Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,58

arms as Ted closed the door behind them, giving them a measure of privacy.

Jess said nothing, but she clung to him in a way that made Dallas feel special and important.

“I’m sorry about last night,” he said.

“What happened?” She stepped back and looked at him, a questioning look on her face.

Dallas sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Uh, I’d rather not involve you.”

“Involve me?” Her dark eyes flashed, and Dallas saw lightning and thunder in her expression.

“Jess,” he said. “I just…I’m looking for Martha.”

Horror crossed her face, but she wiped it away quickly. “Okay. I get it. I see.” She started down the steps, obviously headed back to her car.

“Jess?”

“She was your wife, and you want her back. I get it.” She tossed the words over her shoulder like they meant nothing to her, and it took Dallas a few moments to make sense of them in his head.

By that time, Jess had made it back to her car. She sat behind the wheel already. Dallas went down the steps in a jog and hurried toward her. “Wait, wait,” he said. “That’s not true at all.”

All of her windows were up, and she glared at him through the glass. He put both palms against the glass, and said, “Jess, wait. You’re wrong.”

She cracked the window and he continued, almost desperate for her not to drive away believing he was looking for Martha because he wanted her back. “I don’t want Martha back. I need to find her so her thugs will stop bothering me.”

Jess simply stared at him. “Her thugs?”

“I couldn’t take you to dinner last night, because when I got home yesterday, there were two guys here, and they made me work on their truck for five hours. I locked the kids in the bedroom to protect them, and they were terrified and crying by the time I finished after eight p.m.”

Jess killed the engine and got out of the car. She stared at Dallas, her eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t leave, not over this.

“You’re not trying to find Martha?”

“I am,” he said. “But not to get her back.” He tentatively reached out and brushed her fingers with his. “I just…need to find her and get her out of whatever situation she’s in. Otherwise, that Josh character that showed up at the ranch could continue to make my life difficult.”

Sudden worry hit Dallas again. “And yours,” he added. Perhaps it was better if she left in a rage and never spoke to him again. His heart wailed, because it had just found another rock and another hard place to exist between.

“You didn’t come to work,” Jess said, her voice feeble.

“Thomas wanted to stay home from school,” Dallas said. “We’re just hanging out. Ted’s here.”

“Yeah, I saw Ted.” Jess blew out her breath and looked away. “Okay, well, as long as we’re okay.”

“I think we’re okay,” Dallas said. “What do you think?”

She wouldn’t meet his eye again, and Dallas finally reached up and gently guided her face back to his. “Jess?”

“I feel like you said yesterday,” she whispered. “Disconnected.”

“Do you have a few minutes?” he asked. “Come in and sit with me.” He watched the indecision rage across her face.

She finally nodded, and Dallas tucked her into his side and led her back to the house. Fierce determination filled him. He was not going to let Josh or Mario take what he’d been building. Not his relationship with his children, and not this beautiful woman at his side.

Find Martha, he thought. Get her out. Pay the debt.

Be free.

Chapter Sixteen

Jess told herself not to worry about not being in the spotlight of Dallas’s life. He had a lot going on right now, and she didn’t need to be front and center. She kept her head down, and she went to work everyday.

Dallas texted her every morning to let her know if he was going to be at work that day or not, and if he was, what they should do for lunch. She sometimes took lunch to his office, and he sometimes joined her in the West Wing.

Those thirty minutes every day became the basis of their relationship, and as the days and weeks passed, she started to wonder if that was all she’d ever get with him.

They hadn’t spoken about the holidays, though Jess’s mom had called and asked her to come to Montana for the Morales family celebration. With only a week to go until Christmas, Jess had to make a decision.

She worked at the