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Devon wasn’t sure how that was possible, but she figured he knew ways—hopefully not illegal ones. She’d endured enough criminality in her short life.
“I don’t suppose you went to the police?” he asked, walking over then dropping into the armchair across from her and Briar.
Devon shook her head. “I was kinda a drama queen as a teenager. The police would have laughed at me and put it down to some stunt then called my stepfather. That’s exactly what I didn’t want. So I fled. I headed toward the east coast to throw him off while I drained the bank accounts he knew about. Since they were in my name only, and my grandparents had opened them for me, he didn’t have access. They did that on purpose—all the family’s money was on my mother’s side.”
“They couldn’t help you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “They died the year before the deal happened. He never would have tried anything if they were alive. Thing is…until he does something I can prove, until something bad happens to me, it’s just he said-she said, so I’m kinda screwed.”
“Nothing’s going to happen here, baby girl,” a new voice said. A shiver of awareness trembled down her spine. Hawk.
She, Briar and Jax looked over to see the other three cowboys had come inside. Hawk, Cannon and Ram.
Beside Hawk, Cannon looked deadly serious, his jovial demeanor nowhere to be found, as he broke from the group and crouched in front of Dev. Taking her hand, he stared at her from beneath a fringe of sun-streaked dark hair that had fallen in his face.
“You’re going to move in here,” he growled. “And we’ll keep you safe.”
Hawk joined him, his near black eyes, a dark contrast to Cannon’s light blue, looking equally sincere and fierce. The two of them crouched before her, each holding one of her hands, almost as if they were proposing. Intent vibrated from them, and they looked as if they might gun down anyone who tried to hurt her.
As if she were theirs. As if they were claiming—
No. They couldn’t be. She couldn’t be theirs.
She glanced over at Briar, who smiled softly. Getting up, her friend went to stand next to Ram, who’d remained near the arched doorway. He slung his arm around her shoulders, and Jax moved to stand next to her, putting his arm around her waist.
“You’re going to have a lot of legal stuff to do, Jax,” Briar told him, pulling her two men with her as she left the room. “With Robert strong-arming me into taking a loan and you working out the deed for Devon’s parcel, you’ll be busy. Looks like I’ll have to hire on Cannon and Hawk permanently, too, ‘cause I’m beginning to doubt they’re heading back East any time soon.”
“They can finish up their degrees remotely from here,” Ram agreed.
Dev had no idea what they were talking about, but the three of them disappeared from sight before she could ask.
She looked back at Cannon and Hawk. She’d never been this close to them. They both had dark hair, Hawk’s coloring hinting at a distant indigenous ancestor. Strength radiated from him. Cannon, on the other hand, usually seemed like a rowdy All-American college guy, with sun-streaked brown hair, blue eyes, and a hyper golden retriever personality. Right then, any speck playfulness had disappeared.
“We’re taking care of you, now,” Hawk announced.
“No one’s touching you. No one’s hurting you,” Cannon added. “Ever.”
Except them—no one would touch her but them, she guessed. Maybe. Because more than anything, it looked as if she’d just gained two cowboy bodyguards. Whether she liked it or not.
One
A year and a half later
November
Cannon couldn’t last much longer.
Being near Devon, being unable to cross the line and touch her, despite the desire he often saw reflected in her eyes, made him crazy. It scratched at him until he thought he might snap and cross that barrier. He couldn’t. He never could. Not until she was ready.
So, as always, he’d left his partner, Hawk, watching over Dev while Cannon raced across the open fields, letting the wind whip through his hair and the bright sunshine center and calm him again.
“We need a plan,” Hawk had said just before Cannon had taken off.
“I know. Suggestions?”
“Push her?”
“With what she’s been through? Do you think that would work?” Cannon had countered. “We’re supposed to be her bodyguards, to protect her, not scare her.”
