Page 21 of Texas-Sized Secrets

Hell, she’d have to fire him.

He didn’t belong in the middle of her mess. Never mind, that’s what she’d hired him for. Maybe if he were more mercenary, she’d feel better about letting him fight her battles.

Mona sent Jesse back to the ranch and followed the sheriff’s car to the county courthouse that also served as the local jail. Her blood pressure boiled over and the baby was kicking up a storm in protest.

After a couple hours of waiting for Reed to be fingerprinted and for the county judge to set bail, Mona posted the amount with the last bit of money left in her checking account.

A few minutes later, the deputy led Reed out of the cell and removed the cuffs.

As Reed passed Parker Lee, the sheriff said in a low, menacing tone, “Stay out of my town, Bryson.”

Shocked by his threat, Mona got in his face, wondering what the heck she’d seen in him and regretting ever having dated the man. “It’s a free country, Sheriff. You don’t own this town.”

Instead of responding, he touched a hand to her arm, letting it slide down, skimming her breast. “Do you still scream when you make love?”

Mona raised her hand to slap his face, but Reed captured it in his, halting it before it made contact with the smirk on the sheriff’s face.

“Don’t ever touch my fiancée again. Do you understand me?”

The sheriff pulled himself up to his full height of just under six feet, three inches shorter than Reed. “Is that a threat?”

“Consider it sound medical advice.” Reed raised Mona’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. “Come on, sweetheart, it smells rotten in here.”

Her heart skipped several beats when his mouth skimmed the overly sensitized inside of her palm. She didn’t resist when Reed pulled her against him. Together they walked out of the building.

Past midnight and exhausted beyond coherence, Mona didn’t argue when Reed took the keys from her hand. He opened the passenger side of the truck, helping her up and into the seat.

Mona left herself in Reed’s hands, laying her head back against the headrest.Let him take charge.All she wanted was to get home, into her pajamas and into her own bed.

“I’ll pay back the bail money tomorrow, when I can get to the bank,” Reed said once he pulled onto the highway.

“Good, I used my mortgage payment to get you out.” Her voice cracked for a moment and then she laughed softly. She couldn’t be in worse financial trouble if she’d tried. The bail money was nothing compared to the fifty thousand she had only thirty days to come up with.

“How bad is it?”

“How bad is what? The rustling situation?” Her head tipped to the side so that she could stare across at him. He really was a handsome man, in a rugged, outdoorsy way. “I hired you, didn’t I?” She looked back to the truck ceiling. “Speaking of which, you’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me when I’m driving you home.”

“You have a point. Then when we get to the house, you’re fired.”

“Why?”

“You don’t belong.”

In the light from the dash, she could see him wince and she felt a stab of guilt in her gut. “You don’t belong in this crazy, mixed-up mess of politics and thieves. I can handle it on my own.” She squeezed her eyes shut at the lie. If she were honest with herself, she’d own up that she was in way over her head and going under for the last count.

“I know how bad the rustling is, how bad off is the ranch?”

“It’s none of your concern.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “You won’t work there after you deliver me to the house.”

“Do you stand the chance of losing it?”

Didn’t he get it? He was fired. Finished, kaput.

And she’d be finished on the ranch without his help. Mona didn’t answer him for a long time, memories of her father riding his favorite buckskin across the range to tend the livestock running through her mind. The few images of her mother were indelibly etched in that ranch house. Would she lose those too if she had to sell?

She closed her eyes to the tears filling them. Who was she kidding? She sighed. “I’d give my right arm to save my home. But I’m not willing to risk others’ lives for something I want.”

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