Page 23 of Claimed By the Cowboy
Tom glances at our joined hands, then gives me a lopsided smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He shifts, shakingoff the moment like a dog shaking off water. The grin returns, brighter than before, but I’ve seen the shadows now, and I know they’re still there beneath the charm.
He bumps my knee with his. “What about you and Delaney? You two close?”
I draw in a breath, the question tugging me back through a tangle of memories. “We used to be. I mean, we still are, I guess. It’s just… different now.”
He waits, patient, quiet.
“When our parents died in a car wreck, everything changed. I was thirteen. Delaney was eighteen. One minute, we were just sisters, and the next, she was signing papers and trying to act like a parent. She gave up everything—college, friends, her future—to keep us together.” I swallow hard. “She worked two jobs, juggled bills, dealt with landlords who gave her grief. She never let me see how hard it was, but I knew. Our last apartment was the worst,” I say quietly. “Cheap place in a rough area. The landlord got… handsy. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Tom’s jaw tightens, and his hands curl into fists in the grass.
I shake my head. “That was the last straw. Delaney heard about Marlie’s Angels through a friend of a friend. Figured marrying someone decent was safer than staying.”
“And that’s how you ended up here.” His voice is low, unreadable.
I glance at him, heart squeezing. “She did it for me, Tom. Everything she’s ever done was to protect me. Even when it meant giving up her dreams.”
His gaze holds mine. “What do you want, though?”
I blink. “I… haven’t really thought about it.”
“You should.”
Something in his voice makes heat coil in my belly. What I want is right here—this man who sees me,reallysees me.
What I want is to stop thinking and start feeling. To taste the danger in his kiss and let himcatch me when I fall.
“Maybe you’re right,” I admit.
“You and Delaney, you’re solid together,” he says after a moment.
“Delaney is. Me?” I shrug. “Not so much.”
He shifts closer, those blue eyes burning into mine. “I see you, Kitty. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.” His voice goes rough. “Hell of a lot stronger than most.”
His words hit me square in the chest, slipping past my walls and nestling somewhere soft and breakable. The way he sees me—strong, unshakeable, worth noticing—is everything I’ve never dared believe about myself.
My throat burns as I swallow back tears. God, I want to believe him. Want to believe I’m more than a burden my sister has carried out of duty.
A fierce ache rises in my chest, sharp and sudden, as I realize how badly I want to kiss him again.
But he’s marrying my sister. The woman who sacrificed her dreams so I could survive. The guilt tastesbitter on my tongue.
I need to cool down—literally. Before I do something stupid like lean into him and forget every reason this is wrong.
I plunge my feet into the stream and immediately shriek as the icy water hits like a lightning bolt.
Tom’s laughter rumbles through the air. “Should’ve warned you it’s snowmelt.”
“It’s arctic!” I gasp, yanking my feet up and hugging my knees to my chest.
“That’s what we call character-building.” He tugs off his boots with easy confidence. “City girl like you probably thinks water should come heated and treated, right?”
“I’m tougher than I look,” I shoot back, then yelp as he kicks water in my direction.
“Could’ve fooled me. You jumped like you’d been electrocuted.”
“Because I just lost feeling in my toes!”
