A little less than forty-eight hours later, Zach was back in his hotel suite, freshly showered and shaved. Chad was competing in a bull riding competition, and his mother had gone along to watch. Angelina hovered about, begging to help him. He finally sent her out to fill a prescription and hoped she’d take her time about it. He wanted Dusty, but she had left as soon as he got back to his room, and he hadn’t seen her since. He had called her hotel, but she hadn’t been in. If only she had a cell phone. He was pretty sure Sam would be at the rodeo for Chad’s ride.
Dusty was still hiding something from him. She hadn’t said she loved him yet, but he was pretty sure she did. At this point, he didn’t much care if she ever said it. He wanted to be with her and that was that, but they needed to settle a few things. The stock show would be over in two days, and he planned to take Dusty home with him.
Angelina returned with his medication, and he sent her away again for some food. He reached for his cell from the night table and dialed the Holiday Inn again, asking for Dusty’s room.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the clerk said. “The O’Donovans checked out an hour ago.”
“What?”
“They checked out.”
“You must be mistaken. The stock show isn’t over.”
“They canceled their reservation for the rest of their stay. I’m sorry, sir.”
Zach hung up and threw his cell phone on the floor. There had to be some mistake. She wouldn’t leave without telling him. Would she?
He scrambled out of bed, cursing at the pain in his thigh, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He grabbed his crutches and limped down to the parking garage and drove his rented Jag over to the stock showgrounds. He had a hunch…
Yep, she was there. By Diablo’s pen, singing to that damn bull again. Hell, she’d leave without saying goodbye to him, but he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist seeing that goddamned animal one last time.
His eyes burned as he walked toward her. “You checked out of your hotel,” he said, his voice sounding low and primal.
“Zach.” Her brown eyes widened into two saucers. “Y-You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“You were going to leave. You were going to fucking leave me, weren’t you?”
“I…” She fidgeted with a stray wisp of hair that had come loose from her braid.
He dropped his crutches and stalked closer to her, the heat of his own anger overpowering the pain in his leg. “Answer me, goddamn it!”
“Please. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Answer me!”
“I’m not worth this, Zach. The last thing I want—”
“The last thing you want?” He gripped her shoulders and she winced. He didn’t care. “Have you given a thought to what I want? In case you haven’t, let me spell it out for you. Y-O-U. You, Dusty. I want you. But you already know that. Why are you leaving me?”
“I-I never should have come here.”
“Well, you did, and I’m not giving you up.”
“You don’t have a choice, Zach.”
“The hell I don’t.” He dropped one hand to her wrist and dragged her toward his rented hay barn next to Diablo’s stall, ignoring the piercing sparks in his leg.
“Stop this. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“Don’t righteously give a damn at the moment.”
“I do, Zach. I give a damn. About you. About your leg. Your health.”
“Darlin’, if you gave a damn about me you wouldn’t be leaving me.” He dragged her into the barn and pushed her against the wall. “What kind of a game have you been playing with me?”
Her cherry lips trembled. “No game. I swear it.”
“Bullshit, darlin’. I love you. I want to be with you. I could have sworn you felt the same. But you were going to leave me. Now explain yourself.”