One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,36

would come at a huge cost. Losing her heart to him, for one thing. And she was certain neither of them was ready for that. Not with this investigation and Clayton’s coming to terms with the baby he’d never planned to have.

“You want to see him?” Clayton asked her.

“I want to question him,” she clarified. “And I want to know if he has anything we can use to figure out who’s trying to kill us.”

Clayton stayed quiet a moment before he moved his hand from the phone. “Cutter, are you alone with our visitor?”

“Nope. Got Deke and Ray here, too.”

“Good,” Clayton mumbled. “Make sure he’s not armed and then take him to the hay barn. We’ll talk with him there.” He ended the call, looked at her. “I don’t want him in the house, and I don’t want to be hanging around outside while we talk.”

Oh, mercy. It hit her then. Quentin might not have come alone. After all, the two gunmen from the church attack hadn’t been found yet, and they could be working for Quentin. He could have brought them here, all under the guise of trying to help her.

Lenora gave a frustrated groan. She wasn’t stupid, so why was her head so foggy? She wanted to blame it on the stress, but she had to stop thinking like that. Because it could get her killed.

Clayton unsnapped the leather strap on his waist holster so that his weapon would be easier to draw. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

She nodded. “I think I have to do it.”

He didn’t argue with that. He hitched his head toward the door, and she followed him out of the ranch office and into the hall, then down the stairs and toward the door that led to the covered back porch.

It was a cloudy day, thank goodness. Maybe that would cut down Clayton’s chances of getting a migraine. He didn’t even put on his sunglasses, but he did look around. No doubt for any signs of the gunmen. However, everything looked normal.

Lenora soon realized why Clayton had chosen the hay barn. It was just a short walk from the back of the house, and in under a minute he had her inside the massive structure. Both the end doors were open, letting in a breeze. Still, it was hot.

“Here are the rules,” he said, looking at her. “You stay behind me, and you don’t take any chances.”

She nodded again and intended to do just as he’d asked. “I just want answers and then for him to leave.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, and glanced down at her stomach. Then her mouth. “I think I’m remembering the night we were together.”

Oh.

Well, she hadn’t expected that, and for some reason it seemed a little, well, embarrassing. Like talking about sex after the fact, and in this case, long after. Months, to be exact.

“What do you remember?” she asked.

“Just a flash of an image here and there.” He reached out, lightly raked his thumb over her chin.

“Naked images?” She winced a little. Definitely a question she should have kept to herself.

“Some, yeah,” he verified. He groaned and stepped back. “It didn’t exactly make for a restful night’s sleep.”

Lenora made a sound of agreement. She’d had a lot of nights like that since she’d met Clayton, and another one the night previous night in the guest room. It hadn’t made it easier for her to know that he was right across the hall.

His gaze came back to her again. No pain this time in all those dark brown swirls of his eyes. “What made you come to my bed that night? Was it just the pain over losing your friend?”

The question threw her for a moment. She opened her mouth to say yes, but then she rethought that. It was the pain that had sent her to his room, but she hadn’t been so blinded by grief that she couldn’t have said no to him.

“It’s complicated,” she settled for saying.

“It always is.” The corner of his mouth lifted just a fraction before he leaned in and touched his lips to hers.

The touch barely qualified as a kiss, but it was a jolting reminder that she shouldn’t just be melting into a relationship with him.

Clayton’s forehead bunched up. Obviously he’d noted the concern on her face, but he didn’t have time to ask her about it. The sound of the approaching vehicle caught their attention, and Clayton moved in front of her as soon as the three men stepped from