Page 49 of Rolling Thunder

“You heard me.” He chuckled a little. “But I don’t know if you’ll remember this in the morning.”

“My tolerance is pretty good.”

“Because you’re still standing basically unassisted, I totally believe you.”

Nervous laughter erupted from her.

“How much did I drink?”

“A lot.”

“Oh.”

“How about sleep? Tomorrow, you can decide if you want to go to the cops or let me handle him myself.”

“Will you cut him up and feed him to the gators?” She giggled a little. Sure enough, she was that drunk.

“That’s actually a great idea.”

A little humor had allowed her adrenaline to wane, and when she tried to take a step, it didn’t work out like she planned. If not for his strong arms, she would have been in a heap on the ground.

“Want to sleep here?”

She glanced up at him and knew he knew what she was thinking. She was pretty drunk, had just confessed to being taken advantage of in this same state. And now he was asking her to stay over.

“Sleeping only,” he added softly.

The next morning, Kayla’s eyes snapped open, and it all came rushing in at her. She wasn’t in her own bed. Her head was pounding. A heavily muscled, tattooed arm was draped across her. She stretched and felt the uncomfortable bite of her belt buckle digging into her skin where she’d slept on it. A peek under the banket revealed she was still wearing her jeans and belt. She had a sudden and strong suspicion he purposely left the belt on her so she wouldn’t have any doubt what had or hadn’t gone on last night. Then she looked over her shoulder and saw that he was still dressed, and lying on top of the blanket that was tucked around her. Little shattered pieces inside her clicked back into place, and light gleamed through. She knew.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

“I heard that,” he mumbled.

“Fuck!” she squeaked.

“Thought I was still sleeping?”

“Yes!”

“Sorry. I’m glad you feel the same way. Although I am a little surprised you remembered that.”

“Were you hoping I didn’t?”

“No. Stay here, I’ll put on some coffee and get you some Advil.”

CHAPTER 19

Once she was fortified with fresh, strong coffee, the night before seemed to come rushing back at her like a bad dream.

“I need to check on Bill and the horses,” she said.

“I’ll take you. I called Jake last night. He’ll be here this afternoon.”

“Your brother, Jake?”

“Yeah. We need backup. A guy like Trent won’t try to take on Canyon Bill by himself. If he comes, he’s gonna bring some thugs with him.” She recoiled a little internally. It was true. She knew already that was how Trent operated.

“I’ll go to the cops. I don’t want anybody to get hurt.”