Page 83 of An Archer's Redemption

“Keelan Rea, for such an intelligent, Gifted Constable, you are incredibly dense if you have not seen this.”

The sound of her laughter was sunlight blazing through clouds.

Never in a million years would I dare to dream she might feel the same way I did.

I wanted to take the assignment in Oliver to get away from the Palace before I said something we both might regret, something she’d send me packing for.

But she loved me.

Me?

I couldn’t believe it.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I reached up and tugged at my itchy collar, and the darn gardens suddenly felt like the business end of a furnace.

Jess grinned as only a woman who knows she’s flummoxed a man can.

Then she gripped my face in both of her hands and pulled me toward her.

Itastedher breath.

A magic all its own sent lightning up my spine.

As our lips met, warmth exploded in my chest, and all thoughts of animal attacks or Jess’s resurrected ex-boyfriends faded from my mind. I was startled at first, eyes wide in panic, and tried to pull back, but she held me in place until I kissed her back. Our eyes closed, and the world drifted away.

She melted into me, and I knew I was at home in her embrace.

Chapter 35

Keelan

By the time the outskirts of Oliver came into view, my backside and legs were achy and stiff. As much as I trusted Jess, my Gift told me she wasn’t laying all the cards on the table. I had worked for the Triad long enough to be used to knowing only what they deemed necessary, but it still bothered me thatJesshadn’t trusted me with the entire picture.

It made me question the feelings she professed in the garden.

Were we truly as deeply in love as she claimed, or were hers merely the words of a lonely girl clinging to a man who made her feel safe?

It made me wonder why I stayed in Fontaine so long.

Atikus and the Guard could certainly use my leadership and strong hands to rebuild.

Myhomeneeded me.

Yet here I was riding to some distant ocean town to investigate animal attacks that didn’t smell right to a foreign ruler.

But she’s so much more than just some foreign ruler now, isn’t she?

Dittler snorted.

I reached down and stroked the stallion’s neck. “I know. It sounds ridiculous when I think it. Please don’t make me say any of it out loud.”

Dittler looked back and whinnied.

I slowed our trot as we entered town. Oliver was larger than I’d pictured in my mind. While scattered farmhouses dotted the landscape for leagues around, the town itself was composed of a variety of tightly packed wooden and stone structures. Well-maintained cobbled roads wove between them with little apparent pattern for traffic flow.

It was an hour or two past midday.

The sun was beginning his lazy descent over the ocean. Men and women in simple clothing moved about with purpose, most carrying goods or children in their heavily laden arms. As they passed, most smiled or nodded in greeting to their neighbors, and the sound of chatter and laughter echoed off building walls.

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