Page 12 of Summer with a Ranger

“Sir,” Skye said in a hard voice.

I had nothing left. Everything we’d done...My stomach curled, and I breathed in hard. “Thank you for the experience, Archer. I’ll leave you to it.” I nodded respectfully, though Skye wouldn’t even look at me, and made it as far as the door before Archer stopped me.

“Ranger.” His voice sliced through the air, and even though I wasn’t sure he was talking to me, I turned back. “Get your ass back here, Hudson. I’m not done.”

“Sir.” I reclaimed my spot on the worn carpet beneath my feet, my movements as jerky as Skye’s, who hadn’t moved since she entered the room.

“Report.” Archer watched me unblinkingly but spoke to Skye.

“The job was well executed. He might be a little unorthodox, but his methods worked well enough.”

I tried not to grind my teeth and failed.

“Anything else?” Archer asked, leaning back in his chair.

“He broke cover on the way back.” She didn’t so much as look at me.

I swore my heart shattered right there and then.

“You weren’t meant to travel together.” Archer raised his eyebrows. “You changed the rules.”

A tiny petal of hope painted in pinks and golds unfurled in my chest.

“Yes, sir.” Skye stood rigid, her hands clasped behind her back, the knuckles white, the only outward expression of her tension. And like her face when I burst into her room in Tijuana, she was blank. Almost unreadable.

Except maybe to Archer. That man could be faced with a brick wall and deduce something from it. I’d put a full month’s pay on that bet.

“Recommendation?”

She paused for a full minute while my heart stalled with her. “He would be a solid asset if his morals don’t trip him up.”

Archer faced me in full, leaning forward. “Skye Hamilton was part of an older unit recently disbanded. She isn’t used to how we run things here,” –the corner of his mouth twitched, I swore– “but she’s getting used to it. She also needs a partner.” He collected both badges in his palm and held them out. “Job’s yours, Hudson.”

I swallowed. “I broke your rules.” I seemed to be stuck on that.

“She changed them.”

“We’re good?”

“We are.” Archer nodded, turning his attention to Skye. “Will working with Hudson be a problem?”

She breathed out hard through tight lips, her cheeks two spots of colour. “Not at all, sir.”

“Good. He’s your partner. There’s a file on your desks. Dismissed.” Archer opened his ledger and dropped his head.

And just like that I was a fully-fledged Texas Ranger.

I reached back, opening the door to his office. “After you,” I murmured, the motion automatic.

The glare in her eyes wasn’t.

Still frantic and untrusting.

Looked like I had a hell of a time before me to rebuild that with her. Because there was no chance I was letting her go.

“I knew those articles couldn’t be real,” I murmured as she passed me.

“They are fucking real, Hudson,” she gritted out. “I’ve been writing them for years.” Skye powered through the door, leaving me huffing a laugh in her wake.

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