by Nicole Helm
“I stayed out at the ranch last night, so it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“It matters.” In a casual move, he rested his hand on the cushion between them—close enough his finger could gently nudge the phone farther out of her pocket.
She frowned down at his hand, but he kept it there as her gaze returned. He didn’t say anything because he was intent on inching his finger close enough to touch the phone that just barely peeked out of the pocket of her jeans.
“Why did you bring me here, Ty? What’s going on?”
He used his index finger to nudge the corner of her phone out of her pocket. If he could move it enough, get it at the right angle, it’d fall out once she stood up. Then he’d just have to hope she didn’t feel it or notice it for how long it would take him to secret it away.
So, he nudged and spoke. “The cops are on this whole thing, but I’m worried. I don’t like that this guy was hanging around your place and Rightful Claim. It feels off.”
“Laurel said he’s sloppy and they’ll get him in no time.” But no matter how brave she tried to sound, she chewed on her bottom lip. She shifted slightly, as if she’d felt the move of her phone.
Ty grabbed her hand before she could pat her pocket down. He’d done it out of desperation, but the sizzle of connection shocked him into forgetting all about the phone.
How did her hand fit with his, like a key to a lock? Even now that simple touch was all it took to make him forget his real purpose and remember her. The feel of her. The rightness of her. And how he’d been the one to mishandle it all, ruin it all.
She blinked once, as if coming out of the same dream, and then jerked her hand away. “What is this?” she demanded. She popped to her feet and he was relieved the phone fell right out, and she didn’t even notice. She paced as he scooted over and gently nudged the phone deep into the cushions.
Finally she whirled, as if she’d come to some grand determination. “It’s time to take me home.”
He smiled lazily, knowing it would make her narrow her eyes and curl her hands into fists. “About that.”
“Tyler,” she warned through clenched teeth.
It amazed him that he couldn’t control his negative reaction to his full name when he’d spent a lifetime controlling any and all negative reactions he didn’t want to broadcast. But he nearly flinched every time she leveled him with that haughty Tyler.
“We’re not going anywhere. Not for a while.”
She made a sound of outrage, then did exactly what he’d hoped. She stormed for the door.
He took the moment to fish her phone out of the couch and click off the sound before sliding it into the drawer of the coffee table. Even as she wrenched the front door open and stomped outside, he closed and locked the drawer before sauntering after her.
She stalked right over to his motorcycle and then kicked it over. She gave him a defiant look, but he refused to rise to the bait. Barely. No one, no one hurt his bike. But he’d give her a pass since he was...well, not kidnapping her.
Exactly.
“Very mature, Jen.”
She flipped him off, which did give him enough of a jolt to laugh. He’d forgotten how much he enjoyed her rare flashes of temper.
“I’m calling Laurel. Do you really think—” She stopped as her hands patted every pocket of her jeans. Once, twice, before shoving her hands into each pocket.
She looked up at him with shock in her gaze. It quickly turned to murder as she let out a primal scream and lunged at him.
Chapter Seven
Jen couldn’t ever remember being so angry. She wanted to take a chunk out of Ty. She wanted to bloody his nose or knee him in the crotch, and if she’d been able to see anything more than the red haze of anger, she might have been strategic enough to do any of those things. Maybe.
But she was too mad, stupid with it, and she launched herself at him, only to be caught and corralled. She landed precisely one punch to his rock-hard chest before he had his arms wrapped around her tight enough she couldn’t wriggle her arms free.
She kicked, but he only lifted her off the ground, angling her so her kicks did nothing.
“I hate you,” she spat, right in his face.
He only grinned. “Now, now, darling, your hellcat is showing.”
She wriggled on an outraged growl, but he only clamped his arms around her tighter so she could barely move at all as he marched her back inside. So she was pressed against the hard wall of muscle that was the love of her life.
He’d brought her up here, stolen her phone and was thwarting all her attempts to unleash her anger.
“This is ridiculous. Insane. You’ve lost your mind. Do you really think my family won’t come up here and—”
“No, I don’t think they will,” he replied, equitably, as he all too easily moved her to the living room.
She kept wriggling, but it was no use. He was very, very strong, and she refused to acknowledge the hot lick of heat that centered itself in her core.
He dumped her on the couch and when she popped to her feet, he nudged her back down, looming over her.
“Stay put.”
“Or what?” she demanded, outrage at his behavior and her body’s response boiling together into nothing but pure fury. “Going to stalk me? Leave me some threatening letters in blood? You’re no better than—”
He all but shoved his face into hers, cutting off not just her words but also her breath. His eyes shone with that fierce battle light that had thrilled her once upon a time, and maybe it still did, though she didn’t much feel like being honest with herself right now. She’d rather pretend the shaky feeling in her limbs was fear, not that old desire to soothe the outlaw in him. To love him until he softened.
“Don’t compare me to the man doing this, Jen. Not now. Not ever. You may not like my methods, but I’m doing what I have to do to keep you safe.”
Her heart jittered, and that pulsing heat she remembered so well spread through her belly like a sip of straight whiskey. But she forced herself to be calm, to be disdainful. “I’m only in danger because of you.”
He pushed away from the couch then, but not before she caught the flash of hurt in his eyes. Why did it still hurt her to cause him pain? Why couldn’t she be completely and utterly unaffected by him, his emotions, his muscles or that past they’d shared?
“Yeah, that’s true, which is why it’s my duty to protect you.”
“I have a family full of dutiful protectors. I don’t need you.”
His back was to her, so she couldn’t read how that statement might have affected him. He was silent for the longest time.
She should speak. Demand her phone back and demand to be taken home. Threaten and yell until she got her way.
But she knew how useless that was. A Carson had an idea in his head and she’d never be able to get through that thick skull. She’d have to be sneakier than that. More devious.
Sneaky and devious weren’t exactly natural for her like they were for Ty, but hadn’t she loved him and watched him for years? Didn’t she know how to retreat, circumnavigate and end up with what she wanted?
And if she didn’t know how to do that, she’d figure it out. He wasn’t going to lock her up here in the Carson cabin like some sort of helpless princess.
Which meant she had to be calm and reasonable in response to his...his...idiocy.
“Ty,” she began, her voice like that of a teacher instructing a student. “Be reasonable. You can’t take my phone away from me, lock the doors and expect me to stay put. It isn’t sensible, and I’m surprised at you. It isn’t like you to act without thinking.”
He turned to face her, appearing detached and vaguely, disdainfully amused. A trick of his she’d always envied.
“I’ve thought it through, darling. I know exactly what I’m doing. I was also quite aware you wo
uldn’t like it.”
Bristling, Jen curled her fingers into fists, trying to center her frustration there instead of at him. “Laurel won’t—”
“Laurel will. Because you’ll be safe and out of harm’s way, won’t you?”
“Like Addie and Noah were?” she returned, knowing it would hit him where it hurt. No matter that she hated to hurt him, she was very aware she needed to.
“This guy isn’t the mob,” Ty replied, referring to the men who had hurt Noah and Addie here, but Ty had that blank look on his face that belied the emotion hidden underneath.
“You don’t know who he is,” Jen returned, gentling her tone without realizing it.
He was so still. The stillness that had once prompted her to soothe, to love. Because Ty’s stillness wasn’t the actual reaction. His stillness hid all the myriad reactions inside him. Ever since he’d been a boy she knew he’d developed that skill, a response to an abusive father, and she’d always seen his stillness for that little boy’s hurt. She’d always ached over it.
God, she wished she no longer did, but it was there. Deep and painful. It was against every instinct she had to clamp her mouth shut and keep the soothing words inside.
“I can’t figure out who he is when you’re in danger. I can’t think when I’m worried about you.”
“I’m not your concern.”
He scoffed audibly. “Oh, please.”
“I haven’t been for ten years. You didn’t concern yourself with me when you disappeared without a goodbye. You didn’t concern yourself with me for ten full years after you just...” It was bubbling up inside her, all the betrayal and the hurt she’d been hiding from him.
“You want to have that out now?” he asked, so cool and stoic it was like being stabbed.
Jen closed her eyes and pressed fingers to her temple. She had to find some semblance of control when it came to him. “No, I don’t. It’s ancient history.”
“Maybe, but ancient history can fester and rot.”
She opened her eyes, worked up her steeliest, most determined look. “Mine hasn’t.”
“Yeah. You and Thomas make a real cute couple.”
Jen angled her chin. If he thought that, well, she’d use it. She’d use it to protect her heart. “We’re very happy.”
But his mouth quirked. “You haven’t slept together.”
Outraged, she stood. “You don’t know that.”
“Oh, I know it.” He took a step toward her, but she would not back down.
She refused to be affected by the large man looming over her. He was not some romantic hero sweeping her off her feet. He was a thick-skulled caveman thinking he knew better than her and casting aspersions on her made-up relationship with a perfectly decent man.
However, she knew Ty well enough to know that arrogant grin meant he wanted a fight. She wouldn’t give him one.
“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree,” she said coolly. “Now, I’d appreciate my phone back. You can rest assured if my family agrees, I’ll stay put.”
“Because you’re so good at doing what your family says?”
She smiled, trying to match his arrogance, though she was afraid it only read brittle. “I only made one very regrettable mistake in that regard. I learned never to make it again.” She’d been hurt too deeply by the way he’d left her to ever, ever go back to a place where she’d give her whole heart so completely to someone.
She’d been stupid with youth and innocence, but she was older and wiser and she’d learned.
“Touché,” he returned wryly.
“Now, perhaps we can have an adult conversation.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, darling.”
She wouldn’t let him get to her. He wanted to irritate her. He enjoyed it. So, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Just what exactly is your plan? Surely you’re aware you’ll have to contact my family.”
“Surely.”
“As much sway as you have over Grady, it’s highly unlikely he’ll side with you over Laurel.”
“Highly unlikely indeed,” he returned, clearly mocking her.
Do not snap. Do not snap at this hardheaded moron. “So. What’s the plan?”
“The plan is I tell your family we decided to get out of Dodge for a while, so to speak.”
“They won’t believe that.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You came with me willingly, if you recall. What’s not to believe?”
“That I didn’t discuss it with them first.”
Ty grinned at that. “Yeah, they’ll have a real hard time believing we went off and did something without getting approval.”
She waved a hand. “It’s not like they know about us.”
Ty blinked at that, some piece of that sentence piercing his impenetrable shell enough to show surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean no one knows what happened between us back then. Well, Laurel and I discussed it briefly the other day, but mostly no Delaney knows that there was ever an us, or that I ever did something without approval. They’d be shocked.” She forced herself to laugh. “Can you imagine my father’s reaction if he knew I’d been seeing you?”
Ty was too still, and not that stillness that covered up an emotional reaction. No, this was something more like a stillness born of horror. It didn’t make any sense, and it made her heart pound too hard in her chest.
“Ty...”
He blinked and turned away. “I should call Grady. He’ll believe me. We’ll hide out here a few days, and if they still haven’t caught the guy, we’ll reevaluate.”
“Ty—”
“I think Hilly will be able to run the store for you well enough. If not, your father will come up with someone. Consider it a vacation. Relax. Enjoy yourself. Take a bath or whatever it is women do.”
“Ty,” she snapped, vibrating now with unknown emotions, like a premonition. There was too much happening here and his evasion wasn’t nearly as tidy as he’d clearly wanted it to be. Dread weighted her limbs, but she had to understand this. Even when her heart shied away from knowing. “Who knew?”
“Knew what? That I’d bring you he—”
“Tyler.” She didn’t snap this time. It was little more than a whisper, because she had this horrible, horrible weight in her gut she couldn’t unload. “Who knew about us before?”
“It’s a small town, Jen. I’m sure any number of—”
She stepped forward. While thoughts of violence whirled in her head, she merely placed her hand over his heart with a gentleness she didn’t understand. It was hardly the first time her mind and heart were at odds when it came to Ty. “Tell me the truth.”
He didn’t look at her. He kept his gaze on the wall and his jaw clamped tight. She thought he was refusing to answer her, but as her hand fell from his chest, his throat moved.
“Jen, you said it was ancient history.” But his voice was too soft, too gentle. Two things Ty almost never was—now or then.
But she had to know. She had to... There was too much she didn’t know or understand and she needed this whole thing to make sense. If it made sense maybe she could lock all these feelings back in the past where they belonged. “And you said ancient history could fester and rot.”
He looked down at her then, and it was like looking at the boy she’d loved. Strong and defiant in everything, but in the depth of those blue eyes she could see his storms and his hurts and his desperation to make things right.
It was what she’d always loved about him. Then. Now? Her brain knew a person didn’t still love someone after a ten-year absence, after the betrayal of leaving without a goodbye, and yet her heart...
“Your father knew.”
It was a blow. It didn’t matter and yet it felt like someone had plowed something into her stomach.
“He threatened you,” Jen
surmised, a light-headed queasiness replacing the pain. “That’s why you left.”
Ty laughed bitterly. “Sure, I was scared of the big bad Delaney. Get a grip, Jen. I left because I left.”
She knew better, and it occurred to her now the reason she hadn’t been able to get over Ty and her love for him was that she knew he hadn’t abandoned her without a reason. He had a reason—one he didn’t want her to know about.
It was ancient history, and she wanted to forget. But after he’d disappeared, she’d experienced grief as if he’d died, not just left.
Still, she didn’t think he was lying, exactly. Ty had never been intimidated by her father. He’d never been scared of his reaction like she had been. She’d wanted to please her father, and she’d wanted to love Ty. She’d known both couldn’t exist, so she’d kept them separate.
Or thought she had. Her father had known. Ty had left because her father had known and—Oh, God. “He threatened me,” she realized, aloud. “You left because he threatened me.”
“I would have joined the army no matter what.” So still. So blank, and yet in his blankness she knew he felt a million things. In his blankness he confirmed her realization. He’d left only because of something Dad had done to threaten her life.
Ty hadn’t left to save his own skin, or even simply because he’d wanted to. He’d left to protect her in some way. She wanted it to ease or heal something inside her, but it didn’t. “You could have said goodbye.”
“I have to call Grady. I have to—”
“What are you afraid of, Ty? That the truth from a decade ago will change something? I’m not so sure it will. The why of what you did doesn’t change what you did, but maybe the truth would give us both some peace.”
“Fine. You want truth and peace and moving on?” Temper sizzled, but he kept his hands jammed into his pockets. “Yeah, he threatened you. Said he’d sell the store if I didn’t get the hell out and away from you. So, I did. You got your store, and I got the army, and life went the hell on.” He jerked his shoulders in a violent shrug. “I figured he would have told you all that at some point.”