Page 114 of Love’s Silver Bullet

His gaze softened. “I have admitted that, Sher,” he said quietly, “and I’ll admit it again and again. But it’s because of that very love that I refuse to put you in harm’s way, so my stance on that is firm, darlin’, and wild horses couldn’t pull me off course”—a gentle smile tipped the edge of his mouth, hoping he could ease the blow with a touch of humor—“or in my case, a team of stubborn donkeys.”

“No?” One beautiful blond brow angled high as she checked her watch once again just as a knock sounded on the door.

His sigh could have ruffled those flaxen curls skimming her beautiful neck. “Now who the devil is that?” he muttered, just wanting to be left alone.

Rising with a smirk he’d seen more than once over the last few days, she clutched that stupid hoop to her chest and marched to the door, tossing a sassy wink over her shoulder. “Why that would be your own personal team of stubborn donkeys, Mr. Sullivan, so I’ll just leave you in their very capable hands.”

She opened the door and Finn ambled in, lodging a deep groan in Jake’s chest. “So, how’s our boy doing today, Sher?”

“Cranky as ever, Uncle Finn, so I’m hoping you can sweeten him up a bit.”

“Well, I’ll do my level best, darlin’,” Finn said, settling into her chair. He leaned back with a lazy smile and an easy cross of arms as Sheridan left. “How you doing today, Jake?”

Grateful when he heard the click of the door, Jake expelled a weary sigh as he folded his hands on his stomach, hoping to make this short and sweet. And not the “sweet” Sheridan wanted either. “Tired, sir. Not sleeping real well, so I was just fixing to catch a few winks.”

“Me too, son, which is why I’m here.”

Jake turned to look at him with a scrunch of his brows. “Sir?”

Finn offered a faint smile. “You see, we had a family meeting a few nights ago before you were shot, and it seems everybody’s a mite worried about you.”

A silent sigh of relief escaped Jake’s lips. “Well, there’s no need for worry, sir. Slick Sikeston will be locked up a good long while with the list of charges I’ve compiled, so things should settle down real nice and easy in town.”

“Glad to hear that, Jake.” Finn gave a slow nod. “But it’s not the town I’m worried about.”

Jake’s lungs froze.

“It’s here at the ranch, where me and my family are worried sick about your state of mind and heart, son, especially Sheridan.”

Jake blinked, not able to breathe as Finn leaned in to rest forearms on parted knees with hands loosely clasped. But when his boss pinned him with a point-blank stare, Jake was pretty sure his pulse stopped too. “Are you in love with Sheridan?”

Jake’s eyelids staggered closed, well aware fire licked at his cheeks. How had it come to this? An attraction that should have stayed buried deep, now exposed for all to see?

Including the man he admired most.

And the man to whom he’d given his word to protect his niece.

“Sheridan says you are, Jake, but I want to hear it from you. Are you in love with my niece?”

It was moments like this that Jake wished he could bald-faced lie his way out, but that had never been his way. At least since Dirk had first shown him what truth was. And now, Finn McShane.

Fortifying his lungs with a deep draw of air, he opened his eyes and stared right back at the man whose opinion mattered most in the world. “Yes, sir, I am, but I hope you believe me when I say I never intended for that to happen.”

Finn’s mouth took a twist, his dry smile loosening some of the tightness in Jake’s chest. “I have no doubt about that, son, because Sheridan has come clean, and to be honest, if Libby had hankered after me like Sheridan has after you?” A slow smile eased across his lips as he stared at the floor with an awkward cuff of his neck. “Well, let’s just say I’d have a whole passel of sons and daughters to go along with those nieces and nephews.”

Jake smiled. “I have no doubt about that, sir, because you’re a man who sets his sights and doesn’t give up, something I greatly admire.”

Finn peered up with a lidded gaze. “Thank you, son, but Sheridan is my blood, so I guess you could say the same about her.”

Jake shook his head, gaze wandering into a faraway smile. “No doubt about that.” He expelled a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, meeting Finn’s gaze head-on once more. “But I can’t let her win this time, sir, because I love her too much.”

“So I hear.” Finn leaned back with a fold of arms. “She didn’t go into detail, mind you, but she tells me you have a medical condition that you don’t want to pass on to your children.”

Blood gorged his cheeks. “Yes, sir, and that’s the number one reason I can’t marry your niece.”

“I see. So you talked to the doctor who gave you this opinion?”

Jake looked away. “No, sir, but my mother did.”