Page 169 of Lost Trust

“I’m not scared of him,” I say.

“Behind me, Rina.”

The pounding comes again. Hard enough to shake the door in its frame.

“Marina!”

Royce reaches for the lock.

My heart slams against my ribs, and the door swings open.

And there he is.

Blaze’s eyes move from me to Royce.

Then back to me.

He just stares.

For a few seconds, he looks like his brain can’t make sense of what his eyes are telling him.

Then his jaw tightens.

His gaze settles on Royce. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Royce doesn’t answer. He steps through the doorway and onto the porch.

I reach for the light switch and flick it on. The porch floods with yellow light, and I follow him outside.

That’s when Blaze really sees him.

Bare chest. Bare feet. Jeans sitting low on his hips. Sleep-tousled dark hair.

Blaze’s eyes drag over him slowly, taking in every detail.

Then they snap to me.

I know exactly what he sees—Royce’s shirt hanging loose around my thighs, sex-mussed hair, and my bare legs beneath the hem.

His expression twists into something ugly. “Came here to work, huh, babe?”

My stomach knots.

Blaze gives a humorless laugh. “I thought they hired you to ride horses, not second-rate bull riders.”

The words barely leave his mouth, and Royce moves. One second, he was standing beside me. The next, he’s advancing on Blaze with murder in his eyes, his fist already drawing back.

“Royce!” I grab his arm with both hands. His muscles bunch beneath my fingers. “Don’t.”

Blaze takes a step backward. He doesn’t see the porch step behind him. His heel catches, and his arms windmill.

The man who came pounding on my door in the middle of the night goes tumbling backward and lands square on his ass in the gravel.

For one stunned second, nobody moves.

Then Rowdy lets out a sharp, indignant snort from behind the fence.

And for some reason, that’s what breaks me.