father out of this. Let me handle it. Could you do that?”
She still wouldn’t look at him.
He sighed. “Look, it’s the best deal I’ve got for you, baby. The other options aren’t so appealing.”
“Other options?”
He took a moment to answer, letting it sink in. “I think you know.”
She got real quiet.
Cole hated making her afraid, but in this instance, a little fear was probably a good thing. She needed to realize just how precarious a position she was in.
Finally, she turned back to look at him. “What do you mean, ‘make them pay’?”
He looked in her eyes. “Exactly what you think I mean.”
She stared at him a moment, and then nodded her head. “Okay.”
He nodded his head. “Okay.”
And as simple as that, the deal was struck.
She stared off in the distance wondering if he’d keep his end of it.
“Come here,” he said softly, pulling her back against him. “Everything’s gonna be okay. You just gotta trust me. Okay, babe?”
She nodded. She didn’t really have a choice.
They sat quietly for a while.
“Look at all those stars,” she murmured, as if just noticing them.
“Umm hmm.” He could tell the liquor was relaxing her, at least she was letting her guard down some.
“I saw the milky way once,” she whispered.
“Really?”
“Ever seen it?”
“Nope.”
“I was a little girl.”
“So, not so long ago then, huh?” he quipped.
She turned to look at him. “How old are you?”
He looked down at her upturned face. God, she was young. “Too old for you.”
She studied his face in the moonlight, her eyes traveling over his features. God, he was attractive. “Tell me.”
“Thirty.”
She smiled. “Old man.”
He smiled back. “Yeah. Some days I feel it, too.”
“Like today?”
“Yeah. Like today. Now try to get some sleep.” He raised his left hand to the back of her head, and pulled her back against him.
She twisted slightly in his arms and laid her head down on his chest, tucking her head under his jaw, her forehead up against the warm skin of his neck.
Cole set the bottle down, and put his arms around her. Soon he could feel her breathing change, and knew she had drifted off. He stared up at the stars wondering how in the hell this was all going to end. He could get caught up in her. He felt it every time he looked into her eyes.
And that was a dangerous thing.
He couldn’t let that happen. Nothing good could come of it.
After a while, and still with no answers, he rested his cheek against the top of her head, and fell asleep.
Chapter Three
Angel jerked awake to the sound of a gunshot.
She sat straight up, blinking in the early morning light, and immediately felt Cole’s left arm come around across her chest, and pull her back against him. She grabbed at his forearm with both her hands. She noticed his right arm was extended, and he was holding the 9mm handgun he carried in his shoulder holster.
He pulled the trigger, and another blast made her jump.
He was shooting at something on the ground. She followed the direction the gun was aimed, and saw a large snake writhing on the ground not ten feet from them. “Oh, my God.” Angel kicked her legs, trying to back up.
Cole tightened his hold on her. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s dead.”
“Are there anymore?” she asked in a panic, her eyes darting around.
“Could be.” He holstered the gun, and nudged her. “Come on, babe. Get up. My legs are falling asleep.”
She leaned forward, and Cole got to his feet, and stretched. “Goddamn. I’ll ache all day from sleeping like that.”
“What time is it?” she asked, her eyes squinted at the horizon.
Cole took out his phone, and flipped it open. “Nine.”
Angel stretched.
He watched her, his eyes running over the long, slender lines of her body, until she turned and caught him. Quickly looking away, he announced, “I, uh, gotta take a piss, I mean, I have to use the…facilities.”
She smiled. “Good save. Me, too.”
Cole smiled back, and pulled her to her feet. “Take your pick.” He motioned with his arms, indicating all the rock formations and scrub brush surrounding them. “Yell if you see any snakes.”
“You can count on that,” she replied.
He walked behind some rocks. When he came back, she was nowhere in sight. He grabbed up the blanket, and rolled it up, and attached it to the front of his bike with a bungee cord. He was stuffing the bottle of whiskey back into the saddlebag when she came back.