Page 65 of Montana Heat

“Loving?” Zoe finished for me. “Were you going to sayloving?”

I rubbed my face at that slip of the tongue. It was so hard not to hope that Jensen’s feelings for me ran deeper than just scratching an itch. The way he treasured me and saw to my every need…that felt likemore.

“He’s really getting to you, huh?” Zoe asked.

I nodded, again aware they couldn’t see, but it felt like something different to say it out loud. Like, once the words were out there, they couldn’t be taken back.

“I think he is,” I finally said. “But I just can’t see how it would work. I didn’t come here with any plans to start a relationship. That wasn’t part of the lie low and hideplan.”

“Why can’t you have both?” Zoe asked. “After all that hell with Alan and then the stalker, you deserve to be treated as special.”

“Yeah,” Leah added. “This guy isn’t going to have a crazy ex or anything in his past, right? No competition? No jilted lover he’s leaving to pursue you?”

“No. Nothing like that. He’s a loner, not much into relationships in general, I don’t think.”

“But no red flags?” Zoe checked.

“No. Nothing to show he’s anything but genuine.”

“Would he move back to Denver for you?”

I couldn’t imagine Jensen in Denver. Not when everything he knew and loved was in Montana. “I doubt it. His life is here. His business, his friends. This place is part of him. And I have to admit, I can see the appeal.”

“Youseeing the appeal of a small town?” I could hear the shock in Leah’s voice.

“Garnet Bend is different.” It wasn’t the town itself, but the people—all 2,518 of them—who made up the town, that made it so special. “It’s gorgeous, but the way everyone is helping me has been nothing short of amazing.”

“And Jensen is too.”

“He is.” It was true. I rubbed my hand over my face again, so tired still. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’m looking too far into it all.”

“No!” Leah shouted so loudly I had to pull the phone from my ear. “Don’t go being all negative and doubtful.”

“He and I are just so…different. He’s quiet, a loner, small-town. I’m more of a people person, like to be on the go, like the city.”

“But being different isn’t so bad,” Leah said.

Actually, Jensen and I kind of reminded me of my parents. They were polar opposites, but the love between them was fierce and strong and true.

Being similar had nothing to do with it.

Would it be possible that Jensen and I could find that same sort of happiness and connection?

I knew he made me happy, made me feel safe, made me feel cherished. Could the rest be figured out?

I hung up with the girls, and as I drifted off to sleep, it wasn’t that snake on my mind, but the man who had carried me out of that bathroom in his arms.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kenzie

I woke up gasping for air, the sound of the snake’s rattle blending with Alan’s voice inside my head. I sat straight up, hands stretched out in front of me…

To what? Ward off a blow? Stop the snake from striking? I had no idea. I just knew that fear sealed my throat and I couldn’t get in enough oxygen.

“Hey, City, you’re okay. Little breaths, all right? In through your nose, out through your mouth.”

Jensen. Jensen was here with me. I was safe. I launched myself into his arms.

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