Page 9 of Outlaw

He slowly turned his head until his eyes were once again on me. “Which part?”

I waved a hand over where Devin had been sitting. “All of it.”

He lowered the glass and placed it on the bar. “Did you want him bothering you?”

“No, but I had it under control. I was about to deal the river, and he’d have jumped up and run with very little explanation. They always do. A gun was not required.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. “The river,” he said.

I nodded.

“Hate that I missed the flop and the turn,” he replied, almost smiling. “You use Texas Hold’em deals to label the lines you givemen to get rid of them?”

I’d never told anyone that before. “Yes.”

“Why?” he asked.

Because once, this man, who I’d thought was meant only for me, taught me to play Texas Hold’em on a haystack underneath the late summer sun, and now, I was pretty much unbeatable at the game. I didn’t tell him that though. I wasn’t sure if he realized who I was. Unlike him, I looked nothing like the little girl I had once been. I was a woman, and I doubted he could see past the me of today to the girl he had known in her youth.

“I like the game. Makes sense in all parts of life really.”

He took another drink. “So, that’s what you’ve been doing tonight. All those men who walked over here and sat down, then took off shortly after. I’m curious”—he twirled the liquid in his glass around as he studied me—“what was it you told them? Because I can’t think of one fucking thing you could tell me that would make me get up and walk away.” He reached over and cupped my chin in his large, callous hand. His eyes scanned my face through his dark lashes. “Up close, you’re even more incredible than you were from a distance.”

All my little-girl dreams collided with the desires and dreams of the woman I’d become. Seemed that nothing had changed. Linc Shephard still made me feel like nothing or no one else ever had. Fate had brought him back to me. This was my chance to finally live my very own fairy tale.

Four

Branwen

Present Day

Waiting on my phone to ring had my anxiety so ramped up that the knock on the door to our motel room caused me to jump up. Who was that? Housekeeping again? I’d sent them away two hours ago.

“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Stevie asked, her angelic face turned up to look at me from where she sat cross-legged in the middle of the double bed we had slept on last night while watching cartoons on the television.

She had thought staying the night in a motel was an adventure. Yesterday, we had gotten the supplies to make sandwiches and eaten them down at a park I’d found. Stevie took a slice of bread and tore off small pieces to feed the ducks, giggling with delight as they waddled over to eat them. It had helped keep my mind off things and get through the rest of the day.

This morning we had only gone out once to get her some breakfast. One scrambled egg, a slice of buttered toast, and two strawberries—it was her favorite thing to eat in the mornings. Finding that hadn’t been too hard. The first diner we went into had all three items available. That made her happy. I’d only drunk coffee. My stomach was in knots, and eating was not appealing.

“Nothing. I was just startled,” I told her, patting her leg as I walked over to the door.

I unlocked it and didn’t even glance in the peephole, although I should have. I would have been prepared for the sight of Linc when I swung open the door. He was just as ridiculously sexy, powerful, and rugged as he had been yesterday.

“I thought you would just call,” I blurted out, not sure if his coming here was bad or not.

I was veering toward it being negative. There were no signed papers in his hands. That was definitely not good.

“There are a few things we need to discuss,” he replied. Then, his eyes flicked over me and into the room, where Stevie sat, probably watching us. “Might be best if she doesn’t hear this.”

Oh God, oh God, oh God. Did he know?

I mean, other than guessing, how could he know? He’d left me a morning-after pill. He wouldn’t ask if she was his. He didn’t want a kid. That had been very clearly stated in his short note. I was overreacting. That was all.

Maybe the divorce was going to cost money, and he wanted to tell me how much I had to pay. That could easily be it. Although I didn’t know where I was going to get the money without Hudson finding out about this. It would be tricky. I didn’t have any jewelry left to sell. I’d sold all of what Bastian had given me after finding out I was pregnant with Stevie and losing my job because of it. Not that they’d told me that was why I was let go.

They said that my position was no longer something they had ause for and gave me three months’ pay, then sent me on my way. That was a lie. I’d worked my ass off for that company, taking up slack in many other areas. They had needed me, but Bastian had hated that I was pregnant.

I turned back and looked at Stevie, who was watching us. She waved at Linc and smiled. Guilt crawled up my back, and I fought against it. I couldn’t feel guilty for protecting her. Giving her the life she deserved. Keeping her from one that would likely break both our hearts.

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