together, Tessa hurried outside. Denver parked the rental near the garage, and Tessa ran down the path barefoot. She reached the car just as he opened the door and stretched out.
He looked as if he hadn’t slept in the two days he’d been gone. His jaw was dark with shadow, his eyes sunk deep into his head and the lines near his mouth seemed to have deepened.
“I thought you’d be asleep,” he said when she flung her arms around his neck.
“I couldn’t. I missed you,” she said in a rush, glad just to be in his arms again.
His hands clasped behind her back and he held her close, his breath fanning across her hair. “I missed you, too,” he admitted. “Maybe I should leave more often.”
“Maybe you should stay.” She could hear his heart drumming, feel the warmth of his body surround her. A slight breeze, cool from the night, played with her hair and ruffled his.
“Van Stern caught up with me. He needs me in L.A.”
“He called here, too.”
“I know. There’s a problem with a project at work.”
“So that’s why you came back,” Tessa said, disappointed.
“That, and the fact that I couldn’t let you off the hook. You owe me, Kramer.”
Cocking her head to look up at him, she asked, “Owe you what?”
His teeth gleamed in the dark. “A trip to L.A.”
Tessa groaned. “I hoped you’d forgotten.”
“No way. A bet’s a bet.” His arms tightened around her. “I’ve come to collect.”
“Now?”
“Now. Get ready. We’re leaving in”—he checked his watch—“less than an hour.”
“But I can’t—” she said, suddenly panicked. Though she longed to go with him, this was too soon. She couldn’t just abandon the ranch—a ranch she’d worked so hard for. Nor could she leave her family for the sake of a whim ... or a bet.
“Sure you can. I’ve already bought the airline tickets. Come on, Tess, it’s only a few days.” He took her face between his hands, forced her to stare up at him, and the laughter died in his eyes. “Come with me, Tessa. See how I live—stay with me.”
Her throat closed. Hadn’t he asked her once before to leave this ranch and follow him to Los Angeles? On the afternoon of the fire, he’d begged her to go with him, and then seven years later he’d told her that the love they’d shared, the love she’d cherished, had meant nothing to him.
“I have responsibilities,” she said, her voice husky. She tried to take a step backward, but his arms were strong and unmoving, his features set.
“So do I. In L.A.”
“But—”
“I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment,” he reminded her, and her heart wrenched. If only you were, Denver.
His gaze delved deep into hers and she felt herself drowning in the liquid warmth. “It’s payoff time, Tessa.”
“Why now? What’s this all about?”
The teasing light disappeared from his eyes. His skin tightened over his cheekbones, pulling taut, stretching over now-invisible scars. She sensed something had gone wrong—horribly wrong. She felt suddenly cold inside.
“Colton gave the P.I. the slip. He’s not in Northern Ireland— or at least he’s not where Ross’s private investigator thought he was.” He squinted against the rising sun. Golden rays touched his face, but his features remained strained. “The investigator thinks he’s in trouble. Big trouble.”
“Isn’t he always?”
Denver shrugged. “Probably. But I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he murmured, almost to himself. “If Colton needs to reach me, he’ll try to get hold of me in L.A.”
“Why would he want to get in touch with you now?”
“Because of the private investigator—because of John’s death—”
“He didn’t care about John.”
“It’s just a feeling I have,” Denver whispered, and a shiver darted down Tessa’s spine. “There’s been a lot of trouble in Northern Ireland—a lot of unrest.”
“There has been for years.”
“But lately—” He shrugged, as if to shake off a sense of foreboding.
“What good would it do for me to come to L.A.?” she asked.
“I need you,” he said, wincing a little, as if the words actually hurt. Exhaling slowly, he added, “Besides, you and I are at an impasse, Tessa. I think it’s time we found out a little more about each other.”
“And we have to do that in California?”
“Yes.”
She studied the tired lines of his face, the tiny inflexible lines near his mouth, his black hair, falling fetchingly over his forehead. “And who will run this ranch?”
“Your father.”
Inside, Tessa panicked. Though she was loath to admit it, she was afraid to leave the ranch in Curtis’s hands. What if something went wrong? What