wounded laugh escaped her. “It never is, is it? And you’re right, it’s not your fault. But somehow, whenever you’re around, bad stuff happens to me.”
Her slender back arched as she swung away.
“Let me see you home.”
At his offer, she turned in a quick circle, noticing, as he did, the taillights of the towing company disappearing around the road’s bend.
“I’ll walk.” Her uneven gait churned up road dust, her face wincing with each step on her wrapped right foot.
He reached her side then jogged ahead, stopping her. “Your ranch is miles away. Be reasonable.”
Her jaw jutted. “I’ll call home. My dad’s helper, Marie, might still be there. She could pick me up.” Her face froze. “My cell phone is in the truck.”
He handed over his phone and waited as she dialed and asked for Marie, then listened as she made reassuring noises before hanging up.
“She’s gone?”
“Yes.” Claire twisted her hair, her expression faraway.
“You didn’t tell your dad what happened.”
“I didn’t want to worry him.” She stared over his shoulders, a line forming between her brows. “I don’t have any other numbers memorized.”
“Claire, I’m not letting you stand out in the dark figuring out a ride when I can drive you myself.”
Her right eyebrow rose. “You stopped being able to ‘let me’ do anything ten years ago.”
He blew out a breath. Patience. He’d left when she’d given him the ultimatum: rodeo or her. Her ruffled feathers were justified. Still, he’d figured she’d have gotten over it by now. If he hadn’t given her father his word, he’d leave. Then again, where else could he go? With his invested winnings mismanaged and lost, and a forced retirement possible, he needed a place to figure out a new future. Fast.
“Claire. Please get in my truck.”
Her hands fisted on the slight flare of her hips. “And if I say no?”
“It won’t affect the outcome either way,” he said evenly, containing his rising temper.
Obstinate woman.
Her eyes roamed skyward and she spoke to the stars. “It’s taking you out of your way. Why bother?”
He cupped her jaw and looked her square in the eye. Truth time.
“I’m heading to your father’s ranch anyway.”
“WHAT? WHY?”
Claire stared at Tanner, her mind careening through the night’s twists and turns.
“I’ll tell you on the drive.” A broad hand gestured. “After you.”
She shook her head. Tanner’s take-charge attitude hadn’t changed a bit. Or the recklessness that’d propelled him through an intersection before noticing she was in it, illegally or not.
Same guy. Same story.
Some things never changed.
And now he might see Jonathan. What if he figured out her long-held secret? One he didn’t deserve to know. If he learned he was her son’s real father and asserted his rights, he’d destroy the stable life she’d reconstructed for her and Jonathan after Kevin’s death.
Tanner cared too much about rodeo—he wouldn’t stick around long enough to be a real father to her boy. And when he left, Jonathan’s shaky confidence would be damaged even further. She couldn’t let that happen.
She studied Tanner from the corner of her eye as she limped slowly beside him. He was as lithe and powerful as she remembered, his back muscles shifting under the white T-shirt tucked into his Wranglers. He still moved with a predator’s grace: coiled strength beneath a relaxed exterior. The chiseled planes of his face hadn’t changed, either, or the level brows over watchful blue eyes. How much would that thoughtful gaze puzzle out when Jonathan came into the picture?
Suddenly the wind rose and the air around them pricked with electricity. Elm trees lashed to and fro as water dusted the air.
“Looks like a bad one,” Tanner hollered when the clouds opened up and threw their first wet volley. A flash lit up the sky, the crash of thunder following close on its heels.
“We’d better run for it,” he said.
She looked down at her throbbing ankle and before she could react, he hoisted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and raced across the road.
“I can walk,” she protested, but he’d already reached his truck. When she pounded on his broad back, he turned, and his breath, barely scented with the tang of cinnamon, was warm on her face, his lips disturbingly close.
“Hold still. You’ll hurt yourself more,” he said in the deep, soft voice he used to gentle two-thousand-pound bulls.
“Let me down.”
“Once you’re inside. Don’t want you injuring that ankle more.” His strong, one-handed grip held her captive as if she weighed nothing. He opened the door and lowered her onto the passenger seat.
She watched him jog around to the driver’s side, wishing she was anywhere but here. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts and memories of a man who’d actually cared about her, not with the one who’d proved he couldn’t care less. A person who’d left her, and an unborn child he’d thankfully never learned of, for what truly mattered to him: fame and fortune.
Tanner slid inside and tossed his hat and jacket in the back. Raindrops fell from his nose and chin. “Here.” He reached behind him and draped a blanket around her. Her teeth chattered and she gathered the covering close. She wanted nothing from him. Not the blanket. Not even this ride. But, given the weather, she couldn’t argue.
“So—so why are you back?” she managed through clenched teeth, her muscles straining not to shake.
“Your father asked me.” He cranked the heat and headed back onto the road.
Confusion mixed with the dull pounding in her head. “Why would he do that? He just had a stroke.”
Blue eyes flicked her way, compassion deepening their color. “He told me about that and the ranch. I offered to help him save it.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope.” His mouth and jaw looked as firm as ever. Definitely not joking.
“So you just dropped your career and came? Can’t remember that being an option before.” She pressed her lips closed, mad that she’d let him get her tail up. His leaving her was water under the bridge. It didn’t matter anymore. Unless
