Page 4 of The Secrets She Keeps

Brianna liked to slum around with cops—she’d said so herself. She was too rich,she’d told Powell before, to want to really get involved with a man whoworkedfor a living. That would just be too embarrassing.

But Brianna loved the rough type who wore a badge. Loved how wild and elementalthey all were in the bedroom. She’d then proceeded to tell Powellallabout it.

The details of which had traumatized Powell for eternity.

It had almost turned her off of sex forever.

Well, until Gunnar Erickson had captured her alone in Masterson, Wyoming, over Christmas.

Brianna exasperated Powell and always had. Brianna was best handled in very small doses. For now, Powell darted behind her. Brianna was skinny but almost nine inches taller.

Powell was going tohide.

Damn her pride—it was time to hide!

She wasn’t ready to deal with Gunnar tonight. Powell just wasn’t.

Gunnar was doing bodyguard duty right now. Every move she made, that man was beside her. Gunnar had vowed he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. No matter what. He’d kept to that vow, for the most part.

He was a man on a mission.

Powell was his mission.

And damn it, she’d made a vow to herself weeks ago—no more Gunnar Erickson for her. So even though she had the most beautiful man on the planet at her beck and call right now, Powell couldn’t even enjoy it.

But Powell still had to tell the man he was going to be a father.

That was not a moment she was looking forward to at all.

She knew what would happen—he would grunt in satisfaction, scoop her up over his extra-broad shoulder, carryher off to his cave, and keep her there to warm his furs and tend to his half-dozen little beautiful Viking babies as they came along—while he went out and slayed all the dragons.

Leaving her behind each and every time.

Gunnar didn’t just look like a Viking—he was a throwback to another era. Powell knew what men like him were like.

She’d run into one just like him when she had been in college. It had not had a pretty outcome. It had taken all three of her brothers to get that man to back off. She had never forgotten. And Gunnar was even more of a barbarian through and through.

She didn’t want to repeat that mistake.

“I caught you. You are mine now.”

She yelped when the barbarian in question just appeared from behind the column, his hands out. Damn, he was fast.

In this game ofAvoid the Viking!she’d been playing, he was definitely in the lead. He caught her every time she tried to escape. “Gunnar! You scared me.”

“You escaped me. You know you are supposed to protect me from women like Rhonda Hamler. Now I have cooties and must sanitize as soon as I get back to my room.”

Gunnar had his hands on her waist, just that fast. Then Powell found herself pressed against the column, his much larger body hot against hers. Just what was he doing right now?

“She likes what she sees, but she’s ready to devour me completely. That barracuda doesn’t like me—or Major Crimes.”

“She’s always been a vicious bitch.” And it was the truth. Powell had known that woman her entire life too. Her own mother had had battles with Rhonda Hamler in the past. Lots of battles with Rhonda Hamler. So much so that her mother snarled every time Rhonda was even mentioned.

Being of the wealthy elite in Texas brought its own share of problems. There was no denying that. Powell just did her best to navigate these waters on her own now.

She was theonlyfemale Barratt of her generation. She was a Barratt—and that meant expectations. Especially in this city her ancestors had founded years ago. Powell was making her mark on the business, law, and real estate worlds. She was building a legacy—for the baby she wanted so much but had never expected to have.

She’d never seriously considered having children of her own.

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