"I'll fix it," I tell him, and cut the call.
I pocket the phone and stare at the barn. Inside is the woman who crushed my heart.
Who's been protecting my family in secret while pretending I don't exist.
Who I still love so goddamn much it's eating me alive, even now, even furious, even with every reason in the world to walk the other way.
I turn to Jett. My voice comes out flat. "You were meant to take her to Sterling Ranch. Not here."
"Well, I wasn't sure if you wanted a kidnapped woman on your ranch, what with all the heat. I made the call to bring her here. Safer."
I half smile. Because his heart is in the right place. Underneath the flamingos and the spilled coffee and the criminal incompetence, Jett is trying to protect us. That's all any of us are ever doing.
"Look. You go do what you need to on your ranch. I'll deal with the reporter and bring her to Hunter. Alright?"
"Sure." He pauses. "Is Hunter pissed?"
I laugh. Not half as pissed as I am.
"No. He's fine. His fault for not making it clear and trying to play cowboy cupid."
Jett frowns. "Cupid? You wanna bang the reporter? She is fuckin’ beautiful.”
"Fuck off," I snap, clenching my fists.
He holds up his hands, grinning, and backs toward the house. He knows when to leave. That's the one smart instinct Jett Lawson has.
I face the barn.
I can hear her breathing. The sound I used to fall asleep to. The sound I haven't heard in six years. A sound I’d be able to pinpoint anywhere.
I take off my hat. Run my hand through my hair. Put it back on. Take it off again.
Get it together.
I hold the hat in my hand, gripping it tight—It’s her hat, it always is her hat—and walk toward the barn door.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Harper
Song- Hypnosis, Sleep Token
The second I hear his voice, my heart slams into my throat, and I almost choke.
Ace.
It's muffled through the barn wall, but I'd know that voice in a hurricane. He's talking to Jett, and I can't make out the words, but the tone is clear. He's pissed.
Did he know this was the plan? Did he work with Jett and Hunter to lure me here?
Or is he just as ambushed as I am?
I close my eyes. My body erupts into flames while my stomach fills with ice. Want and terror, they tangle so tight I can't tell them apart.
I brace myself and look toward the barn doors.
I forget how to breathe when I see him standing there.
