Chapter 22
My boots glue themselves to the floor as I stare at the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. She’s wearing the pink shirt and jeans that we got from Dee Dee. But she could be wearing her tattered barn clothes and I wouldn’t care.
A wiggle and whine from the furball in my arms breaks the trance.
River hasn’t moved. Except for her hand which is furiously wiping tears away from her eyes.
“You came…”
Fuck, that broken whisper kills me. “I did everything I could to get here.”
She looks down at my furry friend. “Who is that?”
“This is Gunnar,” I close the distance. “He needs a mama, you up for the job?”
Looking away, River swallows twice. “You got me a freaking puppy? That’s low, Diesel.”
I brush my mouth over her temple, linger there as a shudder tightens my chest. “I got us a puppy. He was a stray and needed a good home.”
When I tip her chin up and our eyes meet, my lungs compress.
“God, I missed you.”
“If you didn’t have the cutest puppy in the world in your arms, I’d smack you.”
Her fingers find the little guy’s fur, scratches him under his collar, making him tilt his head this way and that.
“I didn’t miss you,” she murmurs as strokes the fur on his ear. “But he’s perfect. He can stay.”
“That’s a start.” I pull her closer, taking the kiss I’ve been dying for.
Just like I expected, she’s stiff and resistant.
“Seems like I need to soften you up.”
Scowling at me she tries to pull away. “Good luck with that.”
I lower Gunnar to the floor and drag her in for a hug that I need as much as her. “How about I start with, I’m sorry.”
She grumbles, but her hands find my belt and hook into the sides.
“Zero points,” she mutters.
“What about the puppy, is that any points?”
She thinks for a minute. “Maybe a half.”
“I’ll take it.” When I pick her up, she grabs my shoulders. “Diesel!”
“Fuck, it’s good to hear you say my name.” I carry her to the bed and sit on the edge, her legs wrapped around my waist. We’re eye to eye, right where I want her.
“I know I hurt you. I’m sorry baby, it’s not what you think.”
She glances down, brushes more tears away. “Well you might want to start talking because I’ve got a party to go to BY MYSELF.”
“You’re not going by yourself.” I brush her hair back from her face, settling one arm low around her back. The other resting on her cheek. “But first I need to tell you everything.”
The pain in her expression is almost more than I can bear and makes my words thick with emotion. “I had to walk away to protect you.”
“What do you mean?” She stiffens in my hold.
“The fire and the drone weren’t someone coming for you. It was me. They wanted me dead. We tracked down the guy and found out he’d been staked out, ready to take a shot at me on two occasions. Once near your ranch. The other time was the day of the fire. He was there on the ridge.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. “That’s horrible.”
I kiss her forehead, so fucking relieved this is done.
“The only way I could make sure they were away from you,” I say, forcing my voice steady, “was to lure him and his friend out. Sheriff Baker and I set the trap.”
Her hands twist in the front of my shirt. A rough sound comes from her throat as she buries her face in my neck. The dam breaks.
A heartbreaking sob tears out of her. I tear up with my chest laboring for air.
“Easy, sweetheart. It’s all okay now,” I whisper through the barbed wire in my throat.
Tears soak my shirt as Gunnar paws at my leg, sensing River’s upset too. I reach down and scoop him up, bringing him into the hug.
“But who?” she asks between sniffs and sobs, her hand lovingly stroking his head and if I didn’t already love River more than I can express, I’d have fallen another fifty feet watching how gentle she is with him.
I want this story behind us, so we can get on with the night. With our life.
“His brother died in a friendly-fire accident that he thinks I was involved in. Sad. Crazy story. It was all a rumor. Now he’s going to prison for attempted murder of a man that wasn’t even in the same country as his brother was that day.”
Gunnar jumps up, grabbing on the collar of my shirt. The fabric rips and somehow we both manage to laugh as all the tension of the last few days starts to burn away.
“I think he’s telling me I need to change shirts.”
“Yeah?” she meets my gaze. “You in the mood to wear pink?”
“Damn right, cowgirl.”
When I kiss her this time, River’s tongue matches mine, hungry, stroking deep. No resistance, just pure heart.