I stayed at Alli’s most of the day, only leaving after Harry insisted he had things under control. It was pretty obvious he just wanted some distance between me and Alli. She was a woman with a mind of her own, and she’d clearly set her mind on me. It wasn’t anything overtly obvious. A lot of sly glances. A few smiles. A couple of touches, her hand on mine. I wasn’t sure what Harry’s relationship was with her, but I had no intention of getting in the middle of it.

I got a room at a hotel downtown. It was an old place, clearly dating back to the beginning of Ellaville. The room was quite large, the windows that tall, narrow kind that you only see in old buildings. The owner of the place tried to stick with the old-school feel of the place, decorating with four poster beds and huge wardrobes, the bathroom sporting a claw foot tub and a pedestal sink. Remy would have loved it. I spent a good half hour taking pictures on my cell phone so I could text them to her.

I was exhausted when I fell into bed, but I couldn’t shut my head off. My thoughts always moved to Raelyn whenever I was alone like this. Her absence in my bed was impossible to ignore. I never imagined I could miss someone as much as I missed her. I told myself that it was hard because I saw her every day at the office. If she’d disappeared completely from my life, it would have been easier to forget her. But I knew that that was a simplification of the situation that I told myself to avoid admitting to myself that she really was someone who had made a difference in my life.

I had grown up watching my parents when I was a kid. They were the kind of people who existed only in each other’s world. My father was nobody without my mother, and my mother was just a shadow of a human being without my father. But together? They were dynamite, and everyone who ever met them knew it. Living in the shadow of that had been both a blessing and a curse. I always thought I was destined to find something like that, even allowed myself to believe that I’d found it in Rae. Now I was forced to face the fact that what my parents had was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing. Happiness was a relative thing. All my siblings were ridiculously happy right now, but what did the future hold for them? There was no guarantee that their happiness wouldn’t end just like mine had. If my parents’ deaths, the deaths of Brent’s wife and daughter, had taught me anything, it was that.

Life was fluid, and most of it was dark. What might make us happy today could turn to shit tomorrow.

Yet, that knowledge did nothing to dampen my need to convince Rae that she’d made a mistake. I wanted to beg her to come back to me and was clinging to the hope that when I returned from this trip, she’d be thrilled as all hell to see me.

I fell asleep with that thought on my mind and woke with it still there. But in the light of day, it seemed a little more ridiculous than it had in the dark.

Rae had made her choice. She wasn’t going to miss me. And, even if she did, she wouldn’t tell me. In her mind, what was done was done. There was no going back.

I climbed out of bed and went to the windows, tearing the heavy drapes apart to allow the sunlight into the room. The desert sun was so bright that I flinched a moment, forced to wait for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I found myself looking down on an angel.

She was standing in front of a small bookstore in another of the older buildings across the street. Blond hair like spun gold, warm skin made bright by the pastel colors in her clothing. Thin, but shapely. Her hand was over her eyes, blocking them from my view, but what I could see of her face spoke of lovely curves and full, kissable lips. There was something about her that grabbed me, something about the way she just stood there, something about the intensity of her gaze. I couldn’t see everything about her, but I could feel that intensity just the same.

She was looking up at me. I was sure of it.

We stood there, a long moment, just the two of us staring across the street at each other. It was an intense moment, one like I’d never experienced before. But then a man in a dark suit came up the sidewalk, tossing a glance over his shoulder toward the hotel before taking her arm and directing her inside. The moment was broken, but I could still feel its effects as I remained in the window for some time more.

It was a knock at the door that finally pulled me out of whatever trance she’d put me in.

“Delivery, Mr. Stone.”

I wrenched open the door, the sudden chill of the air in the hall brushing against my bare chest. I stepped aside and watched as the bellboy brought several boxes piled on a dolly into the room.

The security system for Alli’s shop.

I reached into my shorts for some cash, but my pockets were empty. I grabbed my wallet from the bedside table and handed the guy a ten.

“Thanks.”

He nodded respectfully as he backed out of the room.

“Hey, do you know the bookstore across the street?”

The man visibly stiffened. “O’Harrah’s?”

“Yes,” I said, even though I hadn’t noticed the name.

“What about it?”

“Who’s the girl who works there?”

The bellboy shoved his hands into the front pockets of his pants. “It’s probably Ruth. She’s the daughter of one of the bishops at the church.” His eyes came up to mine with warning clearly written in them. “You need a book, mister?”

“I was just curious.”

“You want some advice?”

I shrugged.

“Stay away from her. Ruth’s brother is one of the Guardians. He wouldn’t take kindly to a Gentile flirting with his sister.”

He walked away before I could ask another question. But the thing was, if that guy had known anything about me, he would have known telling me to back off was the last thing he should say if that was really what he wanted.

I showered before carrying the boxes down to my rental car. Then I sauntered across the street and walked into the dark cool of the bookstore. Their collection of fiction was a combination of best sellers and religious titles I wouldn’t have recognized under the best of circumstances. There were more Bibles in the store than I’d ever seen in all my adult life, and other tomes written by people whose names were vaguely familiar to me. And then there were rows upon rows of religious nonfiction of the sort I’d never imagined.

“Looking for something in particular?”

I turned, and she was there, her golden hair draped around a saintly face that threatened to take the air directly from my lungs. She had blue eyes that were as clear as a mountain brook, a teeny upturned nose, and a lovely curve to her jaw that all worked together in a way that should have been unattractive but was beautiful in an indescribable way. My fingertips itched to follow the curve of her jaw, to slip over her full bottom lip, to touch the center of her perfect chin with its perfect little dimple.

“I, uh…”

I stumbled over my tongue, uncharacteristic for me. And then she made the situation worse by smiling.

“We don’t have a lot of secular books here, but we do have quite a selection of theological books. Is that what you were looking for?”

“I’m from out of town,” I finally managed to spit out. “I was just looking.”

“Well, feel free. If you need anything, I’m here.”

She started to turn, and this thing inside of me couldn’t allow that to happen.

“I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a history of the town? A book or pamphlet or something?”

“Sure.” She gestured with one delicate hand. “Follow me.”

She walked with such grace that I almost heard music in her movements. Her hips moved like she’d spent her entire life as a dancer. I couldn’t take my eyes off them, even when I realized that there were other customers in the store and they could see how fascinated I was.

She stopped before I was ready, turning to catch my gaze. She blushed even as she gestured to a shelf of books.

“Here’s just about everything you could possibly want to know about Ellaville and this part of Arizona.”

I’d almost forgotten what I was following her for.

I forced myself to turn to the books, glancing at the titles. I grabbed one or two, not sure what it was I’d wanted in the first place—beyond keeping her from disappearing.

“This is a good one,” she said, touching the top of a book I was holding. “It was written by a man who’s lived here all of his life.”

“Then I suppose that’s the one I want.”

“Great,” she said, taking the book from my hand. “I’ll ring you up.”

Once again, I found myself following her through the store, my eyes on those perfect hips. Her skirt was long and chaste, covering her from hip to ankle. But there was something about the way the material flowed around her legs that set my thoughts racing. I thought I liked my women to wear as little as possible, but there was something to be said about this loose layer of material.

“Are you here for business or pleasure?”

“Hmm?”

She had slipped behind the front counter, that smile back on her face, the one that was both amused and a little confused.

“Your visit. Is it business or pleasure?”

“Oh. A little bit of both, I suppose.” I leaned against the counter to watch her scan the bar code on the back of the book. “I came to visit a friend. But I’ve also been asked to help out a local business owner with some security issues.”

“Is that what you do? Security?”

“Yes.” I slipped a business card from my wallet and set it on the counter in front of her. “I used to be in law enforcement, but my brothers and I started a security firm a few years ago.”

“You all work together.”

“We do.”

“That’s pretty cool. Do you get along?”

I thought about the look on Brent’s face when I walked into the office the other morning. “Most of the time.”

She smiled, this one softer and more genuine. “I think it’s very important for family to stick together.”

I inclined my head. “It has its challenges, but we’ve made it work.”

She nodded as she placed the book inside a bag. “I understand. I have four sisters and a brother. Sometimes it can be difficult when my brother decides that he needs to tell me how to live my life.” She tilted her head to one side. “But he is only trying to protect me.”

“I bet that’s a full time job.”

She looked up, her cheeks reddening again. “You think I’m a troublemaker?”

“No. But I think a girl as pretty as you, trouble just seems to follow.”

The redness deepened, suggesting she wasn’t just playing coy with her question. She truly hadn’t realized where I was headed with my words. I found that fascinating.

“Do you have plans for dinner tonight?” I asked impetuously.

She shook her head.

“Would you like to?”

“Are you asking me out, Mr. Stone?”

“I am.”

She met my eyes for a brief second, but then looked demurely down at the counter. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t enjoy that.”

“Why not?”

“Because my parents would require a chaperone, as old-fashioned as that may sound.”

“Aren’t you a grown woman?”

“I am.”

“You’re not just a mature sixteen-year-old?”

She laughed. “No, I’m not. I’m twenty-four.”

“Then why would we require a chaperone?”

“Because my parents believe that a man and a woman who have feelings for one another should not be left alone for any reason. At least, not until they are married.”

“Too much temptation?”

She glanced at me, this look in her eye that suggested she was either relieved that I understood, or suspected that I was teasing her. But I was completely serious.

Her eyes fell to the counter again. “And the chaperone they would choose would be my brother, and I don’t believe you’d get along with him.”

“Why not? I’m not a likeable enough guy?”

“You’re not a member of our church. My brother…he has strong beliefs, too.”

I leaned deeper against the counter, wanting to get as close to her as possible. She didn’t move back, but remained where she’d been, her strong, supple body just inches from my hands.

“I’d have to join your church in order to simply take you to dinner?”

She bit her bottom lip. “It’s complicated.”

“I might just be willing to do that.”

That gave her pause. She stared at me a long moment, then giggled a little as she stepped back. “You’re flirting with me,” she finally said, pleasure in her words.

“Hasn’t anyone ever flirted with you before?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

I believed that. She was so innocent…how was it possible that a woman could be that innocent in this world gone so completely insane?

I straightened, pulling open my wallet to count out the bills required to pay for the book. “Would you mind having the book delivered to my hotel? I’m just across the street.”

“I know. I saw you this morning.”

“Did you?”

“You were standing in the window. It was hard to miss.”

I tilted my head slightly. “So were you. You looked like an angel out there in the morning sunlight.”

She blushed again. “Hardly.”

“You are a very beautiful woman, Miss Ruth. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any differently.”

Her expression changed with my words, softening, but growing slightly harder all at the same time. “Thank you,” she said softly.

I walked away, hard as a rock, my thoughts spinning.

What the fuck had just happened?