Besides, she had other plans. “You can’t give up the Circle J.”
“Why not? If I’ve figured out anything throughout this whole mess, it’s that people are a lot more important to me than places. And I’m never going to get that mixed up again.”
He brought his lips down to hers, tasting, caressing. A short little kiss that left her hungry for more.
She smiled up at him, wondering if her eyes were twinkling like the first stars in the wide open sky. “There’s another reason you can’t give up the ranch and move to the city.”
“What’s that?”
“Because I have a job interview with a sheriff’s department up in Wyoming. Teton County.”
“What?”
“I want to go back to what is important to me. Helping people. Protecting people. The hands on part of justice. Not running down details for the D.A.”
He let out a chuckle. “So that’s what your job is about? Running down details?”
“Not is, was. I quit.”
His eyes rounded. “You quit your job?”
“I couldn’t go back there. Not after all that’s happened. There’s no part of me that even wants to. I need a change of scenery.”
The smile started with his eyes then spread to his whole face. “I know a place that has great scenery. Or at least it will once you’re there.”
Oh, God. If he threw a tilt of the hat or a “Howdy, ma’am” in there, she was toast. As it was, she felt as if she might just swoon.
His smile dimmed. “You okay?” He cupped her elbow with his hand.
“Yeah. I’m more than okay, as long as I can catch my breath. This is all happening a little fast.”
He nodded. “I have guest cabins. I’ve never rented one out on more than a weekly basis, but I’m sure it can be arranged. I’m pretty close with the boss.”
“You would do that?”
“Let you get your feet wet, decide if it’s what you really want? Absolutely. And the rest…the rest we’ll just take day by day, okay?”
She shot him a teasing smile. “One day is all you can handle?”
His eyes darkened a shade, deepened. “No. That’s not all I can handle. It’s not all I want. I want more. I know that even now. I want the rings and the wedding vows, and I want the promises of forever. But before any of that, I want you to be sure that you want that, too. And I’m willing to wait as long as it takes—’til I’m as old as those mountains, if need be—for you to be sure. For us to be sure.”
“You’d do that?”
“Only for you, darling. Only for you.”
He kissed her again, this time slow and deep. And for the first time in her life she knew she had found what she wanted. What she needed. What she never even really knew existed before. She’d found a home. She’d found a family. And she’d found someone she could trust to be there whenever she needed to reach out her hand.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6054-6
A RANCHER’S BRAND OF JUSTICE
Copyright © 2010 by Ann Voss Peterson
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*Wedding Mission
*Wedding Mission
*Wedding Mission
A Rancher’s Brand of Justice Page 17
