Cruiser’s hands bunched into fists. Jack kept his palm relaxed on her hip, ready. Anticipating an animal’s reaction was nothing new for him. He could tell when a horse was about to bolt, to kick, to struggle. Cruiser was going to make a move and soon.
Cruiser’s brow furrowed. “I think you’re lying, too.”
“I don’t care what you think.”
“Who are you, Cowboy?”
His mind whirled, searching and discarding ideas.
If things got physical, it would probably end with the baby being taken and Shannon hurt. Best to talk his way out of it.
“Like I said, name’s Jack.” He held his chin high. “I’m her husband.”
Husband. The word seemed to flutter in the wind like a Fourth of July flag. Viper strode past them and pushed into the hotel room. After a moment, he returned. “No one else there.”
Cruiser’s eyes narrowed. “And I suppose that’s your baby?”
You said it. I didn’t.
Jack felt Shannon pull away a fraction, heard a soft exhalation of air.
When Cruiser took a step toward the door, Shannon moved to meet him. “Stay away from my baby.”
Cruiser smiled. “Going all Mama Bear on me now? Baby’s pretty young to be traveling.” He jutted his chin. “Bringing it to a hotel in the middle of the sticks?”
Jack shrugged. “It was a good halfway point. We’re meeting up for a much-needed vacation,” he continued. “Our jobs keep us too busy, don’t they, Shan?” He nuzzled her ear, dizzied by the feel of her warm skin, his brain wondering what in the world he was playing at.
“Uh-huh,” she mumbled, heat rising off her.
“I think you’re lying,” Cruiser said. “If you’re married, where’s the ring?”
Jack smiled. “I thought we’d already covered that I don’t care what you think. Cowboys and doctors have to use their hands a lot. Rings are inconvenient when you’re saddling horses, not that it’s your business.”
Cruiser glared at him. “I still think you’re lying, Cowboy, and if I find out you’re hiding Dina, I’m gonna kill you both and take what’s ours—Dina and her baby.”
Jack released Shannon and stepped forward, every muscle taut. He came nose to nose with Cruiser. “No one,” he murmured, “is going to touch my wife.”
Cruiser raised a fist, and Jack did the same, jerking his head toward the building.
“All right, but before we get this rodeo started, here’s a tip. Make sure the camera gets your good side,” Jack said.
Cruiser jerked, gaze finding the security camera mounted on the wall. He stepped back a pace, breathing hard. “I want Dina and the baby. They belong to the Tide. Anyone who gets in my way is my enemy. The Tide doesn’t forget, and we don’t forgive. We are going to be watching you.” He stalked back to his bike, along with the other man, and drove off in a roar of exhaust. Jack led Shannon back into the hotel room.
Seconds ticked in awkward silence between them. How could he explain what he’d done letting them think the baby was theirs and he and Shannon a loving couple? He could come up with nothing, so he stayed quiet.
“They think we’re married,” she said finally.
“We are, technically.”
“Only because we haven’t done the paperwork for a divorce.”
“It’s been seven years, Shannon. If you really wanted a divorce, you would have made it happen.”
“I do want one, Jack.” Her mouth hinted at more to come, but she stayed quiet. He wanted to kiss her then, to press her lips to his and find out the truth. Mouths lied, but kisses didn’t.
He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “For the time being, it looks like we’re gonna have to play at being nice married folks until we get Dina and her baby out of this jam.”
A glimmer, a flicker, a shadow, rippled across her face. Her mouth thinned into a grim line.
“Anyway,” Jack said, putting them back on safe ground, “it bought us some time so Dina can find her brother.”
“I’m not sure anymore...” She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth.
“I am. Pack up. We’ll get a cab to the airstrip in the morning. I’ll keep watch tonight. They may come back. Not that easily put off. You can tell Dina where we’re headed. You have her cell number.”
“And where exactly are we headed?” she said over her shoulder.
He looked into the luminous eyes of the woman who was still his wife—legally, anyway—wondering what he had just gotten himself into. “Home,” he said. “To Gold Bar.”
* * *
Emotions tumbled through Shannon’s insides as Jack landed the plane on the neglected airstrip on her uncle Oscar’s property. The sky was mellowing into a palette of lustrous sunset golds, set off by the brilliant green hills. After seven years, with as many visits as she could manage, Gold Bar was just as gorgeous as she remembered, and just as claustrophobic. It was a small town, where everybody knew everything, a place she would probably never return to if her mother and uncle were not still residents.
The pastures of Jack’s family’s Gold Bar Ranch were dotted with contented horses that meandered, tails swishing, over the thousand acres. She thought of Jack’s brothers. A new structure was visible, set apart from the main house. Jack’s brother Barrett and his new wife, Shelby, lived there. Jack’s twin, Owen, was engaged to Shannon’s best friend, Ella Cahill, a farrier who had narrowly escaped being framed for the murder of a local heiress’s nephew by a merciless con man. It pained her that she hadn’t even known about Ella’s dire situation until after it was resolved. Too busy to take calls, she’d told herself. Too busy to be a friend.
She eyed Jack. He had the same angular features and strong jaw, but there was something more pinched about his mouth, and his denim-blue eyes were harder. He wore his favorite cowboy boots, the ones he’d steadfastly refused to replace, instead having them resoled again and again. The fragrance of his barn jacket teased her, holding the faintest scent of a life far away, oiled leather, hay, the ranch. His life, not hers. You should ask about his brothers, make small talk. But the memory of a long-ago conversation with Jack robbed her of the words. Seven years ago, practically before the ink was dry on their marriage certificate, she’d told him their impulsive marriage was over.
It was a mistake, Jack.
As if she was critiquing a medical chart, instead of dooming a marriage.
I was scared, confused. I’m leaving for med school, and that’s all I can focus on.
I’m patient, he’d said.
I’m not coming back to Gold Bar, Jack. Not as your wife.
The marriage was an error in judgment. She’d been overwhelmed, and Jack had refused to admit that they’d outgrown each other. You did what you had to do. Now, if she could just get through this without losing everything she’d worked for. In typical Jack fashion, he had not pressed her for details about her current situation, allowing her to share as much as she knew. Jack was patient; he was completely her opposite.
The facts seemed clear enough. Dina was being abused