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“Come this way, let me see you.” Dropping my hands, I walked around to the other side of him. He spun slowly, his eyes never leaving me. When the glow of the fire hit his face, a heaviness settled over me. Devastation lingered in his eyes.
“Smoke, I—”
With a growl, he cut me off, his lips crushing against mine painfully. I whimpered and clung to him as he bent us over, my hair falling off my shoulder when his arms banded around my back as he kissed me with abandon. He ripped his lips away from mine a few moments later, and our eyes met.
“Fucking selfless,” he hissed, bringing us back up. My arms snapped up to band around his neck, that he was going to push me away.
“I just needed to know you were okay,” I whispered, studying him.
“Like the night I killed a man in front of you?” he snapped, his jaw tight. Something was going on. Something happened this afternoon after Mom and Jackie arrived.
“Talk to me, please,” I begged. “Don’t push me away. Not now.”
“Should’ve let you walk away fromHallow Ranch—fromme,” he muttered.
No, I should’ve never walked away in the first place.
I shook my head, standing on my toes to get closer to him. “If you did that, I would’ve never gotten to live.”
Tears formed in my eyes as my soul chanted the words.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Tell him.
Tell him.
Tell him, Valerie.
His forehead landed against mine as he grabbed my upper arms. “God dammit, Val.” He shook me gently. “You shouldn’t be out here with me! You—”
“You make me feel alive,” I wept, tears coming down my face now.
Guilt washed over his features. “Never chase a cowboy, baby.”
“You chased me, remember?” I reminded him, my voice cracking.
He had no response. He didn’t need one.
“Do you want me to leave?” I whispered. I hated that question, but I would, if he wanted me too.
He shook his head.
Relief washed over me. I tightened my hold on him. “Did you come up here because of my mom?”
A harsh breath left him, and he rose to his full height. He turned his head focusing on the stream instead of me. “The day I chased after you and found you in the road, you told me your mom was all you had,” he said, his voice rough.
It hit me like a harsh, cold, unforgiving wind.
When I saw my mother today, I knew. I didn’t want to believe it, but the proof was right there. Right in front of me. Jackie pulled me aside earlier and handed me Mom’s last doctor’s note.
She didn’t have much time.
Denver knew it, too.
A lump formed in my throat and my hands began to shake.
My cowboy felt guilty because my mom was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t need to feel that way. She wasn’t all that I had—not anymore.
