“I wasn’t serious about the road head thing,” Austin rasped as he concentrated on keeping them on the highway and in their lane. “Holy fuck.”

“Does that mean you didn’t enjoy it?” Hayden’s wicked grin as she licked her lips and buckled herself back into the passenger seat of his rig guaranteed she knew exactly how much he had.

Driving his truck would never be the same. Every time he sat here, he’d remember her going down on him and how she’d nearly sucked him inside out. “Damn, baby.”

“My favorite part was when you accidentally blew the horn as you came.” She laughed then, clutching her stomach. To see her do it out of joy instead of pain touched something in him. Something more important than his dick.

She made his days on the road even more enjoyable. And his nights… Jesus.

Austin imagined what it would be like if all his trips were as fun as this one or their previous ride together. He’d brought another load of calves for their customer, who’d snapped up the discount they’d offered since he was heading this direction anyway. While he was in his element, speeding across the earth, Hayden’s spark faded the closer they got to her town and her old life.

Her foot tapped incessantly and she fiddled with her hair so much he was afraid clumps might start to fall out.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” He held out his hand, but she didn’t grab it right away like usual. What was up with that?

“Is it?” she asked without meeting his gaze.

“Yeah. Uncle Sawyer alerted the police. They called off the manhunt, transferred his reports, and have your papers ready to sign and file. It’ll be a quick formality to get this taken care of. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, feeling as dense as he had back in his short-lived college career. “You’re covered for five years at least. More if you decide to press charges for battery, I’d guess. I’m not a lawyer or anything. We can find one to ask.”

She bit her lip and squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. “Never mind.”

Unsure of how else to settle her nerves, he asked, “You want to listen to the radio?”

“Sure.” She scanned channels until she found something she liked. It freaked him out that every song she sang along to was a sad one, but he didn’t know what to do about it.

Before he could figure it out, they were there—pulling into the parking lot of the small municipal building that housed her local police department. At least part of what he’d promised her came true. They were in and out in less than a half hour.

Austin held the door for Hayden, who read and reread the paperwork in her hand as they exited through the back door into the parking lot.

“Well, look who it is.”

“Bobby Joe! What the hell are you doing here?” Hayden waved her temporary restraining order in his face. “I literally just got this and you’re already violating it. Are you that stupid?”

“You know Buck hangs out with us and Cletus. Did you think he wasn’t going to let it slip you were coming in and why after I made such a fool of myself for you?” Bobby Joe came closer. “I think I deserve an explanation before you vanish again. That ain’t asking for much.”

Austin angled his chest so that he stood between them. He burned the dirty cop’s name into his memory so Uncle Sawyer could handle that fucker through official channels. If anything happened to Hayden—and it wouldn’t on Austin’s watch—that piece of shit would go down for it as hard as Bobby Joe himself.

“Who the hell is this?” Hayden’s ex jerked his chin in Austin’s direction. “Is that why you left? Because you shacked up with one of those guys you were selling yourself to at the diner? Some sleazy trucker passing through town?”

Hayden’s jaw dropped. “You don’t actually believe that bullshit you cooked up, do you?”

Austin had only known her a week and a half, but he didn’t. Not for a fucking minute.

“It doesn’t matter, Hayden. We both fucked up. I know I haven’t been the best guy I could have been for you. But come home and I’ll try harder. We don’t have to talk about that stuff again. We can get past it, can’t we? I…uh…still love you.”

Austin jumped into the fray. “Real men don’t beat people they love.” He couldn’t stand to listen to this lowlife spout nonsense a single second longer before putting his boot up the guy’s ass.

“Hit her? Have I ever laid a hand on you?” Bobby Joe shot Austin the finger as he glared at Hayden. “Tell him that ain’t true.”

She stared at her feet, maybe remembering how she’d taken off barefoot and half-naked just to escape this bastard. So Austin answered for her. “I guess she got that shiner and the fractured ribs all on her own then. Maybe she fell down stairs you don’t have or walked into your fist somehow?”

“Hayden? What’s he talking about?” Bobby Joe’s skin seemed to turn whiter then. He paused, his face scrunching as if Austin had triggered a wisp of memory. “Is that true? I can’t remember that night or a lot of others. Did I do that? Did I hurt you?”

Maybe the guy had some sliver of conscience left after all. At least when he was sober.

“You hurt her in so many ways you can’t even begin to understand them all, you dumb motherfucker,” Austin snarled, and snapped at his opponent like the leader of a wolf pack.

“Hey, stay out of this.” Hayden slapped her palm on his chest. “This isn’t your fight.”

“The hell it isn’t! Anyone who hurts you will answer to me.”

Hayden aimed a stare at him. She didn’t seem much less horrified than when she’d shot a similar look at Bobby Joe a few moments earlier. What the hell was going on here?

“You know what, you can keep her.” Bobby Joe started backing away when he realized there wasn’t any way he was going to win this one. Then he turned to Hayden. “I kind of thought for a while that you wised up. That you left my ass to strike out on your own. I probably wouldn’t have blamed you much. I ain’t much of a prize anymore. But this… You’re dumber than I thought. Making the same mistakes again.”

“I think you should worry about getting help for yourself instead of trying to fix my problems. If you don’t change soon, it’s going to be too late.” What he said had to have stung, but Hayden seemed genuine in her last-ditch effort. Austin could see she had loved this worthless sack of shit once. Some part of her might still. That wasn’t always enough to make things work between two people, though.

That thought hit him like a kick to the balls.

Bobby Joe spit on the ground at Hayden’s feet. “Don’t act so high and mighty. You’ve been with me since you were a kid and now you’ve already found another guy to stick to like glue. You’ll never be strong enough to stand on your own. You weren’t made to survive by yourself. So you’ll always be trapped. Easy to control.”

Austin had had about enough of this. He lunged toward Bobby Joe, only to be drawn up by the pressure of his collar around his neck as Hayden grabbed fistfuls of the back of his shirt when he passed her. “Stop it!” The terror and outrage in her scream halted him in his tracks.

Bobby Joe hastened his retreat, striding for the white truck with dealer plates parked nearby. He shot them a double middle finger this time. “Hope you have a nice fucking life.”

Though Hayden watched until he’d peeled out of the lot, kicking gravel and dust in their faces, she didn’t say a single thing until Bobby Joe had disappeared down the street.

“You should have let me kick his ass,” Austin grumbled.

“Seriously? Do you really think I would like being with the kind of guy who resorts to violence after what happened between me and Bobby Joe?” She tossed up her hands then let them fall, her paperwork crunching against her hip.

“The kind of guy who can protect you if necessary? The kind who’d stick up for you, or his sisters, or any person being threatened by a bully like your piece-of-shit ex? Maybe you should.” Austin encroached on her personal space, trapping her between his ripped, tattooed chest and the wall.

She looked like she wanted to argue but couldn’t. She looked away from him, her cheeks red.

He cupped her face in his hands and swung it back gently. “I’d never hurt you, Hayden.”

Then he let go of her and put some space between them.

“I don’t want to fight with you.” She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then approached him.

He held his arms open to her and she stepped into them for a loose though lingering hug.

She nearly knocked him on his ass when she said, “But I have to go.”

“Where?” He held her shoulders at arm’s length, staring into her wide eyes and begging her silently to change her mind.

“Anywhere but here.”

“Compass Ranch?”

Hayden winced. “No. Bobby Joe was right about one thing—I need to do this myself. I’m no good to you or anyone else until I can be comfortable on my own first.”

“It’s not safe—”

“The bus station is right across the street.” She pointed at the flickering sign. “I’ve got my guitar, the clothes you bought me, my little nest egg, and the restraining order—although you can see it means nothing here. I’ve got to move on. Stick to my original plan to build something for myself. I’ll go in and buy the ticket for the very next bus out of here, wherever it’s headed.”

What right did Austin have to tell her she couldn’t? None.

He considered doing it anyway but given her reaction to him fighting for her, he knew it would only alienate her further. So he cleared his throat and said, “If that’s what you want.”

“It’s what I need to do. Have a safe trip home. Thanks again for….everything. Meeting you, and your family, changed my life.”

Austin couldn’t explain how much the same went for him. It would be so weird not to have her beside him anymore. In a short time, she’d become part of his everyday existence. A part he was desperately going to miss.

He did his best to show her that with one final, sweet kiss that went on long enough he thought he might have convinced her. Still, she made no move to join him in the cab.

“I’m dropping these calves off at our buyer before I head back.” He put his hat on his head. “I’ll stay overnight there again. You have my number if you change your mind. Or you could just hop in the trailer while I’m sleeping and surprise me by popping out mostly naked at some random gas station.”

She laughed sadly then flashed him a soft smile. It didn’t stop her from collecting her belongings and waving goodbye. Although Hayden glanced over her shoulder every few steps she took away from him, she never called.

And definitely did not stay a little longer or stow away for the ride.

More than the trailer felt empty on his return journey to Compass Ranch.