Page 49 of Kian

She grinned. “Stop teasing me.”

“I’ll stop, for now.” He walked over to the window and looked outside.

“The ice is melting. It’s already above forty-five degrees.”

“That’s great. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Hearing him say that was like a knife to her heart. She forceda nod, trying to hide her emotions.

“Gretchen, I didn’t mean it like that. I need to return to my family and help search for those men.”

“Isn’t that the sheriff’s responsibility?”

“Yes, but I can’t just sit back and wait. I need to be involved in finding them. Besides, I’ll need to work with the sheriff, so he knows what the men look like.” He stared at her intently. “They tried to kill me.”

“I know. It’s just that you seem so eager to get away from me.”

“That’s not true at all. I have no desire to be away from you. I just want to see my family and assure them of my safety.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I promise, I will see you again.”

“When?”

He sighed, unsure himself. “I’m not sure yet. There will be a lot for me to do when I return. I blew my whole vacation. I rarely take vacations anyway. It had been five years since my last one, and I had just transferred from Helena. My plan was to relax for the first week and then find a house to buy in the area. But instead, I ended up here on my third day off because I got bored.”

“How long were you supposed to be off?”

“Two weeks.”

“And you got bored by the third day?”

“Yes, well... I tend to throw myself into work and don’t know how to relax.” He grinned.

“We had to have found you on your first day out there, so you couldn’t have been there for more than a few hours.”

“True. But I wouldn’t say my entire vacation was ruined. I got to spend it with you.”

“I just don’t want you to leave and never come back.”

“That’s not going to happen. And besides, you know where to find me.”

“Yes, I do.” She nodded, then turned serious. “I don’t want toseem clingy, Kian, but I really like you.”

“Don’t worry darlin’, the feeling is mutual. I’d love to see where this goes between us. And I’m not going to disappear on you.”

“Okay... I’d like to ask you something.”

“Of course, ask away,” he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Why did Killian have you take him off speaker?”

Kian sighed. “He told me that my ex-girlfriend was in Clifton.”

“You said you weren’t involved with anyone.”

“I didn’t lie. She’s myex. We broke up almost a year ago.” He sipped from his cup.

“Why?”

“Gretchen...” He hesitated.

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