The waitress came up to the table to deposit a large plate of food in front of him. He felt as if he might throw up. He watched Darby dig into hers as if she hadn’t eaten all day. She didn’t seem to care that he hadn’t touched his. He scoffed at that thought. She didn’t seem to care about him at all.

  He crossed his arms and watched her, thinking he could at least make her feel guilty. But she didn’t seem to notice. When the waitress stopped back by again, she asked if there was something wrong with his meal he hadn’t touched.

  “I guess I’m not that hungry,” he snapped. “My jaw hurts.”

  Darby smiled at the girl. “Mine’s delicious. Please tell the cook that my steak is cooked to perfection.”

  The girl brightened. “I will.” She left and Darby went right back to eating. He couldn’t believe the amount of food she was putting away. He could see that she’d put on a few pounds. Not that it hurt her figure. Yet.

  He looked past her to the cop. He also seemed to have a healthy appetite. Aiden had to look away. He realized that the food actually smelled good. He felt his stomach growl. He hadn’t eaten all day, too anxious to stop for food. But he wasn’t about to touch it now.

  “I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning,” he said.

  “I think that’s best,” Darby said as she carefully cut off another piece of her steak and popped it into her mouth.

  He watched her chew. “I suppose breakfast is out of the question.”

  “Yes, it is,” she said after swallowing. “I don’t want to see you again. If I do, I’ll do more than call a friend.” He scoffed, but when she glanced at him, he saw the look in her eye. “I bought a gun after the last time I saw you and I learned how to use it,” she said, her gaze again on the steak she was cutting into a bite. When she looked up, he saw more than determination in her brown eyes.

  With a shock, he realized that she would actually shoot him. Hell, she might not stop with one shot. She’d kill him. It made him want to hurt her badly even as he feared he wouldn’t get the chance now.

  He leaned toward her, wanting her on her knees, begging him for mercy. “Someday, I am going to make you pay for this,” he whispered. “Enjoy your dinner.” He leaned back and, sneering, started to reach for his wallet.

  “My treat,” she said. “I wasn’t going to let you buy mine anyway.”

  “Fine, pay for mine as well.” He shoved noisily out of the booth, making the dishes on the table clatter. Moving to her side of the booth, he leaned down. He could feel the former cop watching him as if ready to spring up in an instant if needed. “Better watch your back,” he said, his voice rising with each word. “Because this isn’t over until I say it’s over. The next time you see me, you’re going to live just long enough to regret it.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DARBY TRIED TO catch her breath as Aiden stormed out. She could feel everyone in the café looking at her. The man had just threatened her in front of a lot of people. Tonight, she’d seen everything about the man that she had feared. Thank God she hadn’t married him.

  Her hand holding her fork was shaking. She set down the fork a little too hard and fought tears. He scared her because she feared that she would see him again. How was it possible that she’d ever loved this man? Because he’d hidden this side of him—until he hadn’t.

  She looked up, scared for a moment that Aiden had come back. But instead, Jasper took the seat across from her. He’d brought his plate and utensils. As the waitress rushed over, he said, “Can you get rid of all of this.” He motioned to Aiden’s uneaten meal.

  As the waitress hurried away with it, Jasper said, “You okay?” She nodded as she felt the people in the café were no longer watching, as if they knew she’d be safe with Jasper. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he continued. “I have a real problem with any man abusing a woman.” He shrugged. “Also Aiden is a jerk. I wish you’d have let me hit him again.”

  The last made her smile. It was over, no matter what Aiden said. She was just relieved that he hadn’t made a worse scene. But even more relieved that she hadn’t foolishly agreed to meet him anywhere but here. It scared her to think of what might have happened. What might have happened if Jasper hadn’t shown up when he did. The hate she’d seen in Aiden’s eyes when he’d looked at her still chilled her to her core.

  Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she picked up her fork. She wasn’t hungry, but like earlier, she was determined not to show it. She took a bite and then another.

  “I got the newspaper before your call,” Jasper said. “Good article on Gossip. I took care of that other thing as I’m sure you knew I would. Still waiting to hear.” She felt herself relax, which she knew was his plan. “I heard another business is going to be breaking ground soon here in Buckhorn. Heard anything about it?”

  She hadn’t, but her interest was piqued. Mostly, thanks to Jasper, things were feeling normal again and she needed that right now. “Where?”

  He described a spot on the other side of town that had a large condemned building on it. She thought someone had told her it had been an apartment house at some point in Buckhorn’s history.

  She realized that Jasper had been more upset about what had been going on with Aiden than even she had. That comment about him having a problem with men abusing women. She would have loved to have asked him about that, but this wasn’t the time. Still, she felt as if he’d revealed a little of his past that he kept so well guarded and that made her warm a little inside.

  “In case you wonder why it took me so long to get to town, I got held up because of a low tire and then a cattle drive,” he said. “I wish you had waited for me.”

  Darby nodded. “I felt bad about asking you and I just wanted to get it over with.” She met his gaze. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I thought I could handle him myself...”

  “No problem. I’m sorry if I disappointed you.” Their gazes held for a long moment.

  “You could never do that,” she said, her voice breaking. “I just didn’t want you to kill him and go to prison on my account.”

  He smiled and broke eye contact first. “I was hungrier than I thought.” He took a bite of his meal, which looked a whole lot like hers. They ate in silence for a few minutes. “Maybe you should get a restraining order on him.”

  She shook her head. “You should know that they aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. He said he was leaving town in the morning and that will be the end of it.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  She heard the worry in his voice. She wasn’t sure and she could see that he knew it. “I told him I bought a gun and learned how to use it.”

  “Is that true?” he asked, looking worried.

  “I have a gun and I do know how to use it...”

  “But you couldn’t kill him.”

  Darby shook her head. “A part of me feels sorry for him. He’s not a happy person. I think he hates himself and that’s why he takes it out on other people.”

  “You’re cutting him a whole lot more slack than I would. I think he’s an arrogant, privileged, overindulgent asshole who’s used to getting his way.” He looked down at his plate and she saw him hesitate, but only for a moment before he put down his fork and said, “I also think you should stay in my guest room out at the ranch at least for tonight.” She started to argue, but he stopped her. “That wasn’t a suggestion. Neither of us will be able to sleep otherwise and I need my sleep.”

  As he pushed his nearly empty plate away, the waitress came with their cake. Four pieces, one for each of them to eat now and two to go.

  Jasper grinned over at her, looking as happy as a kid on Christmas morning. “Bessie makes the best red velvet cake.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Darby said and took a bite. “By the way, thank you.” He didn’t ask for what exactly. He flashed her a smile, but she could see worry in his gray eyes. Jasper thought that they hadn’t seen the last of Aiden. She feared he was right.

  * * *

  AIDEN FELT IN SHOCK. He couldn’t believe that Darby could brush him off that easily. Did she really think she could just tell him to get lost and he would? He considered waiting for her outside of the café. But the spring night was cold and anyway, he couldn’t get to her with the ex-cop around. No, he had to bide his time.

  He walked away from the café through the darkness that had dropped like a blanket over the town. He could feel the ring box in his pocket. Had he really offered it to her only to have her turn him down? Who did the bitch think she was? Didn’t she realize he could do better?

  His head ached. He felt as if he might explode if he didn’t release some of this tension. He couldn’t remember ever being this furious. He’d come all this way to try to get her back. Now he couldn’t imagine why. What was wrong with him?

  Ahead, he could see the light of the gas station he’d passed on the way into town. This wasn’t the way to the motel. He’d gone the wrong direction. Looking behind him, he could see the Sleepy Pine Motel sign on the other side of the highway and clear at the other end of town with nothing but darkness beyond it. He thought the cold spring night air might calm him, but like his walk in the wrong direction, it only seemed to fuel his wrath.

  If he could get his hands on Darby he could make her change her mind. He told himself that he wouldn’t hurt her. He’d just talk to her. Once she realized how much he needed her right now...

  Still filled with blind fury, he saw a cat hunkered in the shadows at the mouth of an alley. He kicked at it, but the damned thing leaped in the air, a claw catching his good pants. He felt the pants tear even as he tried to kick it again. But the cat was too quick. As it scurried down the alley, he almost went after it, determined to punch out the last of its nine lives.

  Instead, he kicked an empty metal garbage can sitting at the mouth of the alley. His boot put a satisfying dent in the side of it. He kicked again and again, pretending it was the cat, Darby, Jasper the cop, until the can was nothing but a heap of cheap metal and he was breathing hard.

  “Excuse me.” The voice coming out of the darkness startled him. He swung around, at first not seeing where the sound had come from.

  “I’ll pay for the garbage can,” Aiden said, thinking destroying it had been worth most any amount. Not that it had completely satisfied the need inside him.

  “That won’t be necessary,” said the low male voice.

  He looked down the short alley to a building hunkering there. It appeared to be an old carriage house. But someone had put black paper over the windows. A faint light glowed behind it. He couldn’t quite make out the sign in the window. Gossip? That couldn’t be right.

  At the sound of boots on gravel, Aiden looked quickly to his right as a small man dressed all in black stepped forward. He was much closer than Aiden had thought—and much older too. The man was holding a cat. Aiden had a bad feeling it was the one he’d tried to kick.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” the man said in a low, almost hypnotic voice.

  If the man planned to give him shit for kicking at his cat, he’d picked the wrong night and the wrong man. The old man looked decrepit and puny. “You didn’t startle me,” Aiden lied.

  The man smiled, exposing a row of tiny corn kernel–like teeth. “That’s good. Then you don’t mind giving me a hand.”

  His first impulse was to simply pay for the man’s garbage can, apologize for kicking at his cat and be on his way. He reached for his wallet.

  “No, please,” the man said with a chuckle. “I don’t need your money. I could use just a few moments of your time, though. I’ll make it worth your while.”

  That made him laugh. “If you’re offering me money—”

  “I wouldn’t insult you like that. No,” the man said. “I’ve found information is often worth much more than money, don’t you agree?”

  Aiden had had enough of this. After the way this day had gone, he just wanted to get back to his motel room, turn on the TV, have a drink from the bottle he’d brought for the trip and try to forget all of it. He’d actually thought he’d be sharing his bed with Darby. What a fool he’d been.

  “I’m not sure what you’re selling, but I’m not interested. I’ve had a bad day and the night hasn’t been that good either.”

  He started to take a step away when the man said, “Oh, I think I can fix that. Unless you aren’t interested in what I could tell you about Darby Fulton—and her friend, former homicide detective Jasper Cole.” That stopped him. “I thought that might interest you. I do need help carrying something out to my truck, but then I’ll give you something that will make up for the day and night you’ve had. I promise. It will make you much happier than kicking a garbage can. Or even a cat,” he said as he lowered the feline to the ground. It immediately took off at a run up the street.

  “I take it that wasn’t your cat,” Aiden said, thankful for that.

  The man started down the alley toward the shop. “By the way, the name is Leviathan Nash, proprietor of my shop, Gossip. Catchy name, don’t you think?”

  Aiden watched him go, telling himself it was time to put Darby behind him even as he ached to get more than even. “How heavy is this something you need carried?”

  “Don’t worry, you can handle it easily with my help,” Leviathan Nash said.

  If this man had something on Darby and the cop... Aiden hesitated only a moment before he followed the odd little man down the alley.

  As they reached the building, the door to Gossip opened as if by magic. Leviathan Nash stepped through, Aiden right behind him before the door closed and locked.

  In the middle of the floor sat a large wooden box several feet wide and high and a good six feet long. Aiden felt a little unease as he joked, “I hope that doesn’t have a body in it.”

  * * *

  JASPER NOTICED THAT Darby was quiet as they left the café and walked down the street through the pockets of darkness between the streetlamps to his pickup. He’d half expected Aiden to be lying in wait and was a little surprised—and maybe a little disappointed—when the man didn’t leap out from somewhere by the time they’d reached his truck.

  If Aiden had plans to ambush Darby again tonight, Jasper wanted to be there. He also would feel justified to subdue him until Marshal Leroy Baggins could be there. The man thought his jaw hurt now... Try to hurt Darby again and Jasper swore he would show Aiden real pain.

  At his pickup, he spotted Ruby sitting in the front seat, wagging her tail enthusiastically. He’d left her to guard the pickup and it appeared that it hadn’t been tampered with. He’d half expected Aiden to at least put a knife through one of his tires or take a rock to the windshield. He seemed that kind of guy.

  He checked the tire that had been going flat before he’d driven into town. It was still fine.

  Darby appeared surprised too that there had been no sign of Aiden or any damage to his truck as she joined Ruby. “If that puppy crowds you, just push her over,” he said as he slid behind the wheel. Darby had her arm around Ruby and had pulled her over onto her lap. Ruby was licking her face, making Darby laugh and Jasper smile. He did love a woman who loved his dog, he thought.

  As he drove out of town, he passed the motel. There was only one car parked in front of any of the rooms. He figured the gray SUV belonged to Aiden, but he didn’t see him anywhere. Nor was there a light on in the motel room where the SUV was parked.

  “That his rig?” he asked Darby, who nodded and was also looking in that direction. He wondered if like him, she’d hoped that the man had just left town and not looked back. No such luck.

  He was glad he’d invited her out to the ranch for the night. He feared it would be just like Aiden to be waiting for her down near her office and the apartment over it where she lived.

  Neither said much on the drive out to the ranch. The night was dark except for the rim of gold peeking over the peaks to the east. By the time he pulled into the yard, the moon had scaled the mountains.

  He parked and they climbed out into the moonlight splashed across the landscape. The smell of pines and the creek drifted on the slight breeze. Standing in the moon’s warm glow out here away from everything, Jasper felt as if he could finally breathe. He looked over at Darby who’d joined him. She had turned her face up to the moonlight. He was struck by the peaceful expression on her face. Maybe they weren’t all that different after all.

  The stir of the boughs of the nearby pines played a lullaby. It teased at her hair. As she lifted a hand to brush a lock back from her eyes, he reached out for her, wanting to touch her more than he wanted his next breath. The last time he’d kissed her, he’d been a different man. They’d both been so young, so inexperienced. But still he found it hard to believe that she could have forgotten especially when he’d later realized that it had been her first time. He’d never forgotten that night. Or her.

  He hadn’t realized how badly he’d wanted to kiss her again until he pulled her to him. Her gaze locked with his as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. Her lips parted, opening to him. She tasted of cream cheese frosting. He heard her emit a small pleased sigh as he deepened the kiss, and she leaned into him. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close. His pulse quickened as her full breasts pressed against his chest.

  Need made his knees weak. His heart was a hammer in his chest, his pulse throbbing hard just beneath his skin. But it was the fire in his belly that surprised him. He hadn’t wanted a woman in so long. He’d told himself that he didn’t want this, didn’t need it. And he hadn’t. Until Darby. Even then, he’d tried as hard as he could not to want or need her. But it had been a lie. He’d never wanted or needed anything more in his life.