Page 38 of Wyoming Cowboy Undercover

Was it?

Getting a person to lower their guard took patience and time. Months in her case for her to feel at ease sharing with him, confiding in him, trusting him. Falling for him.

He must have pushed too hard and too fast on the compound for her father to react the way he had. With time running out, only two days left, why wouldn’t he take the same approach with the Devil’s Warriors?

He was going to get himself hurt. Or killed. Despite her anger and disappointment with him, something inside her broke, thinking of that possibility.

“I bet you’re kicking yourself for wasting too much time on me,” she said, “since I turned out to be useless.”Empyrean’s daughter.Rocco had probably thought he’d struck gold.

What a sad joke.

He raised his head, his serious eyes meeting hers. “Don’t ever call yourself that. And getting to know you wasnota waste of my time. I only wish it could’ve been on a more honest basis from the beginning.” He scooted forward until his knees pressed against hers. “What I feel for you is real.”

“Whatdoyou feel?”

“Way more than I should that erases any professional line.”

“That doesn’t tell me much.”

He lowered his gaze and clenched his jaw.

“Why did you kiss me back at the tunnel? Was it so that I would go with you? Because you wanted to interrogate me?”

He shook his head. “No. I kissed you without thinking.” He glanced up at her. “I asked you to come with me because...”

She wrung her hands, desperate for him to say something to mend the broken pieces of her heart. “Because of what?”

“I didn’t want to let you go.”

“And lose your asset?”

He slid his palm over both her hands, his warm fingers giving them a slight squeeze. “In that moment, I didn’t see an asset. Only a woman I’ve fallen for. A woman who makes me feel things that no one else ever has. A woman I didn’t want to say goodbye to.” There was no filter on his expression. He looked stripped bare.

She wanted to believe him. Truly she did. But he had told her more lies than she could count.For months!

He had used her and maybe he wasn’t done yet. It was possible there was another angle she couldn’t see. How could she trust anything he said until after the full moon eclipse when he no longer suspected anyone on the commune of being a domestic terrorist? And even then, she’d always be wondering what he was hiding, what he wasn’t saying.

She stood and walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled down the covers. “I’m tired.” A bone-deep weariness was trickling through her, making her limbs suddenly feel heavy. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and couldn’t believe how late it was.

“I can ask Charlie to stay here with you tonight. If you’d prefer.”

Mercy stiffened at the idea. Did he want to get away from her now that she had no information to offer? “Did she know that you were using me this whole time?”

“No. She found out tonight.”

That made her feel a little better. About Charlie anyway. “You can call her if it would be easier for you. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by forcing you to stay.” She climbed into the bed, pulling the covers up over herself and stared at him.

“I want to be with you, Mercy. I’ve never wanted anything more.”

There was silence for a long moment that seemed to grow deeper with each pounding beat of her heart.

His chest heaved as he turned from her. She watched him clean up the food on the floor and throw away the trash. He picked up her canvas shoes that were covered in muck and went into the bathroom.

When he emerged a short while later, carrying her sneakers, they were spotless.

He set her shoes on the vent of the air-conditioning unit. Put the chain on the door. Turned out the light. Trudged to the other bed. Put the holstered gun on the nightstand and lay down on top of the covers.

She looked at Rocco, who was staring at the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his head, and then at her shoes again. Cleaning them was a small gesture, minuscule in the great scheme of things, but for some reason it touched her deeply.

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