Page 68 of Shielded Hearts

She couldn’t lose Colt…but she didn’t know how to keep him either.

He didn’t respond right away, but his stare roamed over her face, snagging on her eyes for a beat too long. On her lips for longer.

“We can figure this out, Aspen.”

“I still need to do business. My client can’t come to that cabin in Wyoming now.”

“I know. Tahoe’s on the table for your client, though.”

“At least you don’t have to shop for a replacement gift basket.”

She loved his attempt to lighten the mood but nothing seemed good about this situation. “I appreciate that. I only have my good name left.”

He gave a rough shake of his head. “That’s not true. You have—”

He broke off, but she feared what he almost said as much as she feared not hearing it.

Lifting his hand, he tugged at the brim of his tan Stetson. Everything about the hat suited him, including the way he used it to hide from people. Like now.

“I can’t protect you if you leave. I’m not going to let you leave.”

Their gazes locked. The ache in her chest swelled like a rising tide. Tears prickled at the back of her eyes.

“What are you saying?”

He touched her. The rough calluses of his fingers sliding along her cheek shifted a loose curl at her temple and brought a shiver to her, but not from the cold Wyoming wind.

Taking a step closer, he searched her eyes as though he needed to find something—anything—to grasp on to. “If you’re mine, princess…I’ll make damn sure nobody ever hurts you again.”

She sucked in an inaudible gasp.

“We have to get the nephew. We need to make sure he can never touch you again.”

Colt was giving her a future—with him. If she wanted to grab it, and she did, she needed to figure out a way to make sure Gideon was captured quickly.

“Stay here with me—with my family. My brothers and I will come up with a plan to stop Gideon from coming after you. Then…”

She studied his face. “Then?” Her voice was a soft lilt of hope.

He slid his hand from her cheek around to her nape, curling his fingertips into her sensitive flesh. “Then we’ll let what’s between us take its course.”

Tipping her face up to his, she waited for the tender brush of Colt’s lips over hers. She wasn’t disappointed.

Sliding her arms around his neck, she clung to him, arching her body into his tight hold and knowing that for once, this wasn’t a goodbye.

It was the beginning.

Chapter Fifteen

Beside Colt, Aspen’s breath came slow and even. The bed in the guest room was large, but she curled close to him, her bare curves soaking up the heat from his body.

A glance at the closed blinds told him that dawn was near. He should know—he’d spent years of his life watching light fill the sky increment by increment and knew the look by heart.

The window was cracked, admitting the scent of pine and fresh mountain air. In the tangled warmth of the sheets with his lover, everything felt right.

Except she was still a hunted woman.

He eased his weight from the bed. As he slipped away from Aspen, the mattress dipped.

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