Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
I wasn’t the girl from the wrong side of the tracks any longer, but no one can compete with the Bridger money. When money talks, things happen. Like a child being given to the father.
Except…
Chance didn’t write that letter.
And I’ve kept him from his son.
I tiptoe out of bed and head into Chance’s bathroom. I inhale. It smells like him, like the outdoors with a touch of cinnamon and mint. I peek into his shower. Rosemary mint shampoo. No wonder his hair smells so good. The toilet lid is covered in forest green, and I sit down, letting my head fall into my hands.
I have no idea what time it is, but through the bathroom window I can see the translucent orange-purple of the Montana dawn. Time to get up. I have to get back to the motel, gather everything together.
Jarvis and I leave this afternoon, back to our home office in Phoenix.
The only reason we got this assignment is because the central office put out a memo asking if any field agents had any connection to Bayfield, Montana. McGuinness answered the call on my behalf. I didn’t have a choice. I had to take the case.
I had to come back.
I draw in a breath.
I’m lying. I’m lying to myself, and it’s got to stop. McGuiness would have let me off, especially if I’d been up front about my past with Chance. He wouldn’t have wanted me involved in a case where I had a child with one of the suspects. If Chance had been the killer, my connection alone would have blown the entire prosecution.
I chose not to tell my boss the truth, just like I didn’t tell Chance. I chose to come here, to dredge up my past. Did I expect to fall into bed with him again? No. Did I expect my feelings to resurface, the ones that never really went away? No.
I came anyway. I agreed to it because I wanted to see Chance Bridger, and this case gave me the perfect opportunity. I would have never come on my own, but even after all these years, I wanted to confront him about the past, ask him why he’d been so malicious.
Except he hadn’t been. It was all a lie.
And I’m continuing to lie.
A soft knock on the door. “Kitten?”
I grab some toilet paper and wipe the tears from my eyes. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” he calls through the closed door.
“I’m fine. What time is it?”
“Six thirty.” He chuckles. “I overslept.”
“Well, you worked pretty hard last night.” I open the door and melt into his arms. God, how can I walk away from this? From him? Again?
He kisses the top of my head. “Not nearly hard enough.”
I look up at him, gaze into those gorgeous baby blues. “I have to go.”
“You’re never leaving this room.” He smiles.
If only…
“I have to. Jarvis and I are going back to Phoenix. We have to file our official reports by the end of the day and then go through debriefing, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I already have a flight booked for eleven. I have to get to Billings.”
I feel his muscles go taut. His fingers grip me a little more firmly.
“Cancel it.”
Oh, how I wish. “This is my job, Chance.”
“I get that. But cancel the flight, and I’ll fly you back later tonight on the company’s plane.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
He cups my cheek. “Can you at least have some breakfast?”
“I suppose.” I offer a smile. “I wish things were different.”
“We’ll make it work this time.” He thumbs the apple of my cheek. “There’s no Jonathan Bridger to fuck things up. Just you and me and our life together.”
“I live in Phoenix. My job is in Phoenix.”
My son. My son is in Phoenix.
He offers a shrug. “So you’ll get a transfer. Any field office would kill to have a superb agent like you.”
“My mom’s in Phoenix.”
“We’ll move her up here. I’ll help her find a place. I’ll—”
I silence him the only way I can think of in the moment. I pull his head toward me and crush our mouths together.
As our tongues tangle and entwine, I wish for a split second that the years could wash away. That we were back in that spring, making love for the first time, knowing that we’d always be together.
But fifteen years can’t be erased, and though that day brought me unbearable pain, it also brought me the brightest light in my life.
Grady.
I break the kiss.
“Chance…”
He nibbles at my earlobe. “Yeah?”
“I need…”
“What? What do you need?”
I sigh. “I need you. You.”
“You have me, kitten. For as long as you want me.”
I turn my head, meet his lips. I believe his words. I do. But when he finds out what I’ve kept from him?
I push that thought to the side as he scoops me into his arms and carries me back to his bed.