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The loss of two hired hands should have had her in a tizzy, but it didn’t. One thing had come out of Clint’s absence—an epiphany of sorts. For all her insistence his past didn’t matter, the moment it came to light, she’d balked. Truth was, his past wasn’t the problem. Her insecurity was. Losing someone dear to her was her true fear. And why she’d recoiled at the concept of Clint leaving. She turned away from the bed, gasping for air.
“Stop it,” she said aloud, swiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “Without Drake’s interferences, I don’t have nearly the problems I had before.” At the window she pulled aside the curtain. “Now that Tristan has taken an interest in the ranch, things will be easier than before.”
“Who you trying to convince, girl? Besides yourself?”
She spun to the open doorway. Jeb’s cane thumped against the floor as he stepped into the bunkhouse.
“No one.” She sighed. “I’m only trying to convince myself.” A chair was nearby so she sat. “And I’m not doing a very good job of it.” Most likely because giving up wasn’t in her system. That still held true. She wanted Clint. Here. Now. Forever. Outlaw or not.
Jeb leaned against the wall. “Dobbs rode in a few minutes ago.”
“He did?” She jumped from the chair. “Is Clint with him?”
“No,” Jeb said. “But Dobbs said you’re to meet him by the pig’s tree.”
The next instant, she was out the door and racing down the steps. It took forever to get Scout saddled, due to how her hands shook, and the miles separating her from the oak seemed longer than ever. Sweat coated Scout’s neck, and her heart pounded in her chest by the time the tree came into view.
Clint was nowhere in sight. Neither was Runner.
Doreena slid out of the saddle, and made her way to the tree, scanning all directions. She should have talked to Dobbs first. Maybe Clint had said she was to meet him there later today, or tomorrow, or—
Something caught her eye. Stepping beneath the broad branches covered with thick leaves that cast a wide shadow, she felt a smile rise from her chest to splay across her face. A large heart had been whittled in the thick bark, along with CT Loves DB.
Happiness bubbled in her chest.
“Know anyone with those initials?”
Her gaze snapped up to the branches. “What are you doing up there?”
“Waiting for you.” Clint, grinning from ear to ear, flipped around and hung from the branch by his arms before landing on the ground.
For the first time in her life, she had no idea what to do. She wanted to leap into his arms, but wariness held her back.
“So—” he gestured toward the carving “—do you know anyone with those initials?”
Her heart threatened to leap out of her body. “Yes, I do. Do you?”
“I hope so, since I carved it.” His hands wrapped around her upper arms.
The familiarity of his touch had her body wilting in pleasure. “You did a good job, too.”
“Thanks. It’s some of my best work,” he whispered.
The desire to be held by him ate at her. She pressed both hands against her pounding heart. “So what do we do about it?”
“What do you want to do about it?” He was freshly shaven and wearing new clothes. All in all, he’d never looked better. The scent of spicy soap had her drawing in a deep breath. He lifted a hand and pushed her hair behind one ear. “The Harmon brothers are in jail. Dobbs and I saw them, as well as the cave dwellers, all the way to Lincoln.”
“You did?”
“Yes. They’ll spend the rest of their lives in a Missouri prison, alongside their brother Nelson.” His fingers combed into her hair and he tilted her face upward. “I’m still an outlaw, Doreena, or at least I was. Nothing can ever change that. But if you’ll marry me, I promise I’ll walk on the right side of the law the rest of our lives.”
The heat of his body had her insides swirling, but his words had her heart pounding in her ears, making her wonder if she’d heard right. “Marry you?”
He nodded. “Yep. Marry me.”
She swooned into his arms, into his life, the one place she lived to be. His lips found hers, and the intensity of his kiss had her clinging to him. She buried her breasts against his chest, delighting in the painful, yet, thrilling way they tingled and throbbed. He instilled feelings in her she’d never known existed, but she knew there was more. Much more.
His lips left hers and trailed down her neck and up the other side before he leaned back enough to look down at her. “Is that a yes?”
She leaped, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. “Yes, that’s a yes.”
