Page 66 of Cowboy Under Siege

Unable to fight the allure of his comfort, his strength, she crossed the room to him, still holding the album. Slipping into his lap felt like coming home. He wrapped her tight against his body, and she rested her head on his chest, breathing in his masculine scent mixed with her own from their lovemaking.

She turned the album over in her hands. “You’re good for me, you know.”

His lips brushed her temple. “How so, doll?”

“You push me. I need that right now.”

“You always knew your own mind. I’m just here to lend support.”

She tilted her head to meet his eyes. “I might as well say this too—I love you.”

Watching his eyelids droop in response to her words and the ragged change of his breathing were gifts she never knew she needed until this very second. He cupped her head and brought her lips up to his.

He paused short of kissing her. His warm breath washed over her as he whispered, “I love you too, doll.”

Their mouths connected in a kiss that was rough with passion. The album slipped from her fingers and she dug her fingers into Jaren’s muscled shoulders. He twined his fingers in her hair and tugged until her neck arched. When he dotted soft kisses down her throat, she issued a strangled noise that seemed to break the spell between them.

He released her hair and shifted to scoop the album off the floor. Then he placed it in her hands.

“I’m right here. I won’t let you go for one minute, Trinny.”

She nodded, throat tight and hot with tears that suddenly trickled inside her. “I’m a coward.”

“You’re far from a coward. You took off on a road trip knowing danger could chase you. I watched you leap a fence to save a child from a bull. Whatever you read in that”—he twitched his jaw toward the object in her hand—“I’ll face it with you.”

With a nod, she dragged in a deep, fortifying breath and opened to the first page.

The first entry was actually a note scrawled under the date.

Trinity’s birthday.

Jaren skimmed a fingertip over her thumb locked on the paper. “You were born on New Year’s Day.”

“Yes.”

“A good way to start the year.”

She hummed in response and flipped to the next page. It contained only a few notes including a reminder to call her accountant about withdrawing funds from a CD. Under that was an address.

“Do you recognize the address?” Jaren asked.

She shook her head. “I have no idea who lives there.”

She flipped to the next page and then slammed the book shut. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

He covered her hand with his own. “You can. You’re strong. No matter what’s written there, you can’t move on until you’ve read it all.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. “You’re right. I have to do it.”

The entry was dated in February of that year. It was short and sweet with a few tidbits about her day and how she met a friend for lunch.

“Friend,” she whispered.

Jaren was already on the next entry, skimming his finger over a sentence. When Trinny read it, she let out a gasp. “She was dating someone?”

The doorbell suddenly chimed from the front of the lodge.

Jaren patted the curve of her thigh very close to her bottom. “That will be Judd and some of the others.”

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