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“How could I?” Josh stood in front of her, staring down withsteel in his gaze. “How could I what, Nic? How could I keep you safe? How couldI ensure you didn’t go out into a world of predators with no protection? Withno money. How much have you saved up? Where were you going to live? In yourcar?”
“If I have to.” She stood because this was a fight thatrequired her to go toe to toe with the man currently attempting to control herlife. “And none of it is your business.”
“It’s damn straight my business,” he countered. “Everythingabout you is my business. You’re not going to Bliss. The only place you’regoing is straight back to the ranch, and if you don’t want to ride all the waythere with a blistered butt, you’ll go quietly.”
She poked her finger right against his chest. “You won’t laya hand on me, Joshua Barnes-Fleetwood. You don’t scare me. You’re a big bully,and I’m not having it.”
He caught her hand and his expression changed, softening ashe brought it to his lips. “That’s right, baby. You know I won’t hurt you. Youknow I’m not him, and that’s why you’ll forgive me in the end. I love you,Nicole. I love you so much I’ll fight for you. Even if the person I’m fightingis you.”
Manipulative asshole. He’d put her in a corner to see if shewould fight her way out.
Because she could with him. She would have shut down andgone secretive with Micah. She’d shut out everyone for years, but she’d beenready to tell them.
Did it matter? Could she trust them? Or was she puttingherself in a bad position again? She pulled her hand away. “I… Josh, I think weshould talk in private.”
She was deeply aware of how many eyes they had on them.They’d been entertaining an audience all night long.
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve had all night.” Joshwas so heartbreakingly handsome it hurt to look at him. “Let’s go down the hallto our room and we’ll talk this out.”
“This isn’t the kind of thing that can be fixed with aconversation,” she argued. “You broke trust with me.”
“And you told us everything was fine when you’re wanted formurder,” Grim said quietly.
It was nothing more than the truth. “I wasn’t trying to hurtyou. I thought I could have some joy for a little while.”
“I want more than a little while with you.” Grim moved innext to Josh. “And I don’t only want your joy. I want your heartache and allyour sorrows. I want a life, Nicole. But you should know that even if you don’twant that life with me, I’m going to make sure you have one.”
“Nicole’s right. She needs time,” Josh offered. He turned toKim. “Mrs. Kent, I’d like to discuss the situation with you. I don’t merelywant to hide Nicole. I want to get her life back for her.”
“You want me to prove she didn’t kill her husband.” Kimnodded, looking entirely satisfied. “I’d like to do that, too. That, though, isgoing to require some work. I can’t do it overnight, but I think it could be afun project for me and my son.”
“Or I could run again.” The words were stubborn, and shedidn’t mean them. She was tired, and the day had been such a roller coaster.“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, but I also don’t think I can pretend none of thishappened. The truth is I was thinking about telling you, thinking about puttingall of this in your hands, but…”
“No decisions tonight,” Grim said. “Can we put the heavyrelationship talk on the back burner for another time and place? Tonight, let’sgo to bed. Separately, if that’s what you need. Tomorrow we’ll sit down anddiscuss how to handle the situation you’re in. We’ll go back to the ranch andwait for Mrs. Kent to figure out if she can resolve the case.”
“And if she can’t?” Nicole asked.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” His brotherhad the right idea. It was time to start rebuilding trust. “And I’ll tell theshop to fix your car as quickly as possible so you don’t feel like we’reholding you hostage. I’ll trust you not to run, and hopefully over time, you’lltrust me again.”
How could she refuse him? They were giving her everythingshe wanted. Time and space and maybe a way out. “All right. I’ll come home withyou. But I do want my car.”
“About that.” Jack’s face had a sheen of pink.
Abby’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”
“Well, I was worried she would leave,” Jack said quickly.“And Al said that junker wasn’t safe. She’s lived in that car before. She’s gotpillows and blankets in it. I couldn’t let her leave when she’s obviously indanger. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“Of course I knew that,” Josh said, frowning his father’sway. “Did you think I wouldn’t check out her car? I wasn’t going to cube it,though.”
That sounded bad. “Cube?”
Abby stood up to her husband. “How could you?”
Jack shrugged. “The same way I did it to you and Sam. See,Al takes it down to the dump and there’s this big machine…”
“He smushed my car?” That car was all she had.
“You can pick your new one in the morning,” Josh said,sending his father a fierce stare. “We’ll go shopping before we leave. Dad’spaying.”
