Page 79 of Hold Me Before You Go

A breathless, rough chuckle of disbelief left him then, his broad chest deflating for a second. “Well, fucking ditto, Carrie,” he said, grinning at me.

I beamed up at him, my shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Nothing like a little trauma bonding to bring people together,” Ash continued, looking at Grayson. “Keep her, or I’ll chop your balls off.”

I slapped my hand over my mouth, another laugh trying to bubble up.

As Ash walked away, Grayson muttered, “Fucker.”

I twisted my neck to look back at him. “He’s funny,” I said.

Grayson’s lips twitched as he stared down at me. “Missed that laugh,” he murmured, his eyes shining with love. Something caught his eyes, and he jerked his chin straight ahead. I turned back to find a handsome blond man with a sharp jaw, straight nose, and piercing green eyes standing in front of me.

“You must be Hayes,” I said.

He nodded once, holding out his hand to me. “Hayes Mitchell,” he introduced himself.

I took his hand, and he shook it—firmly. “Carrie,” I replied. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Grayson’s told me so many wonderful things about you—about the whole team, actually.”

Hayes dropped my hand and gave me a tight smile. “Right.” He looked at Grayson. “When are we leaving?”

“Carrie has to speak to Sheriff Bowen, and then we’ll be off,” Grayson said to his second in command.

“No! No, you will not just ‘be off’, Grayson.”

I looked through the living room, searching for the source of the feminine voice. My eyes landed on a tall, curvy, dark-haired woman with emerald green eyes standing beside Harmony. That was when I noticed all the people crammed into Mags’ space. Mason was standing behind Harmony, his brother, Denver, standing next to him, behind the dark-haired woman. Three other cowboys stood along the far wall, two of them looking very similar. Twins. My eyes drifted to the third one. He was blond, like Mason, and his eyes were on me, studying me. I swallowed and searched for the only cowboy I was comfortable with.

Mags was in the corner, leaning against the mantel with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked over to me and Grayson. “Didn’t know the whole fuckin’ ranch wanted to come,” he muttered. His eyes landed on mine, and he tipped his hat to me.

“Valerie, we can’t stay,” Grayson rumbled from beside me.

My head snapped back to her.

This was Valerie—Denver’s wife.

Valerie shook her head. “No, I’ve been wanting to meet Carrie for months. You aren’t going to whisk her away.”

My heart warmed.

“The least you could do is let us have some girl time,” Harmony added.

Grayson sighed. “I don’t think—”

I looked back at him. “I want girl time,” I blurted.

My bounty hunter opened his mouth to say something but another throat cleared and all eyes went to the front door to find the sheriff. He ignored everyone else, looking right at me. “Weneed to talk.” His eyes snapped up to Grayson. “Both of you, come with me.”

“I need you to confirm the victim’s identity before they take her to the morgue,” Chase said, getting right to it once Grayson and I were on the porch.

I wrapped Grayson’s coat around me tighter and wiggled my toes inside of Mags’ new boots. “Why can’t we go to the morgue to do that?” I asked.

Chase raised a brow, slowly shifting his gaze to Grayson. “I doubt your…boyfriend is going to let you leave Hallow Ranch to go into town, Mrs. Hale.”

“Please don’t call me that,” I said at the same Grayson ordered, “Don’t fucking call her that.”

Chase moved on, holding out a folder to me. “The first picture should be enough, but if not, there’s more. I have to warn you, though, they are pretty graphic.”

Taking the folder from him, I said, “I’ve seen worse.”

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