Page 56 of Stay for Me

He stiffened, his eyes growing darker than I’d ever seen them.

“Every time my life tries to fall apart, you’re somehow always there to make sure it doesn’t,” I croaked. “I see the way you look at me, Mags. I’m not a fool.” My words settled, and I looked away from him with a huffed laugh. “God, maybe I am a fool.” I reached up and brushed the tear off my face. “Nothing but a fool who thought I could have a man like you.”

“Go inside, Diana.”

My spine snapped straight, my mind desperately trying to remind me of the woman I was. My heart, damn her, wanted to fight—to do anything to get the truth of out of him, to wash away his denial. “Answer me this, Mags,” I ordered, my voice wavering. “Do you want me?”

He gave me nothing, and suddenly, I was reminded of how foolish it all was.

Love.

Maybe it was never in the cards for me. Maybe all my life was meant to be was what I currently was: a successful lawyer and business woman. While building the life I had for the last decade, I’d also spent the better half of it silently loving the man before me, the broken cowboy. I didn’t want to fall in love with him, and logically, it didn’t make sense. We barely spoke to one another, barely saw each other, and I knew nothing about him.

Yet, whenever I saw him, my breath caught. Whenever he spoke to me, his voice was like a song I never wanted to forget, and on the rare occasion when he would touch me, I would melt.

No other man on this planet had that power over me.

I dropped my head, shaking it as I released a weak sigh. Suddenly, the voice inside my head wasn’t mine, but Lucas’.

What the hell were you thinking, Diana?

It was all in your head.

No one, not even the lonely cowboy, wants you.

I couldn’t look up at Mags again, his beauty—his darkness—was too much.

“Goodnight, Mags,” I whispered, stepping back into my home. “Thank you for protecting me.”

And destroying me, all within a matter of minutes.

I quietly shut and locked the door before heading down the hallway to my office. After putting away my gun, I got back to work, keeping my eyes on my computer screen.

It wasn’t until the next morning, when I checked the camera feeds while sipping my coffee, that I discovered Mags didn’t leave for three more hours. After I’d shut the door, he stared at it for a long time before turning and taking a seat on the porch step.

He’d lit a cigarette, taking a drag from it as he stared up at the moon. When the smoke released, it lingered around him, not wanting to leave. After he finished, he bent his head, staying that way for hours.

Then, he was gone.

Chapter Ten

Mags

Year Ten. Hallow Ranch.

Thesmellofsmokestill lingered in the air, ashes spread over the ground, covering the green pastures in soot. Valerie was still in the hospital, and Kings…Fuck me, Kings was about to crumble. It had been two days since Tim Moonie’s men kidnapped Valerie, left her on the mountain, and set it on fire.

We nearly lost her—Kings barely got to her in time.

I pulled my gaze from the scorched side of the mountain, shoving back my own nightmares of the past, and adjusted my hold on Midnight’s reins as Beau’s called my name. Looking back over my shoulder, I found him leaning on the corral fence, his jaw set. I clicked my tongue and tugged on the reins.

“Come on, girl,” I muttered, turning her to head towards Beau.

Once I was close, Beau asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” I parroted, flicking my eyes up to the main house and spotting Valerie’s mother, Nancy, sitting on the porch swing with her nurse.

“Yeah. To finally kill this motherfucker and be done with it.”

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