Page 7 of Long Hard Fall

He shifted his stance and briefly looked away. He swallowed hard.

“You aren’t Reno, are you?” She kept her tone hopeful over the dread crawling its way up her throat. Why was he acting like he didn’t want to tell her?

He lost the strange expression and shot her a forced smile. “You know my name.”

Her face must’ve revealed her alarm because he looked away and shook his head. A muscle in his jaw tensed and relaxed.

“You don’t remember.”

“It’s coming back, slowly.” Probably as much as it ever would.

“You were blackout drunk?”

“No.” Kinda.

His look said he didn’t believe her. “Are you even okay to be driving yet?”

“I get a little sick when I drink and I’m paying for it.” Oh god, had she slept off enough before she’d rushed out of the hotel room? She hadn’t been dizzy, but that wasn’t the best estimate of intoxication. “Now, can we get back to Reno? Where can I find him?”

He swung his empty stare down the hallway for a few heartbeats. “You found him.”

She glanced around, like a new dude would suddenly appear. But it was just her handsome hookup.

“You’re Reno?” Oh. Oh hell. Only she would have the misfortune to pick up her brother’s friend. Her epic episode of irresponsibility had just reached new heights.

What would Perry have thought? He hadn’t been a fan of Ellis, but to run right into his buddy’s arms…

“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. It was my nickname. I’m Cash, by the way.” His bitter tone wasn’t lost on her.

Cash. Double hell. The only man she’d ever been warned away from and she’d picked him up first.

Cash Walker was Reno Walker. Elation replaced mortification.

“I found you,” she breathed. It couldn’t be this easy, could it? She wouldn’t have to scour the town. It was unfortunate she’d picked him up at the bar, but here they were.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to glower out the large picture window. “You found me all right.”

Was that resentment? She didn’t care; she couldn’t care.

“Why did my brother call you Reno?”

He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes nearly glowing from the sunshine. He hadn’t taken his hat off, but the blue of his irises radiated from under the brim. If he smiled, he’d probably devastate whoever he aimed it at. No wonder she’d been warned off. He probably galloped through women’s beds.

“Because I get lucky all the time.”

Nailed it. But he didn’t sound proud.

“And because my cousin was a team leader in the same platoon, so it was how the guys kept us straight,” he finished. “And because we were stationed together for the last four years, which probably had worse odds of happening than winning the lotto. They just thought I was all around lucky I guess.”

“Did you two get out of the army after…after, uh…” Unbidden tears sprang up and she hastily wiped them away. This wasn’t how she’d pictured it all going. Throwing up in the man’s barn, then barely being able to speak when she tried to talk about what she’d come here for.

“Yeah.” His voice was thick. “Dillon and I enlisted at the same time, so we got out at the same time.”

She nodded woodenly. He stood quietly. She ran her hand along the fabric of the couch, the smooth texture doing nothing to lull her conflicted emotions.

“You’re Daniels’s little sis, huh.”

“Yep.” Now that she was here, she was at a loss for what to do. She couldn’t just blurt out the question that had been haunting her. “Are you and your cousin doing okay?”

---