Page 6 of Targeted in Silver Creek

“But this means he’s taking unnecessary risks,” Jesse continued a moment later. “And it’ll make it easier for us to catch him.”

True. But Hanna knew Bull might shoot someone else before the cops were able to stop him.

“Bull’s sister lives close to Miller Road,” Jesse pointed out.

“Yeah. I’m going over to check on her now,” Grayson explained. “You’ll be moving Hanna and Evan to the ranch?”

A muscle flickered in Jesse’s jaw. “Not tonight.”

Grayson’s jaw had probably gone a little tight, too, and Hanna hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake by wanting to stay put. Still, if she was truly Bull’s target, he would come after her no matter where she was. Ditto for Boone. And since he probably wanted Boone more than he did her, then that was even more reason to steer clear of the Ryland ranch.

That could also put her even closer to Jesse.

Of course, he was close now and would be staying the night. Hanna wanted that, for Evan’s safety, but being around Jesse was never easy. Yes, the heat was there between them but, as her mother so often reminded her, Jesse and his family were the reason she’d been shot, the reason she had come so close to losing her precious baby before he’d even been born.

The logical part of her knew the Rylands hadn’t intended for her to be shot, but it was hard for her to trust them. To trust anyone. Without the memories, there were just too many blank spots, which meant there were too many doubts. Plus, she’d proved that her instincts weren’t that stellar since she had been told she was the one who’d decided to go to the ranch that night Bull had shot her.

“I’ll let you know what I find out from Marlene,” Grayson finally said before he ended the call.

Jesse slipped his phone back in his pocket and met her gaze for a couple of seconds before he turned his attention back to keeping watch out the window.

She didn’t need memories to know what was going through his head. He loved Evan. She had no doubts about that. And he wanted to keep their son safe. But he probably felt safety was better met at the ranch.

Where her life as she’d known it had ended.

For all intents and purposes, her life had begun six months ago, and her first memories had been waking up in the hospital. She had been in pain,so much pain, and terrified. She hadn’t even known she’d had a child, one delivered by an emergency C-section, until several hours after she’d awakened.

Little by little, Jesse, her mother and the medical staff had filled her in, but other than Evan, it hadn’t felt real. More like hearing a story about someone else’s life. It was still like that.

Except for the heat between Jesse and her.

No way could she deny that they had once been attracted enough to one another to have sex. No. Because the attraction was still there. Of course, she figured most women would be attracted to Jesse.

He wasn’t a Ryland by blood, but she’d seen others in that family and knew the men were undeniably hot. Jesse was no exception with his dark hair and sizzling brown eyes. This cowboy cop had it all. The toned and tanned body. The thick, rumpled hair that looked as if he’d just gotten out of bed. And the strong jaw, sporting just enough stubble to add even more character to that face.

As if it needed that.

Her first memory of Jesse was seeing him in the doorway of her hospital room shortly after she’d been moved out of recovery from her C-section. He’d been wearing jeans that day, too, and a blue shirt. It’d had blood on it.

Her blood, she later learned.

Hanna remembered the penetrating look in his eyes that had robbed her of her breath. She hadn’t understood that intensity at the time. Hadn’t known the guilt he’d no doubt been feeling. Hadn’t known he was the father of a son she’d yet to see or hold. But even with her mind whirling and nothing making sense, she had understood that this man was somehow connected to her. And always would be.

She yanked herself out of her untimely trip down memory lane and snapped her eyes to the window when she heard the sound of an approaching engine. Her heart went into overdrive, causing the blood to rush to her head. She fought the instinct to run to the nursery and watched as the silver muscle truck pulled to a stop in front of her house. The logo on the side of the driver’s door let her know these were the hands from the Silver Creek Ranch.

Two cowboys got out, both armed with rifles, and one greeted Jesse with a nod and then motioned toward the east side of her property, where he headed. The other one went to the west.

“They’re good men,” Jesse said, maybe because he’d glanced back at her and had seen the apprehension in her eyes.

The ranch hands were a necessary safeguard. She wanted them there. But they were still strangers to her, and that always brought on a fresh wave of alarm.

“Breathe,” Jesse murmured to her.

Since he’d witnessed firsthand one of her panic attacks, he no doubt knew the signs and had recognized how things could quickly spin out of control for her. That’s why she took his advice and tried to level her breathing while also going through one of her “anchoring” steps.

Hanna set down her phone and the baby monitor so she could apply pressure to the skin between her thumb and index finger on her left hand. She kept pressing, kept locking on to the image of a smiling Evan, until she had the anxiety better under control, until the sound of her throbbing heartbeat got quieter and slower in her ears.

Jesse continued to volley his attention between her and the front window, and he watched until she had steadied herself enough to pick up the monitor and her phone again.

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