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Three words were all it took for time to warp and Darren Pierce to be transported back to the last day of high school. What the hell was Reese Hayes doing here? Even after all these years, he would recognize that voice. The desperation cut straight through his question—and his heart—as he made a beeline toward her.
The jerks who’d been squatting on his property had run off fast. But how had she gotten here?
Before his brain had time to come up with a response, he opened the door to a shed inside the old equipment building that he probably should have torn down years ago. The shutters had been closed and too little light came in from the building. The electricity had been knocked out in the last storm. He flipped on the flashlight app as Reese said his name. He flashed the light against the back wall and saw her. The second his gaze caught hers, all those old feelings surged, along with a threat to derail common sense. She’d walked out ontheirfuture, not just her family and the town. But, right now, she was in danger and he couldn’t hold the past against her. Besides, if life had turned out differently, he never would have had the twins. Those girls were everything to him.
Darren closed the distance between them in two strides. He took a knee and ran the light the length of her body.
“Where does it hurt?” he asked.
“The back of my head feels like someone tried to drive a nail in it,” she said in the voice that used to bathe him in warmth and light a dozen fires inside his chest. Now? He shoved aside those thoughts as he took stock of the situation. Her hands were behind her back. Her ankles were bound. The kind of anger that he might have acted on as a teenager if someone set him off pushed to the surface.
Darren immediately began ripping the electrical tape to free her hands. He moved to her feet next and freed them in a matter of seconds. Even in this light, she was still beautiful. Reese had a thick mane of dark-roast hair and espresso-colored eyes to match. Olive skin didn’t hide the flush to her cheeks when she smiled or got nervous. He remembered the way her face flushed a second before their first kiss in the biology lab, when they’d been forced to stay after to help clean up. The teacher disappeared down the hallway and a moment had happened between them that had replayed in his thoughts far too often over the years.
As far as kisses had gone, theirs might have been innocent. Not much more than her cherry lips pressed against his own. But the effect had been a lasting imprint and the kiss he’d compared all others to. Then again, his first would always hold a special place in his heart. He’d written it off as to be expected, rather than go down the route of being irreplaceable.
The minute she could sit up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight. “Thank you.”
“No need for thanks,” he reassured her. She didn’t need to feel indebted to him. He did, however, have a growing list of questions. Her body was trembling—from fear, he expected, causing more anger to surface. Right now, he needed to get her out of there. “Can you walk?”
“I think so,” she said as he lifted her to standing. Her knees almost immediately buckled. He steadied her, looping his arm around her. “Guess that’s not as easy as I thought it was going to be.”
“My horse isn’t far,” he said. He needed to get her out of this building, since he had no idea if those jerks were coming back or if they would bring friends. He’d spooked them away. His initial thought had been poachers. He ran into them from time to time on his small property. Growing up on a cattle ranch, he knew what to look for.
There’d been something different about this group, though.
“I might not be able to make it on my own,” she said, flexing and releasing her fingers a few times, as if she was trying to bring back the blood.
“I already called the law to investigate, but I can’t risk sticking around. We need to go. I can carry you,” he said. “I’ll give you my weapon in case they come back. You keep watch and buy us some time if anyone surprises us.” Normally, he would be fine with sticking around for a fight, but the crown of her head was caked with blood. He wouldn’t have moved her at all if there was a way around it.
She nodded.
He handed over his Colt .45, then scooped her up in his arms, ignoring the electrical currents that vibrated in his body. He chalked up the feeling to muscle memory as he bolted toward the door.
“Do you know what day it is?” he asked as he exited the old equipment building. He’d moved the shed inside to keep it out of the elements while he figured out what to do with both.
“Monday,” she said with a whole lot of uncertainty in her voice. “Is that right?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. At least she had the day of the week right. She knew his name, too, so that was another good sign she might not have a concussion. “What about the month?”
“December,” she said, sounding a little more confident this time.
“Right again,” he said. There was a good chance she would be okay. He would still call in the doctor. “Do you know the people who ran off?”
“No,” she said hesitantly.
“Any idea what that was about?” he asked as he approached the tree line, where he’d left Blaze, his mare.
“I have no clue,” she said as she watched their backs while he sprinted through the woods toward his horse. Working on a horse ranch kept him fit. Plus, there were the extra workouts, which had to be temporarily suspended while he had the twins. He needed to be in shape to chase after those little angels.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said, glancing at her and seeing the physical pain that her trying to answer seemed to create. Her face twisted. Even in pain, she was more beautiful than he remembered.
But he also recalled how she’d stomped on his heart and never looked back, so he intended to keep his guard up.
Chapter Two
Wrapped in arms like bands of steel, Reese surveyed the trees for fear one of the jerks who’d abducted her—and abduction was all she could think about at this point—would come back. No doubt, the bastards would be prepared for Darren this time.
Gratitude sprang to her eyes in the form of tears as he zigzagged through the trees and toward safety.
