Page 48 of Wanted by the Lawman

“I’m telling you, I don’t have it. I used some of it and I handed over the rest.” There was an obvious tremor to her voice.

“To the lawman?”

She didn’t want to answer any of his questions.

He shook his head and his lips thinned. He clenched his hands into fists. “Why would you do that?” he spat.

“I want no part of this, Rory. You dragged me into this unfairly.”

“Honey, you were the one who took the duffel bag. No one forced you. Now you’ve written our death sentence.” He dropped down on the end of the bed.

“What are you talking about?” She’d never seen him so pale and his face so twisted.

“Think about it. You’re smarter than that question. One hundred grand might as well be a million. If I don’t get the goods into the right hands by the end of the week, I’ll be dead meat. And don’t think for a minute they’ll stop with me. They know you took off with the merchandise.”

She blinked, wrapping her head around what he was saying while trying to keep her heart from bouncing out of her chest. Wynn reached down and dragged the mentioned bag out from under the bed. She unzipped it and tossed out the hand weights she’d left inside. Searching the interior closely, she finally realized there was a secret compartment and tore the material, and there the goods were…. Her heart sank. How had she been so stupid? All this time she had the counterfeit money here, under her bed. “Every last dollar is here. I didn’t touch it and I had no clue.”

He stood, “Well, look at that.” He brought out a stack of bills and fanned it against his palm. “We’re in business.”

“No, we’re nothing, Rory. You have what you came for, now you can leave and never come back.”

Seconds ticked by. He dropped the money back in with the rest, zipped it then slowly turned to face her. “This isn’t all that I came for. I want you, baby. I promise I’ll get out of this cut-throat way of life. We’ll run off somewhere where no one knows us. We can start again.” He took the three steps to get to her, his eyes pleading. “I love you. I know you love me.”

But she didn’t. She doubted she ever loved him enough, and for that she was sorry. “I can’t. I want to stay here. This is my life now.”

He blinked and his jaw tightened. Those weren’t the words he wanted to hear. “Why? Because you want to stay here with the lawman?”

“Yes, I do. Even if he wasn’t here, I’d still want to do this, Rory. I’m getting back on my feet and I’m happier.”

Several expressions flitted over his features before his shoulders went limp. “This won’t work.”

“What won’t work?” Her heart hammered her ribcage.

“You don’t have a choice. In good time you’ll see that you belong with me,” he said the words with such blank emotion.

“I do have a choice. I made that when I left.” He wasn’t the man she remembered. He seemed defeated, lost.

“Okay, you want choices.” He narrowed his gaze. “Here are your two options. You can go with me and I’ll prove I’m a better man. Or, you can stay and…well…you know what you used to say… you’d rather be alone than deal with any man’s bullshit.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and she tried hard to stop shaking. “What are you saying?”

“That’s an interesting question.” His lips were quirked upward in a smirk as if he knew what buttons to push. He slipped the jacket from his shoulders and tossed it over the end of the bed. The white button-down shirt was wet as if he’d got caught in a rain storm. He rolled up each of his sleeves, showing off the elaborate tattoo on his forearm. He seemed to be enjoying taking his time. “The thing is, Wynn, you and I…we belong together.”

“I think you’ve been sniffing too much bullshit,” she answered with a hint of snark. She didn’t like that he felt he could show up here as he liked. She especially didn’t like the way he looked at her in a deceitful way.

He sat back down on the end of the bed and patted the spot beside him. “Come on. Come sit.” She just stared. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Let’s have a discussion and no one gets hurt. Understand?” He reached out, grabbed her hand and dragged her into a sitting position beside him.

Not knowing what he wanted, she was getting a good idea of what he might hold over her head. “Let’s make this quick.”

“You said you gave the lawman the goods.” He slid his cool knuckles down her cheek and all she could do was compare his cool touch to Zander’s warm one.

There was no reason for her to lie. She’d do anything to get him away from her. “I took the cash from your desk. I-I didn’t know…”

He turned slightly, took her other hand and clasped both in his tight grasp. “That’s gone. There’s no way to get it back. That shit was poor quality, not like these beauties.” He brought the money to his nose and inhaled, smiling. And then just as quickly it was gone. “You can’t possibly think you and the lawman have something, do you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Really? Does he know that you like it rough?”

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