Page 45 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

After dropping her hand, I stood. She did too.

“Juni, I have to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to spend time with you while I’m here. Is that something you’d like too?”

When she didn’t respond right away, I knew her answer. I leaned down and brushed her lips with mine, needing one last kiss from her.

“I’ll take you home now,” I said, standing up straight and squaring my shoulders against the disappointment I knew was inevitable.

“I’ve never been to Colorado.”

My eyes widened. “No?”

She shook her head.

“Do you think you’d like to?” I asked, daring to hope.

“Definitely.” She stepped away and grabbed her coat from where I’d set it. “We better go, Cord. If wedon’t, I might end up in your bed, seduction or not.” She winked and I smiled.

Earlier tonight,before I approached Juniper, asking if we could talk, I’d checked with Decker about the installation schedule.

“It’s looking like we won’t work on your section until tomorrow morning,” he said. “However, you know from experience how early we start.”

“I’m up before dawn every day, anyway. In fact, I’ll have some ranch work to do before I meet up with you,” I’d told him.

After dropping Juniper off at home and returning to the Lilacs, I went looking for his crew, anyway.

“Can I help?” I asked when I found him and a few of the guys near the barn.

“Good timing,” said Deck. “I could use one more set of hands.”

We knocked off after midnight,but like I’d heard him promise Sam and Beau, both the house and the barn were secure. Tomorrow, we’d tackle the perimeter as well as what Deck referred to as hot spots throughout the estate. If someone did manageto get on the property—as unlikely as that was—there would be multiple areas where the system he designed would track movement, particularly from anyone who wasn’t identifiable. Even though I’d helped install the one on our ranch, I still had no idea how it all worked, but since we’d caught more than one cattle rustler in the first couple of months after, I was certain it did.

“Get some sleep, and we’ll see you in a couple of hours,” said Deck, nudging me as we crossed paths on my way back to the cottage.

Rather than get in bed,I stretched out on the sofa where Juniper had been a few short hours ago. I closed my eyes, remembering how our mouths had felt pressed together, her whimpers, and the heat of her skin when I eased my hand under her sweater. Mostly, her parting words had stuck with me.

We better go, Cord. If we don’t, I might end up in your bed, seduction or not.

I couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone the way I did Juniper. Iyearnedto feel her naked body next to mine. Not just that, but I wanted to know her better. Her words, her smiles, her teasing, her touch—all of it. But then what?

A visit to Colorado was far different than picking up and relocating. Yeah, I was getting way ahead of myself, but I had to. If I didn’t, at the end of my year here, I might leave heartbroken.

We madegood progress on the perimeter the following day. It was much easier than the installation on the ranch since there was a low stone wall all the way around the property where we extended coverage both inside and out. I was just finishing one section when I received a text from Decker, asking me to come up to the main residence.

“We celebrating something?” I asked when he opened the door and waved me inside and I saw Beau and Sam in an embrace, kissing passionately. I raised a brow. “Did you figure out how Sam’s connected to Miss Cena?”

“Nah, I think they’re gettin’ married,” Deck responded.

“Yes, we’re getting married, but we also believe we found a link between Cena and my beloved fiancée,” said Beau, letting go of Sam. He picked up a picture and handed it to me. “We found this photo taped insidea cupboard. Pilar is Sam’s grandmother, and in this photograph, the woman with Manley Junior is identified as having the same unusual name. Also, the date is significant, given Sam’s mother was born a year after this was taken.”

My eyes opened wide.

“That alone doesn’t prove anything in terms of Sam being related to Cena. It’ll take DNA to make that determination. That’s where you come in. Have you ever had yours tested?” Decker asked.

“I haven’t, sir.”

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