“Tyler said you had been called back to fugitive pursuit. Something about a prison break? Catch your man?” he asked lightly, trying to make this casual, as if his heart wasn’t slamming so hard it might break ribs.
“Not quite yet,” she said under her breath. “I wasn’t called away for the break. I left because that night, when we were together, it was too intense. I was in too deep, and I knew if I didn’t leave then, I might never leave.”
“Oh,” he said on a breath. “So you just…left. And didn’t answer my calls.”
He’d comforted himself somewhat with the notion that she had been called back, that it was important, an emergency, and that she hadn’t been able to get back in contact with him. He guessed that was a pipe dream, too. So why was she here?
“I know,” she said, obviously stressed, pushing her hand through her long, silky hair in the way she always did when she was agitated. “I know that was…cold. But I panicked. I’d never thought I was in love before, and it was under the worst possible circumstances. I had to get away, to think,” she said, and he stopped in his tracks by the car, staring at her.
“You thought you were in love?”
Melted-chocolate eyes lifted to his, looking more uncertain than he had ever seen her look.
“Yeah. I know I shouldn’t have bolted, and I’m sorry for that, but…I love you. I knew it that night, and I knew it all week, when I missed you so much I wasn’t worth crap to anyone.”
“You love me?” he repeated, feeling a little stunned at the revelation, and not sure how it affected the tangle of thoughts and emotions raging inside of him.
She’d left him high and dry because she loved him?
“Yes, I love you,” she said again, hands on hips, looking even more aggravated. “So there, I said it. And I know you’re probably really ticked at me, first for lying to you, then for leaving, and I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but I needed to say it, at least, and—”
“I love you, too,” he said, stopping the tirade.
She was impossibly gorgeous, the slight breeze teasing her hair against the smooth skin of her neck, and the softness of her mouth, “Let’s go sit,” he said as she stared at him in clear surprise. Taking her hand, they made their way to a bench in the shade of a tree.
“I asked Don about joining WITSEC on a permanent basis. He seemed to think it was a possibility,” she blurted, clearly apprehensive about his response, though he wondered why. He’d certainly never expected her to quit her job, and wondered if she had thought that he did. He’d left the military because it was the right choice for him; it had been time.
It wasn’t time for Joanna yet, and maybe it never would be. She loved what she did, and he was fine with that.
“I thought you didn’t like working Witness Protection.”
She grinned. “You could say it’s grown on me.”
“I see.” He smiled back.
“I would be working out of the San Antonio office, and I’d probably have a heavy caseload, but I’d be here. It can be a demanding schedule, but I’d be here, not chasing criminals all over the country,” she said.
“That’s good. That’s really good,” he replied, lifting her fingers to his lips. “Would you live in San Antonio, too?”
“I’d have to get a place, yeah. I don’t have one now.”
“Yes, you do,” he said, and she smiled, knowing he meant his house.
“That would be a long drive to work every day,” she said. “But I could be out on the ranch every weekend, and maybe I could work something out with Don. Maybe eventually I might ask to go into instruction, probably in firearms. Not now, but later,” she said.
“I could see you doing that, when you’re ready,” he said, hope blossoming between them as they sat, the hurt of the past weeks all but erased. What was the point of holding on to it? he thought. She was here now and she loved him.
“I could spend a few days in the city during the week, once I get some new help and an assistant manager at the bar,” he offered.
“You’d do that?” she said.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you, Joanna. I’m crazy in love with you.”
“I’m crazy in love with you, too,” she said, and he was quite certain he would never get enough of hearing that, or of saying it back.
They were quiet for a few moments, and he finally stood up, putting his hand out.
“Maybe we can find somewhere more private to continue this discussion,” he said, desire flaring as he looked down at her.
“Not me. I’m living with my brother for now, until I get an apartment,” she said ruefully.
“I can hold on to the hotel room for a few more days. I can wait a little before heading back to the bar,” he said. “Come stay with me. We have catching up to do.”
She laughed. “I don’t have my bags or a change of clothes, and technically, I’m still on the clock for another hour.”
“Meet me there after you’re done, then. Get your bags, but don’t worry about bringing much. You won’t need it,” he said mischievously, making her laugh.
“I’m sure Don won’t care—he can page me if he needs me,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. “But maybe I’ll take a few more of the vacation days coming to me. You can come over to the house, meet my brother,” she said with a grin.
Ben grinned, too. He should have known that when Joanna jumped, she jumped all the way. But she knew his family, and he wanted to know hers.
“Does he still want to shoot me?”
“Only a little, but I’m sure we can change his mind. Though we have more important things to attend to first,” she agreed, her own eyes darkening as her gaze fell to his lips.
“Good to know you have your priorities straight,” he said, laughing, and pulled her in close for a hot kiss. She tasted like heaven, and he didn’t let her speak again for several minutes. When they parted, they were breathing heavily, needing more.
“Yes. Finally,” she said softly, with a smile before leaning in for another kiss.
“Forever,” he said, agreeing, accepting her kiss and happy to leave it at that.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459219175
Copyright © 2012 by Samantha Hunter
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