Celine moved her hand to her throbbing head. She blinked, trying to place where she was and what she was doing. Her head buzzed as she took inventory of her surroundings and the aches and pains in her body. Even her ears rang and she couldn’t hear sounds other than the vibrations in her head.

Monty had shoved her off the side of the mountain.

For an instant she felt the same terror she’d experience when he’d pushed her, and her body trembled. She’d landed on a ledge maybe six feet down, rolled into a depression in the rock wall, and was mostly out of the rain that continued to fall.

Lightning lit up the forest like a strobe light, and thunder came only a second later.

She took inventory of her body and realized the leg she’d been shot in was numb. What did that mean?

The shelf she’d fallen on was strewn with rubble, and the gravel and rock bit into her body. To the right was a massive drop off. To the left was a trail that looked like something animals might use.

It was getting late, and it would be getting darker than it already was.

She needed to get to that trail and make her way back before it got dark. She didn’t want to die out here. Bears and mountain lions likely called this terrain home.

More than anything, she wanted to be in Jayson’s arms. She needed to move.

Celine bit back a cry when she rolled onto her belly, half-in and half-out of the rain. The leg she’d been shot in was numb, but the rest of her screamed with pain. She tried to crawl along the ledge, but her body wouldn’t work properly and she had to drag herself across the wet rock with her forearms.

The trail lay just feet away now. She took deep breaths. With her leg shot, could she do more than haul herself from the shelf to the small trail? She’d sure as hell try.

Rain poured from the heavens, soaked her clothes, covered her skin. Her feet were bare—she’d lost Jayson’s large socks she’d been wearing.

When she reached the trail, her stomach twisted. To one side, the trail dropped off, so sheer she couldn’t see anything but treetops below. She forced herself to keep moving.

Celine gritted her teeth and worked her way up the muddy trail. She hadn’t fallen far, but the fall had knocked her cold. She’d hurt like hell when she came back into consciousness.

A sound came to her ears now, muffled by the storm.

Is that a dog barking?

A shot rang out. Loud enough she heard it through the cotton in her head.

The dog let out a yelp and went quiet.

Thor? Did someone shoot Thor?

No!

“Guess I’ll have to get rid of you now, McBride.” Monty’s shouted words came to her in between flashes of lightning and the boom of thunder. “Before that, you’ll help me find out if Celine is still alive. When I looked, she’d landed on a rock shelf instead of going all the way down. I figured she might have survived, but it was a nasty fall.”

“First, I’m going to kill you if Celine is dead.” Jayson’s raised voice was dangerously hard. “I’ll kill you again for shooting my dog.”

Monty laughed, sending a chill through Celine. She couldn’t hear his next words.

Her thoughts spun, rapid-fire as she struggled to find the strength to move faster. Jayson was in danger and she needed to get to him. But how could she help him when she could barely crawl?

I won’t give up.

This was Jayson. The man she had fallen in love with.

The revelation made her lightheaded.

Love at first sight? Maybe. Yes. She was a believer now.

She wouldn’t go down without trying. If it was the last thing she did, she’d help him.

I don’t have much time.

Celine got to her knees so she could crawl faster. Somehow, she managed not to scream with every movement she made. The men’s voices carried down to her, but her head still throbbed and her hearing was off, so she couldn’t understand them as she moved.

Maybe two minutes had passed since she’d heard Monty shoot Thor.

Too long.

Her head throbbed. Her body screamed. Higher, closer to the surface.

Monty shouted, his voice a loud snarl, “Figure out a way to get to her and bring her back up here.”

Celine reached the surface and peeked over the edge. Starlight was three feet away.

Monty was a good ten feet from her and pointing a gun. She peered through the rain and followed the direction with her gaze. Her body went cold when she saw he aimed it at Jayson, who stood in front of him.

She recognized the moment Jayson spotted her. He continued to look at Monty, but with a slight movement of his fingers, Jayson told her to get down.

“There’s no way to get down to the ledge,” Jayson said, no doubt not wanting Monty to see Celine behind him.

Celine ducked and searched for something. She didn’t know what, or even what to do with it when she found it.

Maybe a stick to hit him with? A rock to throw at him?

Nothing, not even a piece of wood.

“Figure out a way,” Monty snarled. “Or you’re no good to me alive.”

Her heart raced faster as she looked wildly around. Her gaze rested on Starlight—and the shotgun he’d carried with him.

Shotgun.

She had to get to that weapon.

Celine gritted her teeth as she rose behind Monty. Pain shot through her but she clamped her jaws tight.

Jayson gave the slightest bit of recognition that he saw her and he set his mouth in a grim line.

She slowly moved the three feet to Starlight. The storm masked any sounds she might have made, including her whimpers of pain. She reached for the shotgun and pulled it out of its sheath.

Jayson said to Monty. “Something like that could really kick you in the ass.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Monty sounded like Jayson had just thrown him a curveball. “Something like what?”

Celine aimed the shotgun at Monty—and shot his ass.

Jayson dropped flat to the ground. Monty’s gun went off as he went down screaming. He landed on his side and hit his head on a rock.

Pain tore through Celine from the effort, but she looked at Jayson to see him surge up then dive for Monty in one fluid movement. He knocked the gun from Monty’s hand, sending it flying across the ground.

Monty screamed again as Jayson rolled him onto his backside.

Celine fought to find the strength to stay upright and to hold onto the shotgun. Too weak. The shotgun dropped to the muddy ground. She didn’t have the strength to hold it up.

She spotted Thor as she fought to keep standing, and her heart lurched. He lay several feet away.

Hope shot through her in a cold spear as Thor shifted his position and tried to get up. Celine gritted her teeth and limped to the dog.

“My ass!” Monty shrieked over and over. “Someone shot me in the ass!

Celine looked over her shoulder.

“I don’t give a damn about your ass or you.” Jayson straddled Monty and slammed his fist into the man’s face. “What you did to her. You should die for it.” A look of rage darkened Jayson’s features and he raised his fist again.

Don’t. Words shot through her mind. Don’t do it, Jayson. If he seriously hurt or even killed Monty, Jayson might never forgive himself.

Jayson froze, as if someone held his fist back, restraining him.

Or rather, he restrained himself from beating the hell out of Monty—or worse.

Instead of killing the man, Jayson whistled to Starlight, who trotted closer, then Jayson got to his feet. Monty tried to move, but Jayson pressed his boot on Monty’s chest. “Don’t think about it. You’re not going anywhere.”

Starlight reached Jayson and he removed a rope from one of the horse’s saddlebags. He rolled then shoved Monty onto his belly and hogtied the bastard so tightly he squealed. The seat of his pants was dark with blood and riddled with small holes.

Celine’s knees gave out on her. Her body couldn’t take it anymore. She dropped to the wet ground and rolled onto her back, then stared up at the pines and blinked away rain. She turned her head to look at Thor.

The Border Collie struggled to his feet, clearly wanting to help. He limped slowly, favoring one shoulder. He went to Celine and lay down beside her. He licked her face and she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his wet fur.

Sticky blood from a shoulder wound covered her hands, but if it hurt him, he didn’t flinch. He licked her cheek again, before resting his head on her chest.

Jayson left Monty in the hogtie and hurried to Celine’s and Thor’s sides.

Celine shivered so hard her body vibrated. She grew colder, her leg impossibly more numb.

“Hold on, baby.” Jayson’s heart pounded a mile a minute as he pulled his T-shirt over his head and tore it into strips as he examined her leg and found a bullet hole in her jeans. His gut twisted. “You’re shot in your leg. Anywhere else?”

She shook her head. Her face was paper-white. He used the T-shirt to bandage her leg and stem the flow of blood. So much. She’d lost so much.

At the same time he worked on Celine, he glanced at Thor. He couldn’t work on them both at the same time, and Celine looked in worse shape. Thor looked in pain but alert as he licked Celine’s cold cheek.

Thoughts flashed through Jayson’s mind. He knew he couldn’t live with himself if he beat Monty to death. He didn’t want to be the kind of person to kill a defenseless man. But that didn’t mean he’d feel bad if one of the mountain’s Black bears got to him.

Jayson’s hands were bloody despite the pouring rain. He hurried to grab his cellphone out of Starlight’s saddlebag, then punched in 911.

Thankfully, they were in a place where he could get cell phone service.

He examined Thor’s shoulder wound as he waited for his call to be answered. The line was filled with static.

In moments, with just a little prodding, Jayson discovered that the bullet had gone straight through the muscle on his leg, somehow missing his chest. Probably the angle Monty had shot him had gone through just right. It didn’t look like he was losing much blood.

Emergency services answered Jayson’s call and he arranged for medevac as he tied a strip of his shirt around Thor’s leg.

The operator told him to stay on the line, but with the rain, the thunder, the situation, Jayson couldn’t hold onto the phone and get Celine and Thor to safety.

Jayson had to make it to the pasture where the helicopter would land before Celine lost more blood. It was ten minutes by horseback

For the second time, Jayson found himself with Celine’s life in his hands, and it scared him shitless.

No doubt about it, she had saved his own life when she’d shot Monty in the ass. And she’d done it when she was weak and battered.

He managed to get her into Starlight’s saddle. Her grip on the pommel wasn’t strong, and Jayson had to work to get Thor onto the saddle with her. She wrapped her arms around the dog and buried her face in his wet fur.

Jayson mounted the horse behind her and Thor. Damn it. He had to keep them both safely on the saddle.

Monty was still sobbing and whining. “Don’t leave me here, McBride. It’s dangerous.”

Jayson looked over his shoulder at Monty. “Sheriff McBride will be here shortly. Just hope that Black bears and mountain lions don’t get to you first.”

With that, Jayson clicked to Starlight, and they took off.

Somehow the horse knew to go to the north pasture. Jayson kept one arm wrapped around Celine’s waist while using his other to hold Starlight’s reins. Celine kept a hold of Thor.

Ten minutes later they left the tree line and made it to the north pasture. His ranch hands had relocated the cattle to the west pasture, a couple of weeks ago, so that would not be an issue when the helicopter arrived.

Medevac made it a few minutes after Jayson and Celine.

From that point on, everything blurred, seeming to go fast, yet too damned slow.

The paramedics rushed Celine into the helicopter, but didn’t allow Jayson or Thor to accompany her.

Jayson didn’t wait for the helicopter to clear the tree line. He took Starlight at a gallop to the barn, with Thor in front of him on the saddle. He had to stop to open and close two gates to make it to the barn from the pastures. Every moment it took, was a moment too long to Jayson.

They reached the barn and he hurried to take Starlight’s saddle off and put the horse in her stall.

Jayson made short work of getting to the house, stuffing a change of clothes into a duffel bag, and grabbing everything he needed.

Thank God, the arroyo had been cleared out yesterday afternoon, or Jayson might have had to take the horse on a roundabout route to get to a neighbor’s home and borrow a vehicle.

Jayson climbed into his silver Ford truck, and Thor rode on the passenger seat. Jayson would take him to the vet and then go on to the hospital. He made his way off his property and hit the road to the vet.

At the vet’s office, the techs and vet took Thor right away. Jayson couldn’t force down the knot in his throat. After a quick examination, the vet affirmed that the bullet had gone through and didn’t appear to have damaged anything. Thor would be fine and they would take care of him.

Jayson bolted out of the vet’s office to his truck, and headed for the hospital.

When he arrived at the ER, he threw the truck into park and nearly bolted inside.

He strode up to Lissa McBride, one of his cousins, who manned the front desk. He worked to keep his fear in check, but tension radiated through his body.

“Lissa, I need to locate Celine Northland,” Jayson said. “Where can I find her?”

“Hold your horses.” Lissa’s dark hair bounced around her face as she leaned forward and typed on her keyboard while looking at the screen. She glanced up at Jayson. “Celine is in surgery.”

Even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good, he said, “I need to see her.”

Lissa pointed to the waiting room. “You’ll just have to take a seat like everyone else, Mr. McBride.”

Frustration tightened his muscles and he leaned in close. “I need to know how she is, Lissa.”

“Considering she’s not a McBride, I’m pretty sure you’re not immediate family,” Lissa said. She gave Jayson a meaningful look. “Unless you’re engaged?”

“Yeah.” Jayson pushed up his Stetson and speared his fingers through his hair. “I’m her fiancé. How is she?”

Lissa looked at her computer monitor again. “Congratulations on your engagement, Jayson,” she said overly loud. “Your mama must be excited to be getting a daughter.”

He waited for Lissa to check on Celine’s progress. He nearly groaned—he’d have to call his mom. This engagement thing was going to tear through town like wildfire. But was that so bad? He’d already decided that she belonged to him.

“Celine is in critical condition.” Lissa put her hand over Jayson’s as the words tore through him. “I can’t tell you more than that. Once she comes out of surgery, Dr. Burgess will be notified you’re here and she will let you know the status.”

Jayson blew out his breath. It wouldn’t do any good to get worked up more than he already was. Everything would be fine. Celine needed him to stay strong.

“Thanks, Lissa.” He turned to the nearly empty waiting room, but didn’t take a seat. Instead, he paced from one end of the room to another.

His heart hadn’t stopped thumping and he wasn’t sure it would settle down until he knew she was all right.

His muscles were so tight he felt like his body might snap.

He paced. And paced.

How long was this going to take?

After a while, one of the sheriff’s deputies and Sheriff Mike McBride came in to take Jayson’s statement.

“Monty Tinsman has been admitted to the hospital,” Mike said. “Seems he got shot in the ass with a shotgun.”

Jayson nodded. “Tinsman had a gun on me and was about to shoot. Celine saved my life by what she did.”

Mike nodded. “We arrested Tinsman, then had him admitted to the hospital and he’s under guard.”

Mike had to go out on a call a short time later, leaving Jayson alone with his thoughts again.

“Mr. McBride?”

Jayson’s attention sliced across the room to the doctor, who wore blue scrubs.

She held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Burgess.”

“Doctor.” Jayson nodded and gripped her hand.

She squeezed his in return then withdrew. “Celine’s in recovery now,” Dr. Burgess said. “Things were a little rocky, but providing all goes well, she should be able to go home in a couple of days.”

The wash of relief that went through Jayson nearly rendered him boneless. For the first time since he made it to the hospital, he wanted to collapse on one of the chairs and take deep breaths.

The doctor explained about the extent of Celine’s blood loss and that they’d removed the bullet.

“She’ll be taken to a private room, and you’ll be able to see her,” Dr. Burgess finished. “A nurse will take you back when Celine is settled.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Jayson gripped her hand again. “Thank you.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand in return. “Celine will be fine,” Dr. Burgess said. “She’s a strong woman.” She smiled before she turned and left.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Jayson said below his breath and allowed himself a small smile.

Celine’s whole crew showed at the hospital. Rod had called Jayson not twenty minutes before, trying to track down Celine. When Jayson gave him the news, Rod had rounded up the bunch and now they filled the waiting room.

“Mr. McBride.” Lissa called out over the conversations in the waiting room. “You can see your fiancée now.”

Everyone went quiet. Could have heard a bee’s knees shaking.

“Thanks, Lissa.” Jayson tried not to show any emotion in front of Celine’s crew.

“Fiancée?” Rod said as Jayson made his way past.

Jayson shrugged. “I work fast.”

“I’ll say.” Rod grinned. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Jayson said dryly as he left the room behind Lissa.

“You enjoyed that,” Jayson said as he fell into step with her.

She flashed a grin. “You know I did. Paybacks for the mouse in my lunchbox.”

“Really?” Jayson tried not to laugh. “That was some thirty years ago.”

She stopped in front of a door to a private room that was about six inches open. “Some things are better left until the perfect time arises.”

Jayson shook his head then took off his Stetson and entered the room.

His throat tightened when he saw how white Celine’s face was. The dark curls around her face emphasized the china-paleness.

“Fiancée, huh?” she said with a faint teasing smile.

He released a grin. “You said yes back on the mountain.”

“I-I” She looked both startled and confused. A smile lit her features. “Ha ha.”

“I wouldn’t joke about a thing like that.” He took the seat beside her bed and put his hand over hers. “Celine McBride has a nice sound to it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Give it up, Jayson. I know I wasn’t that far out of things. I would remember if you had proposed.”

He shrugged. “I’m holding you to your promise.”

She shifted on her pillows. “You’re supposed to treat the patient delicately, don’t you know that? Not torture her with threats of marriage.”

Jayson grinned and chuckled. “Whatever it takes, honey.”

She touched his knuckles. Her fingers were so cold, that he captured both her hands with his so he could warm them.

A nurse bustled in and went to the IV. “Time for your meds, Celine.”

“Didn’t you just give me some?” Celine asked.

“It’s been longer than you think, I we want to keep you comfortable.” The nurse was finished in a few moments. She turned to Jayson. “Five more minutes.”

He nodded. “Yes’m.”

The nurse left the room and Jayson’s gaze returned to meet Celine’s.

Her features had softened even more and he saw her body relax dramatically. The pain med in her IV must really be kicking in now.

“Thank you.” She searched his gaze, her beautiful eyes reading into him. “You saved my life not once, but twice.”

“Don’t forget you saved my life,” Jayson said. “If it wasn’t for you, Monty would have killed me.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if he’d killed you.” Her throat worked as she held his gaze. “I was so afraid that he would.” She hesitated. “I can’t imagine a world without Jayson McBride.”

His heart constricted. “What are you saying?”

Celine smiled. “If I’m making a mistake, we can just let it slide as I’m delirious.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She squeezed his hand. “Will you marry me, Jayson McBride?”

You could have knocked him over with a strand of spaghetti.

He couldn’t take his eyes from her beautiful face. Even in the midst of machines and IVs, hospital gown and tousled hair. She was gorgeous.

“I expected to be proposed to on one knee,” he said.

She waved away his statement in a way that made her look as if she’d had too much to drink. “I’ll make it official later. Dinner, flowers, down on one knee, ring—the whole nine yards.”

“You are delirious,” he said. “But that’s all right. I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“I’ll make an honest man of you, Jayson.” Her eyes grew droopy. “I love you.” Her body went lax. In moments, her breathing became deep and even as she slept.

He shook his head, not sure what to make of Celine’s proposal. Had she been teasing?

Hell, he didn’t care at this point. She already belonged to him. He’d snatch her up before she changed her mind. But he’d insist on the whole nine yards—just to tease her—then do it himself.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Celine.”

When he leaned back, her lips curved into a smile and she looked completely at peace.