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Prologue
Her daddy had told her to stay away from him. That he was bad news. That those Falladay twins were boys good girls didn’t mess with.
She was a good girl, but she didn’t think Cam Falladay was a bad boy. He was hurting, and she couldn’t stand to see him hurt.
She was thirteen, and boys were just starting to flirt with her. She liked the flirting, but she didn’t like how dumb they acted. Cam was eighteen, a man, but sometimes she just wanted to hug him, because she swore she could feel him hurting.
Not that he ever showed it or spoke of it. Unlike other boys, Cam didn’t tell anyone when he hurt. And he didn’t flirt with her either. When he saw her he talked to her, and when the older boys bothered her, he always seemed to be there. Those light green eyes of his would pin the other boys in a way that always made her shiver with dread. And evidently, it made them shiver, too, because they ran, and they rarely bothered her anymore.
She sought Cam Falladay out every chance she got, despite her daddy’s warning. But now, it seemed he had sought her out.
She tipped her head to the side, brushing back her long auburn hair as she stared at the rusty old pickup he drove. It was parked on the back road to her daddy’s farm, far away from the house and in an area where the cattle hadn’t yet been moved to.
He was sitting there silently, just staring out the windshield as she drew her horse to a stop and slowly dismounted.
“Stay, Critter. ” She patted the horse’s mane as she wrapped the lead to the bridle around a branch of a nearby tree and moved toward the truck.
He couldn’t have known she would be here. Her father rarely allowed her to ride far from the house.
She watched as he moved, his arm lifting to bring a bottle to his lips, and she winced. It was whisky. And it was really early in the day to be drinking.
She moved to the passenger side of the truck and knew the moment he realized she was there. No, he hadn’t come looking for her, because his entire body seemed to tense.
“Go away, little girl. ” His voice had a rough, growling tone as she opened the door slowly and lifted herself into the vehicle.
He was so sad. He looked so alone right now. With his shaggy black hair framing his wild face, and those light green eyes swirling with emotions that made her chest ache, even though she didn’t know what they were.
He sat stiffly, his left arm down by his side, against the door of the truck, his opposite hand holding that bottle of whisky.
“Not a good place for you to be right now. ” He lifted the bottle again.
Her daddy had warned her to always be careful of a man while he was drinking. But Cam broke her heart. His expression was ravaged, as it had been at his parents’ funeral three years ago.
She reached out and gripped his wrist, feeling the heat of his skin as he stiffened.
“Don’t, Cam,” she whispered. “You’re going to hurt yourself like this. ”
“So?” His gaze pinned her now, and she had to force herself not to be frightened of him.
She stared back at him desperately, hurting for him, hurting with him.
“Wait on me, Cam. I’ll grow up and I’ll take all the bad things away. ” She didn’t know where the words came from, or the tears that filled her eyes. She just knew she was going to lose him. Right here, right now, she would lose him forever, and it was terrifying her.
His gaze flickered with agony then. “Damn you, Jaci. You’re just a kid. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. ”
“And you’re just my friend,” she whispered. “Who’s going to run those bigger boys off when they bother me, if you don’t wait for me? If you leave, I won’t have my dark knight anymore. ”
She tried to smile, but she wanted to cry.
He shook his head and stared out the windshield again.
“Dark knights are bad news,” he finally muttered. “Dumb little fairy tales. You’d do better to look for a white knight. ”
“They’re boring. ” She tried to smile, but his face was so still, so grief-stricken, she couldn’t find it in her to make her lips curve.
“They’re safe. ” His voice echoed with an aloneness that suddenly frightened her. Frightened her, not of him, but for him.
“You’re going to leave, aren’t you?” A tear fell from her eyes. “And I’ll never see you again. ”
