He chuckled. “Only with you.”
She eyed him. “You do it on purpose?”
He chuckled deeper. “I wouldn’t say on purpose. I can’t help it.”
Her head tilted sideways a little. “You like yanking my chain.”
“Let’s just say I’m one of the few people who think your quick temper is adorable.”
“Adorable.”
He held back another chuckle. “Yes.”
“Why do you think it’s adorable? Adorable is not how I would describe myself.”
He agreed. He would describe her as many things. Smart. Tenacious. tough. “It’s adorable because you never realize I’m teasing you. You’re innocent and then...not.”
She said nothing. Someday maybe she’d relax enough to let the little things fall off her shoulders. If she ever did, he would want to be the first man to date her that way.
“I also think you’re defensive because of who your father is, Demi.”
“What? You Gages hate all things Colton, no matter what side of the tracks we live on.”
The snowstorm wasn’t easing up anytime soon. They had plenty of time to debate.
“I know you’re close with your brothers and sister, but what happened with your dad?”
“He’s my dad.”
“Yeah, but...”
“He’s Rusty Colton, the low-down bar owner? Nothing compared to the other Coltons in town? Be careful.”
“Hey, I didn’t—”
“Didn’t mean to what?”
Dealing with her temper had always been a chess game. He’d always had to plan his next move. But now, suddenly, this wasn’t a game. Demi’s temper had more depth than he’d ever realized. She could be touched off rather easily, but she never got abusive. Granted, she could tone down her intensity a notch or two, but she stood on solid ground. He’d actually always sensed that about her, and enjoyed how easily he could set her off.
“Why do you want to know about my dad? All you’re here to do is take me in to be arrested. There might be a new prime suspect, but that doesn’t mean I’m off the hook.”
He gave up trying to convince her he wasn’t here to take her in. Instead, he decided to be blunt. “We’re going to be together in this storm for a while. Why not make the best of it? I’m curious, that’s all. I’ve wanted to ask you about your dad for a long time.”
Her controlled attack mode softened. She took a moment to answer. “My father doesn’t care about anyone other than himself.” She averted her eyes toward the Christmas tree. “The only good thing he ever did was produce me and my half brothers and my half sister, Quinn. He’s my father and we spend time together, but it doesn’t feel genuine to me.”
He felt her conflict about being raised by a man like Rusty or fathered by him. Her mother had left him, or so Lucas had heard.
“You’re not estranged?”
“No.” Her slow response conveyed her confusion.
She had some kind of relationship with her father, albeit strained. “What about your mother?” He knew something about her history but not personal details.
“You probably already know all of us have different mothers. Mine died just a few years ago.”
Lucas said nothing. Her line of Coltons wasn’t the high end compared to those others in town. He hadn’t paid much attention to that gossip, but Rusty’s was the rough branch of the clan, their spawn not accepted by the wealthier Coltons. Bad reputation due to hard living.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
He’d always thought Demi needed no approval from anyone. Her strength surpassed anything he’d heard about her father.
Standing, he strode to the window next to the tree, parting the drapes as though to survey for security, when in fact he needed the time to recover. Rusty tainted her reputation with those who didn’t look deeper. Her brothers had proven themselves. Her sister, too. Did Demi feel she hadn’t yet?
“I didn’t know about your mother.” He turned to look back at her.
She lowered her eyes, a telltale sign of the loss, the memory of her mother still painful.
“What was she like?”
Her eyes lifted. “Someone who should have never married Rusty.”
“I’m guessing the mothers of all your siblings realize that.”
She met his eyes and he turned from the window to keep up the contact.
“My father doesn’t do much to change our reputations, but he is my father. There’s nothing I can do to change that.”
“If you could, would you want to?”
“No. What would be the point?”
He didn’t respond.
She stretched her legs and rested her feet on the ottoman. “My mother was naïve, but not ignorant. She preferred to look at everyone in the best light. She saw good in everyone. Even Rusty.”
He gave her time to go on.
“Rusty’s bad qualities outweighed his good, but she only cared about the good. I suppose that’s why she married him. I can forgive her because she was so full of love and because she finally took me and left. We had a good life without Rusty. We were close. I lived with her up until she died. I had just finished college.” She rested her chin on her knee and drifted off in thought.
“I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you.”
She shrugged, as though opting for bravery instead of acknowledging painful memories. “I had Brayden.”
He knew she was closest to Brayden. “How did she die?”
“Car accident.” She slid her feet off the ottoman and leaned on her elbows.
“I’m sorry.”
She sat up and looked at him. “Stop saying that.”
That he was sorry? He did feel sorry for her.
“You Coltons never cared much for any Gages. You’re only putting up this fantastic front to lure me back to Red Ridge.”
“You’ve always been interested in the family feud that’s been raging for a century. I never paid it much attention. And I won’t try to keep telling you I’m not here to take you in.”
“The only reason I found the feud so interesting is there was plenty of feuding going on in my family. None of my father’s other wives liked my mother. I barely saw my half brothers or half sister. I never understood what the feud was about. My family is about as broken as any can get. We were disliked because we have a low reputation. I guess I thought that funny...or silly.”
She confirmed his notion that she needed no one’s approval.
“How did you end up so close to Brayden, then?” he asked.
“I would run into him on occasion. We started talking and discovered we had a lot in common. We both love the woods and mountains. We liked the same kind of literature and food. And...” She stared at the fireplace with a soft smile forming. “We just...talk a lot. It’s easy to be with him.”
“Love of woods and mountains.” No wonder Brayden had become a search-and-rescue specialist. He hadn’t known until now why Demi had become a bounty hunter. He supposed it had something to do with that, but more so a desire to catch criminals, and for Demi, that included satisfying her outlaw