“Not going anywhere now, I suppose.” I took a healthy sip from the glass.
“Okay,” he said, coming back inside. “Another thirty minutes and we should be good.”
I nodded.
“It will almost be like I didn’t jump down your throat earlier.”
“It’s okay. I get it.”
“No, I’m pretty sure you don’t. Look, Brin, I wasn’t trying to call you out for anything other than being too hard on yourself. I think you’ve got it in your head that you have to be this perfect version of Sabrina King or no one will want you around. That simply isn’t true.”
I had evidence to the contrary but I wasn’t going to point that out.
“How does this work?” I asked him instead.
“How does what work?”
“You being my bodyguard. Am I just supposed to stay here all day? And how long does that last? I need a way to end this.”
“The only way that happens is if we catch him or he loses interest.”
“There won’t be any new episodes ofCowboy Princessbut I’ll be in reruns forever.”
“So we catch him. You said he approached you in Dallas. If he did it once, he’ll try it again. When he does I’ll be there.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It won’t be. But from everything you’ve told me, he’s escalating. Especially if he chose to follow you to Dusty Creek. You were right to put Jack on alert. I’ll make sure everyone around here knows to be on the lookout for any strangers. And I’ll have my deputies do drive-bys at The King’s Land when they can. I’ll need the code for the gate.”
I nodded.
“You should have told me, Brin. That first night at the bar, when you left, that’s what you meant about wanting me to believe you.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t think you would.”
“What happened was five years ago,” Garrett said, not looking at me. “You could have given me a little credit for getting over it.”
“What happened was an hour ago,” I countered, reminding him of our fight.
He sighed. “Fair enough. You can always go, Brin. Stick to your original plan and hire someone.”
“It would be simpler.” Simpler. But, if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t think I would feel any safer than I did right now.
He nodded even as he approached me. “Yeah. It would be. A lot. Because I bet the person you hired wouldn’t have spent all day thinking about how he wants to kiss you.”
Gulp. “Did you just say that?”
“Yeah, Brin. I just said that. Now, how about we eat some fucking chicken. Okay?”
* * *
GARRETT
“Shouldn’t we talk about the kissing thing?” Brin asked, even as she picked apart the chicken breast with her fingers. I’d given her three pieces, at which she’d rolled her eyes, but at least she was on to her second piece.
That pleased me. Feeding her pleased me. Having her here when I knew there was danger for her outside…pleased me.
“No,” I said, taking a slug of my beer. I didn’t know why I had told her. I just knew it was the reason I had jumped all over her earlier this evening. She made me wait. I’d been waiting for her, and when I considered why I had been so damn anxious it was because I knew I wanted her.
