to talk about if she was ready to take their relationship to the sexual level. If he had his way, it would be a very short dinner. He wanted as much time as he could get with his girl.

Checking his watch again, Les saw it was time to go get Rae-Rae. He'd gotten a bouquet of flowers from the gift shop. It had a small, light-tan, stuffed bear wearing a white Rawhide Ranch shirt and holding onto a lollipop in the center of all the blooming daisies.

He turned toward the guest wing and made his way to the door. He passed Hayleigh, Sadie, and Wren in the hall.

"Good luck tonight," they said in unison, giggling as they passed him.

Les shook his head wondering what the girls had been up to. They always seemed to be doing or planning some kind of shenanigans, but he didn't have much time to consider it. When he was finally standing at her door, he didn't just enter as he could have. He knocked and waited. This was a date and he would do it right.

When Rae-Rae answered, she took his breath away. His heart and brain stopped working completely for a moment, as all the blood fled south and his jeans suddenly became unbearably tight.