Page 82 of Dairy and Deadly

“Of course, I came!” He cuddled her close, holding her like he was never going to let her go. “I knew something was wrong when you stopped responding to my messages.”

“He took our phones.” She gave him the highlights of what had happened. “But I’m fine. Caro’s fine. The baby’s fine.”

His arms around her tightened. “Ash! Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

She nodded, leaking more happy tears. “Caro figured it out before I did.” She described the blanks Caro had loaded in the pistols she’d allowed Martin to confiscate. “I suspect she was also behind the black market sale that turned Martin’s associates against him.” Upon reflection, there was no point during their captivity that Caro hadn’t been maneuvering events to their ultimate conclusion.

“Brilliant.” Johnny gave a low whistle. Then he pivoted with her so she could watch the police remove the masks of the three gunmen under arrest.

“You’re a very popular guy,” Sheriff Hawling drawled to their ringleader. “It’s not every day in our small town we get to round up folks on the FBI’s most wanted list.”

The other two gunmen ended up not being men at all. Darla and Blaire were soon herded into the back of separate police cruisers, their faces flushed with anger. Before the door slammed shut behind Darla, she shouted something about Ashley’s father being an idiot for assuming she’d ever been in love with a lowly electrician.

“Poor Dad,” Ashley sighed as the police drove away.

“On the upside,” Johnny pressed a trail of kisses down the side of her face, “their marriage probably wasn’t real, so he’s a free man.”

There’s that.“I’m still not looking forward to breaking the news to him.” She couldn’t stand the thought of him being heartbroken all over again.

“I’ll drive you to Dallas,” Johnny offered. “We’ve got a heaping spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.” He rested a hand protectively on her still-flat belly.

He was right. She covered his hand with both of hers, hanging on to that thought. Her father was going to go bananas when he found out he was about to become a grandfather.

“I’m not goingto the hospital.” Caro was sitting on the floor of the barn with her face bent toward her legs. It had been years since she’d last been this close to passing out. “All I need is water. I’m a little dehydrated.”

Clint stormed off and returned to press a bottle of cold water into her hand.

She gratefully curled her fingers around it without looking up. “Thanks. You can go now.” Everyone had their breaking point, even her, and Clint happened to be her breaking point. The sooner she put some distance between them, the better.

“I can, but I won’t.” He dropped his lanky frame on the floor behind her, stretching his legs out on either side of her.

The dust and hay clinging to his jeans brought tears to her eyes. He was so sweet and genuine. Everything he said or did could be taken at face value. His callused hands settled on her shoulders with infinite gentleness, pulling her upright and cradling her against his chest.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she gasped, fighting emotions she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Emotions she didn’t think she’d ever feel again. Emotions she wasn’t even sure she was capable of feeling again.

“You don’t have to do it alone,” he assured huskily. “I’ve got you, darling.” He lifted the bottle of water higher and tipped it against her lips, forcing her to take a sip.

“This isn’t fair to you.” The cold water felt like Heaven against her parched tongue. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

His chuckle made her heart do a thousand backflips in a row. “I’m starting to get an idea.” He kept tipping the bottle against her lips, having her take slow, measured sips until the lightheadedness eased.

Only when she pushed the bottle away did he palm her cheek and angle her face so he could hover his mouth over hers. “Last chance for any final objections against being loved by Clint Rhodes.”

You love me?She gave up the fight and allowed his mouth to cover hers. The way he made her feel every time they were together was complete insanity — so weak yet so strong. He was both her final straw and her Rock of Gibraltar. Her greatest temptation and even greater ally. The man who’d wormed his way into her heart and somehow become her dearest friend.

“I care for you, too, Clint. So much that it scares me.” She couldn’t get enough of his kisses — dust, hay, and all. “That’s why I need you to think really hard about what I say next. I have a past.” An ugly one that had left some very deep scars on her soul.

“Don’t we all?” He dragged his fingers through her hair, shaking the pins loose and making it tumble around her shoulders.

“Because of my undercover work, it’s a past that includes stuff that could eventually catch up with me. Stuff that could send me on the run,” she warned. She’d already told him about her disastrous first marriage to an older man, but there were still things about her career he didn’t know — things he could never know for security reasons. Things that were buried under too many gag orders to count.

“If that happens, we’ll run together.” He didn’t sound too worried about it. “Until then, I’ve got an idea for your new cover story.”

“If it involves milking cows, forget it.” Her voice was flat.

He chuckled against her temple. “It involves marrying a dairy farmer. I’ll milk the cows for us.”

“Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?” She was so shaken that a tear slid down her cheek. “There’s still so much you don’t know about me. This isn’t even my real hair color.”

---