Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy 2)

She dropped her head back against my chair, closed her eyes. “That money? It’s hush money from my parents. My payment for my elevator experience. Cam knows they gave it to me and told me, at least the last time I talked to him on the phone, that I owed him. It was all because of him that I had it, and I should share some of it with him.”

I stopped directly in front of her, leaned down and put my hands on the arms of the chair, so we were eye to eye. “Your parents gave you money to drop the charges against your brother for giving you to a fucking loan shark and his… his goons as payment?”

I knew my voice was loud, that I could hide my anger no longer, but she wasn’t scared of me. No, she cupped my damn jaw again. “Now I have the money to save Cam from those men.”

My eyes widened, thinking the worst. “You’re not going to give it to him, are you?”

“And enable Cam like my parents? No. That money’s tainted.” She shook her head. “I won’t touch it. I’d rather move to the UK than do anything with it.”

“You’ll hide in your apartment with no lights on until it’s time to move?” She blushed at that. “I thought you said you were tired of running.”

Her chin came up. “I am, but every time I try to get on with my life, things keep messing it up. Do you think I wanted to be given to those men? Do you think I want my parents to call me and tell me to come to a party celebrating Cam’s release from prison? Do you think I want to have a brother like him?”

She moved to stand, and I let her go. She began pacing. I watched her get mad.

Finally. This was what I wanted. Harper mad. Pissed. So angry she stood up to her brother, to her parents, to those fuckers who assaulted her, instead of running.

“Do you think I want my tires slashed? That Cam calls and messes with me? I don’t want that. I don’t want any of it.”

On one of her passes, I grabbed her arm, stopped her. “What do you want?”

Her eyes dropped to my mouth. “You, but I can’t have you.”

Hope replaced all the anger. My heart leaped, not from panic or worry but from something else. Something new. Something… pure. She wanted me. I couldn’t help but grin.

I put my hands to my chest. “I’m right here. I’m all yours.”

Her gaze dropped to my mouth, then I saw disappointment fill her eyes as she turned away from me. “Do you know what those men will do?”

“That’s why you pushed me away yesterday. You’re afraid those guys will hurt me.”

She nodded. “If they discover we’re… together, then they’ll hurt you as pressure for the money. I don’t want them seeing anyone but me.”

I closed my eyes, opened them slowly. I took her hand, lifted it to my cheek again, held it in place. Her skin was so warm, and I seemed to hope her goodness would seep into me.

“I’m a professional fighter. Look at me. Do you think so little of me that I can’t protect myself and you? What about yourself?” I wondered. “Aren’t you afraid?”

She gave me a sad smile. “Afraid? I’ve been afraid for two years. The only time I haven’t been afraid is when I’m with you.”

20

HARPER

I took in the dark scruff on his jaw, the curved muscles of his defined shoulders beneath his T-shirt, the broad chest, narrow waist. He wore dark gym shorts and running shoes. He wasn’t sweaty like after a workout; his clean scent was heady. So was the intense promise in his eyes. I put my hands on his arms, felt the bulging muscles of his biceps, slid them down over the corded forearms to link my fingers with his.

I was riled, tense, angry. Reed had made me talk, forced me to tell him the truth. All of it. And yet, he was still here. He was strong. Strong enough for both of us. And yet, he lifted our linked hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over my knuckles. I felt it, like a jolt of sizzling electricity throughout my body. Strong yet gentle. He was unlike anyone I’d ever known.

“I just want you, too,” he murmured.

“But you don’t just get me. You know my problems, Reed. This is why I’ve been pushing you away.”

“Why we haven’t had phone sex?” he asked, the corner of his mouth tipping up.

I couldn’t help the smile his teasing words brought about. “I… I want you, but—”

With our hands tangled, he quieted me with a kiss. When he lifted his head, he brushed my nose with his. “There are no buts right now. Just us. You’re with me. You’re safe.”

I sighed and nodded, my nose sliding along his cheek, the whiskers there ticklish yet soft. The one urgent kiss now wasn’t enough. He was right in front of me, touching me, our breaths mingling, but I needed more. Turning my head slightly, our mouths met. I was tentative for a split second, a wisp of a thought that Reed might not want more flitted through my brain but was erased entirely when he dropped my hands and pulled me into him, one arm sliding down to grip my ass, the other cupping the back of my head.