9. Val
NINE
VAL
I felt lighter after my shopping trip with Gemma.
We visited a few more shops, all with similar greetings.
Everyone welcomed me with open arms, and often their greetings were laced with quiet knowing and acceptance.
It was quite possibly the strangest, but most comforting, shopping trip I’d ever had.
I didn’t have the guts to ask Gemma about her scars or push her for details about what had happened to her the night I found her in that house.
On the outside, Gemma was happy and carefree, but if you looked closely enough, it was a veil that hid pain and suffering just below the surface.
We were having fun, and I didn’t want to dredge up old wounds just to satisfy my own curiosities.
My days on the ranch were passing quickly.
Each day was filled with chores that brought aching muscles and new blisters.
I had always been fit, but the work on the ranch was grueling, messy, and demanding.
I had never been so bone-tired in all my life.
The work was hard, so I didn’t have much time to dwell on anything other than getting through the day.
My thoughts often wandered to Evan, and I would find small excuses to explore the grounds or take a walk down the path where he had chopped wood or linger in the common area of the lodge in hopes of getting a hit of his woodsy, masculine smell.
Unfortunately for my libido, Evan was practically a ghost around the ranch in the days since family dinner. Whether he was just busy or actively avoiding me was a mystery.
By Friday night, I was feeling stifled by the four walls of my room, and a little bit brave.
I decided to wander out of my room and toward the kitchen.
I had put Gemma’s lotions and potions to good use, and after a long soak in the tub, I was energized.
I poked around a few cabinets, looking to scrounge up something a little stronger than the Diet Coke I had pulled from the fridge.
On my tiptoes, I stretched to reach the cabinet above the fridge, hoping they kept the booze in the same spot my parents did.
“You aren’t going to find any alcohol, if that’s what you’re hunting for.”
Evan’s deep voice warmed my skin, and the tiny hairs on my arms stood up. I turned just in time to see his eyes flick up from my ass, and a wave of satisfied pleasure tingled my middle.
“Well, that’s a travesty,” I joked.
Evan’s easy smile, the one that crinkled the sides of his sapphire eyes, was back. “Ma doesn’t keep it in the main house. I’m headed to town for a bite to eat and a beer.” He thumbed toward the door. “Come with me.”
The stern warmth in his tone bordered on an order, and I fought a smile. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Big Al might not like to see me back at his bar.”
“Fuck that guy. He’ll be fine once he realizes you’ re one of us.” Evan moved toward the back door and held it open for me. “Besides, you’re with me.”
My body warmed at the thought of being with a man like Evan. He commanded respect, and his sheer size would be protection enough. I could hold my own, but knowing a man like him could come to my defenses held a certain allure.
“All right, big guy. Let’s do this.” I swept past him and out the door, but paused when a low rumble escaped him. “Are you okay?”
When I met his eyes, they darkened and my pulse skittered. “You smell nice.”
I clenched my jaw to keep my cool. I’d owe Johnny a thank-you later.
Sitting in the cab of Evan’s truck was a mistake.
I was surrounded by the warm, comforting smell of him.
Wood and leather and a freshness that was only him assaulted me.
My panties were drenched even before I caught sight of the way his forearms flexed and moved as he shifted gears.
There was something innately sexy about a man who drove stick shift.
Evan kept the conversation light, asking about what I had been up to the past week and how I was settling in. I was honest, and we had a small laugh over grumpy Ray. I retold a joke that one of the farmhands told me, and his laugh was quick and comforting. Everything about that man drew me in.
I knew it was wrong—to not rein in my obvious desire for someone who was a hardened criminal—but I couldn’t seem to help it.
At the bar, Al softened immediately when he saw me arrive with Evan. Not everyone seemed to know him, but those who recognized Evan waved, nodded, or walked over to our small table to greet him.
A mother and her four wild children stopped to say hello on their way out. They all knew Evan, and the young boys took turns hanging on his forearm while he hoisted them higher and higher. I noted that I wasn’t the only woman in the bar who appreciated how impressive those muscles were.
“We’ll get you one day, Mr. Evan!”
Evan grinned at the youngest, gap-toothed boy. “I know you will. You keep growing and listen to your Mama, and one day you’ll be bigger than me, I’m sure of it.”
The young boys’ eyes all went wide as the mom made them say goodbye and collectively scooted them out the door.
“What, are you the mayor of this town or something?” Our eyes met, and affection danced over his features.
“If you would have told me a year ago that I would be living in a small ranching town in Montana, I wouldn’t have believed you. If you would have told me that I would not only live there but actually enjoy it? I would have called you a fucking liar.”
I shook my head in disbelief. I was dying to know his story. Ma Brown’s report left me with more questions than answers. How did a man come from a Mafia family in Chicago and find his place on a ranch in Montana? Did he miss any part of his old life?
“You know I can see you’re racking your brain with questions, right?”
I glanced down and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, embarrassed he could read me so easily. “You’re just a mystery, that’s all.”
Evan leaned his large frame in my direction. We were so close I could feel his breath dance across the skin of my neck, and I resisted a shiver. “I told you before. I will never lie to you. You can ask me anything.”
The moment felt significant. I leaned back and smiled a tight smile before gathering my resolve to ask him the questions I had burning in my gut. As I took a deep breath, the waitress interrupted the moment by bringing a basket of bite-size bar food and our drinks.
I pushed my feelings aside. I could figure out the best way to get to the bottom of who Evan Walker really was.
This was one of the rare nights I left the ranch, and I didn’t want to spoil it.
Instead, I settled into my chair and watched people as they danced and played pool or darts.
My eyes caught on a lone man with his back to the wall, scanning the crowd.
I tipped my chin toward him. “One of ours?”
Evan sipped his beer and nodded. “They’re always around.”
The man ignored us, and I tried to shake the eerie feeling of being watched. When a pool table opened up, I stood and knocked the back of my hand against Evan’s bicep. “Come on. Let’s play.”
I started racking the pool balls into the triangle as Evan grabbed two cues leaning against the wall. “Do you know how to play?”
Evan threw me a blank stare.
I raised my hands. “Okay. I hear you. We’ve got a pool shark over here. But I have to warn you. I’m pretty good.”
I smiled at Evan and felt lighter than I had in days.
Around him, it was easy to forget the circumstances we were in.
I didn’t feel like a police officer at the end of her rope.
I felt like a woman, laughing and having a great night out with a man.
Compounded by the fact the man looked like that , the situation had me doing everything in my power to shove away any warning bells blaring about our pasts and our current circumstances.
After one turn, I knew I was in trouble.
Evan wasn’t just okay at playing pool—he was phenomenal.
Despite his large frame, he moved gracefully around the table.
After sinking several balls in a row, I decided to not-so-subtly remove my chunky sweater, leaving on nothing but a thin white tank top.
It didn’t go without notice, and he botched his next shot.
As I rounded him, I flashed a cocky smile. He leaned in close, his masculine scent enveloping me and his voice barely above a whisper. “Cheater.”
I feigned shock but laughed and leaned a hip against the table as I assessed my shot.
I sank a few balls easily, but the last ricochet put the cue ball behind the only two balls Evan still had on the table.
I bent to adjust, but the angle I needed was awkward, and I wasn’t happy with how everything was lined up.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself as I tried to readjust. I hated losing and was not about to give him the satisfaction of beating me so easily.
Warmth covered my back as Evan moved in behind me. His chest ran every inch down my back, and I stiffened at the contact. He bent lower, placing his mouth next to the shell of my ear. “Need a little help?”
I resisted the urge to scissor my legs as desire crawled through me.
When I nodded, Evan’s arms wrapped around me and followed me as I bent at the waist. His hips pressed into my ass, and my hip bones pushed against the smooth wood of the pool table.
Together we lined up the shot, but I couldn’t focus on anything but the warmth of his chest and the low throb between my legs .
“I think if you come at it from this angle, you can sink it into the corner pocket.”
I tilted my head to look at him, my eyes dropping to his full lips.
Take me. Push me up on this pool table right here and take me.
My rogue thoughts were on my tongue when he brushed the tip of his nose down mine. I wanted to puddle at his feet. Evan moved away, standing back behind me. I swallowed thickly and tried to adjust and make the shot.
From the corner of the bar, I heard a man say, “Think she’ll let me show her how to make the next shot?” The comment earned a few laughs and high fives from his idiot friends. To spite them, I made the shot and straightened.
In a heartbeat, Evan was in the man’s face. “Disrespect her again. I fucking dare you.”
The man wilted in Evan’s presence as I wrapped my hand around his biceps. Tension radiated through him like a lid rattling on a pressure pot. “Come on, let’s go, Ev.”
“Sorry, man. We were just joking around.”
I tugged on his arm. “Time to go.”
Evan let me lead him away, but anger was still coursing through him. I pulled a few dollars from my purse and left a tip, along with our drinks, on the table. Once outside, the spring air cooled my lungs.
Evan took long strides toward the truck, and I scrambled to keep up with him. He yanked the passenger-side door open and practically shoved me inside. He rounded the hood in seconds and climbed in the cab. Instead of starting the car, he gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
He wasn’t looking at me, rather just staring out the windshield .
I tested the waters. “So ... I guess not everyone’s so friendly in Tipp.”
“They aren’t from here.” His voice was strained. “I didn’t like the way he spoke about you.”
“It’s fine.” I didn’t have the words to explain that, while I didn’t need him jumping to my rescue from some mouthy drunks, coming from him it was fucking hot. I’d have to unpack that later and figure out what that meant about me, but for now it was easier to move on and ignore it.
I tried to speak again, but Evan cut in. “Let’s go home.”