Page 37 of The Last Promise You Made

I was happy. Satisfied with the life I was living.

But in less than twenty-four hours, a hole had been torn through the fabric of my contentment. Now, I could see all the things that were missing instead of all the things that satisfied me.

A quiet knock brought my head up to where Gia stood framed in the doorway. The wall of glass behind her cast a glow around her, making her dark hair shimmer with silver and calling attention to her curves. Surrounded by the halo of light, all she needed was a sword in her hand to pass for an avenging angel.

My body instantly reacted to the vision, longing seeping through my veins. I ached to feel every curve and hard plane of her pressed up against me. I wanted to be surrounded by the feel and scent and warmth of her. Even now, months after I’d kissed her, I swore her sweet fragrance was still wrapped around me like a spell. The scent of her reminded me of my best fall memories—apple picking and hay rides, pine trees and the first rains of the season.

Change.

My first instinct when I’d found her sneaking around in the ranch office was to yank her away and call Maddox to arrest her. But as soon as her slim, muscled frame had collided with mine, I’d ignited. The haughty toss of her chin, the way her shoulders drew back, and the tease she’d sent my way had me slamming her up against the wall and punishing her with my mouth instead of a jail cell.

As if she was remembering that moment too, Gia’s gaze fell to my lips.

It shouldn’t give me as much pleasure as it did, knowing she was thinking about it as well. Thinking about how her hands had slid under my Henley, burning my skin, or how her hips had ground into mine, as if she was greedy for release. Her full, rosy lips had parted, tongue licking into my mouth. We’d tangled and fought for control, each of us demanding the other give and neither acquiescing. I’d been two seconds from tearing open the buttons on her shirt to feast on the taut tips beneath when voices from outside had pulled us both to our senses, dragging us apart with chests heaving.

Desire and regret had hovered in the air around us like a third person.

It clung to the air now as well. My eyes drifted slowly down her body. Was she braless today as she had been then, or had that been simply a way to distract me if she’d been caught? I swallowed hard, jerking my gaze away from her and to the stack of mail sitting on the desk.

It was filled with mostly bills and an invitation to the Kentucky Art Institute’s charity gala being sponsored by the president of the Eastern Dude Ranchers’ Association. I’d gone to one of Jaime’s charity balls before and hated it. It wasn’t just the tuxedos and fake smiles I despised. It was the unrealistic views of the politicians and millionaires who showed up to supposedly support whatever the latest, hippest cause was, only to leave the event behind and undermine it the very next day with their personal lifestyles and political decisions.

“What do you want?” I asked when Gia took two long-legged strides into the room.

“Is there anyone working for you who might be involved with the Lovatos?”

“No.”

“You need to seriously think about this, not just give me a knee-jerk response.”

“No one here is working for the Lovatos,” I growled.

“You didn’t expect Mila’s mom or Ravyn to be working with them either.”

My chest burned with humiliation, but I bit my cheek and said nothing.

She rode over my silence. “In an effort to be transparent, I’m just letting you know I’ll be delving further into the background of all your employees and everyone connected to your family.”

That did get a reaction. I rose from my desk and stalked over to her. She didn’t back off as I stepped into her space, leaving barely room to breathe between us.

“The only people who have brought the Lovatos to our doors have been women who lied and stole from us. That’s more likely to be you than anyone I know.”

She didn’t jerk away, but I saw the flinch in her eyes.

“We’ll be going through your financials too,” she continued, as if I hadn’t said anything. “So, if there are secrets, you might as well come clean with them now.”

I hated that my family’s integrity was being called into question and that I was one of the reasons for it. But I wasn’t going to let her stand there and accuse us of being dirty. Not after how hard my family and I had labored to get the ranch turned around.

“I hate repeating myself. The only one here with secrets is you.”

She stared at me, not backing down an inch, and I didn’t know why that turned me on as much as it pissed me off.

“We’ll see.”

I was two seconds from punishing her for her attitude and her snark with my mouth again when a, “Hello,” rang out through the house.

Gia’s hand went to her back, lifting her shirt so I saw the butt of a gun for the first time. She was about to pull it when I caught her arm.

“It’s my mama. Jesus. Put that thing away.”

---