Page 3 of A Rogue Cowboy's Kiss

What was left for him? Who the hell was he now?

He looked down at the photo in his hand, at the woman he’d known since he was twenty and she was sixteen.Bella.

He closed his eyes, letting the rain wash down his cheeks, breathing in the cold, cold water as it seemed to cleanse a lifetime of filth from his skin.

Bella.

Did he dare?

He looked down at his knees, buried in the mud. At his pants, wet, torn, dirty. He touched his face, the rough beard he never seemed to care enough about to keep trimmed.

He’d been on the run for so long, he felt like a wild animal.

Hewasa wild animal, in truth.

But there was one place on this earth where he didn’t have to be civilized, pretend he was okay, or talk to people who didn’t understand the darkness that still clung to him, and always would.

That place was the Hart Ranch in Oregon, home of the nine Hart siblings, the place the Harts had been offering him for so long.

Finally, he could go there.

To the men who were his family, even though he had never let them in.

To Bella, who right now, would be in her kitchen on the dude ranch part of the Hart ranch, working her magic, whipping up fantastic grub for her guests. He thought of her sassy smile, her favorite pink cowboy hat, and her pink camo pants that she loved to wear when she was four-wheeling around the ranch.

He’d never made a move on her.

Not once.

Not ever.

Not even when she was sixteen and she’d begged him for a kiss.

Because he’d known there was a monster following him, and he’d never risk any of the Harts, especially not Bella.

But now…he took a breath. The monster was dead.

Falcon was damaged goods. Dirty. Scarred.

He knew that.

But he also knew the Harts didn’t care about that, because they all carried their own stories.

Was he too scarred for Bella?

Probably.

He paused to ask his guides.Should I walk away from Bella?

He waited, but there was only silence. Was it because the answer was to walk away, and he didn’t want to hear it? Or because his guides already knew he’d made up his mind?

Maybe he wasn’t enough for her.

Maybe he was.

But it was time to find out.

After all these years, it was time to find out.

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