The highway is long, stretching out across gorgeous terrain. I lean back in my seat, foot up near the window, long hair free and blowing in the breeze. The top is down, my sunglasses are on, and we’re cruising as if we’ve never had a care in the world. As if our lives aren’t a mess. Raide looks at me every now and then, and one corner of his lips tips up in acknowledgment of my presence. That’s a nice feeling.
“Tell me something about yourself, Raide,” I ask, shifting in my seat.
“What do you want to know?”
It’s a risk, but I say softly. “Tell me about your sister.”
I expect him to flinch or harden, but he doesn’t. He smiles, and it melts my heart because it’s full of love. “She was crazy,” he begins. “Always getting into trouble. When we were put in a foster home, I was constantly on her back, chasing her all over the place because she was causing a ruckus. She had so much personality, enough for the both of us and more. She was always smiling, always fuckin’ happy.”
My smile gets bigger.
“Even though she was a brat, she had something going for her. She was smart as hell and she loved to write. At night, no matter what home we were thrown into, she would pull out an old pen and paper, and she’d write stories. She had so many of them, and all of them were good. She used to tell me when she got old enough to live on her own, she’d become an author and change everything for herself.”
His face drops.
“Then she met him.”
“What happened?” I ask softly.
“I knew right off the mark he was no good. They met at a club one night and he wooed her, swept her off her feet. She was pretty, fuckin’ sweet, and totally crazy. He liked what she gave, so he came back for more. They moved in together after two months, and I knew when shit started to go bad because she became withdrawn. She stopped writing. Stopped talking to me. Stopped trying to save herself.”
“I’m so sorry, Raide.”
“Should have done something,” he says, and I can see his fingers tightening around the wheel. “Should have pulled her away, made her stop, taken her as far away as I could.”
“Honey,” I say softly, “it wasn’t up to you to be her dad.”
“I was all she had, Grace. The only fuckin’ thing in her life she had that was stable. I might not have been her dad, but I was her protector, all the same. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t interfere. Then she called me that night, hysterical. She told me he had lost it, and that he’d hit her. I got in my car and sped over there, but by the time I got there she was gone. He was just standing there, staring at her like he’d done nothing wrong.”
I flinch.
“He looked up at me and grinned. He knew, he fuckin’ knew what she meant to me. I saw red, lost it. He was on the ground in front of me before I even realized what I’d done. He was beaten, and I had the damned knife in my hand. I guess the neighbors must have heard all the noise and reported it. The cops show, he starts screaming like a girl, sobbing and crying, actually looking like he was terrified.”
“God, Raide, I’m so sorry.”
He shrugs. “Justice will come to him.”
“In the right way, though—”
His jaw tics. “He killed my sister, Grace.”
“And if you kill him, you’ll go to prison for life. Is it worth that? Is that what she’d want for you?”
“Is she around to tell me what she fuckin’ wants?” he barks.
I stop talking. Right now is clearly not the time to lecture him about not killing the man who took his only family away. I can’t even begin to understand what he’s going through. He’s lived through a nightmare no one understands. My family might drive me crazy, but if they were ever taken away from me, it would destroy everything. His sister was the only person he had. I can’t pretend to understand his pain.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He clenches his jaw, then his shoulders slowly relax. “Not your fault, Gracie. I’m sorry.”
I force a smile and we ride in comfortable silence for a while. I watch as the countryside changes and the trees start getting closer together, thicker, prettier.
“Tell me about your family,” Raide finally asks.
I sigh and stare out at the road whizzing by. “My dad is great. He’s the most important person in the world to me. He always understood me. He always supported me. I love my mom and two sisters, but they’re the beauty queen type.”
“Jesus,” Raide mutters.
“You’re telling me. From the day my sister Gretchen was born, she was enrolled in every pageant. She’s pretty, the perfect little showcase Barbie doll. Then my other sister, Stacy, decided to get involved, and suddenly Mom’s time was gone. I never fit in. I hated anything pretty. I was always out fishing with my dad, hanging with his friends, and playing with boys instead of girls.”
Raide chuckles. “I can see that. I’ve seen you take down a fully grown man.”
I smile for real this time. “I know how to protect myself.”
“What do you do?”
I flinch. Shit. I haven’t even thought of an answer to such an obvious question. My mind twists quickly for a lie, and I give him a job typical for most girls my age. “I’m a waitress.” Ugh.
He raises his brows. “A waitress?”
“Yeah.”
“A waitress?”
I laugh. “Yeah, Raide, a waitress. Is that so surprising?”
“Absolutely.”
It’s my turn to raise my brows. “Why?”
He shrugs. “You ain’t the waitressing type, lady.”
“There’s a type?”
He grins and my heart flutters. “Yeah, baby, there’s a type. You ain’t it.”
“Care to elaborate?” I ask, removing my foot from the open window and turning toward him.
“Nope, I just know it ain’t you.”
“Well, it’s what I am.” This guy knows how to read people. That’s scary. “Any reason we’re going away for a few days?” I ask after another long moment of silence.
“Need time away.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
I frown. “You don’t seem like the ‘go away for no reason’ kind of man.”
If I didn’t know better, I’d say his jaw tightened. “I said that’s it,” he says low. “That’s it.”
Hmmmm. Interesting. I decide to change the subject because he doesn’t look happy.
“Okay, so tell me where we’re going.”
“Up into the mountains.”
My brows shoot up. “The mountains?”
“Yeah, the Colorado mountains.”
I let out a whoosh of air. “I’ve lived here my entire life, and yet I’ve never been into the mountains. I’ve seen them, they look amazing, but I just haven’t gone up into them.”
“You’ve been missin’ out. Prettiest mountains you’ve ever seen.”
“And we’re going into those mountains because…?”
He nods. “Got a cabin up there.”
“You do?” I squeak.
“Yep. Bought it about six years ago. Spent my free time fixin’ it up. Now I go up there when I can, just to get away.”
A cabin.
I bet that’s where he planned on hiding out when the heat started crashing down on him. A cabin. A secluded, hidden cabin. I shudder.
“It’s a good thing I trust you, Raide. I can trust you, right? Because don’t forget I have a gun.”
He laughs, and it’s a rich, beautiful sound that makes my skin tingle. “I’m still not sure a tiny thing like you can use a gun safely.”
“Hey, I’m not tiny,” I protest. “And I use it just fine.”
“Sure about that?”
I snort. “Of course I am. Probably better than you!”
He cocks a brow. “That a challenge?”
“Sure.”
He grins and murmurs low, “Accepted. I win, I get you for an entire night.”
I bite my lower lip.
“In the bath,” he rasps.
Oh man.
“On the table.”
I shiver.
“Bent over my couch.”
“And what exactly is this challenge?” I say, but my voice comes out breathy and lusty.
“Target shooting. Got a few targets set up on my land.”
I straighten and smile. “Challenge accepted—I rock at targets.”
“You haven’t stated what you want if you win.”
I swallow and stare at him. “I want you to take me on a romantic date.”
He looks disgusted. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. No one has ever taken me on a date that was beautiful, like the movies.”
His top lip curls. “I’m not dancing.”
I laugh. “Okay, handsome.”
“Not lighting candles.”
“Candles are a must.”
He frowns and mutters, “Fuck me.”
I can’t hide my grin. “I guess you’d better win, then, huh?”
He flashes me a quick, sexy look. “Oh baby, I’ll win.”
Challenge accepted.
* * *
We roll into Colorado Springs just after lunchtime. Raide stops at a gas station, and we fill up the tank, grab some sandwiches and shakes, then we’re back on the road. Raide tells me his cabin isn’t far, another hour or so, up into the mountains a little more. I fall asleep as soon as I’m finished with my sandwich and wake up only when we arrive at Raide’s cabin.
It’s gorgeous, with thick trees, the sounds of running streams, and a breeze that washes my hair back. I close my eyes, breathing it in. Then I get out of the car, stretch, and stare at the cabin in front of me. It’s not huge, but it looks homey—the perfect vacation retreat. I could imagine coming up here to escape the everyday tortures of life.
Raide comes around the car and takes my hand, pulling me up toward the cabin. He jostles some keys and then shoves one into the lock. With a loud squeak, the door opens. He steps in, fiddles about, and then flicks on the lights.
I gasp. Oh. Wow.
I’ve seen some beautiful places in my life, but nothing like this. It’s a cabin in it’s truest form. Exposed logs on the inside as well on the outside, one large living space, windows all around, and a patio running across the front length. There are no walls, the only separation is for a shower and toilet in the far right corner. Everything else is out in the open. The kitchen, the living, the bedroom, the fireplace.
Oh God. “This is—” I stop to catch my breath. “Amazing.”
“Took a long time to get it like this,” Raide says, walking in and dumping our bags beside the large bed.
“You’ve done an amazing job, Raide. It’s perfect. Where do you get the money to do all this? It must cost a lot.”
I don’t realize how rude my question is until it pops from my mouth. He doesn’t seem offended, he just shrugs. “I worked hard getting a job as soon as I could. I saved every penny, never spent anything on myself. This place, it mattered from the moment I saw it, and so I poured all my savings into it.”
Makes sense. “That’s nice.” I smile softly.
He walks over, reaching out and hooking his arm around me. He pulls me close, moving his arm down to my waist. He leans down, brushing his lips across my forehead. There he murmurs, “Go and shower or take a bath, and I’ll make some food.”
“There’s food here?” I breathe.
“Yeah, lady, got some neighbors. Told them I was comin’, they stocked the fridge.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’d have neighbors up here.”
He grins. “They live about twenty minutes west.”
“Oh.”
“Shower, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I turn and find the suitcase. I dig through until I find a pair of cotton shorts and a tank, then I go into the bathroom. It’s gorgeous. The walls are of the same wood as the rest of the cabin, the shower is double, and a bath sits right below a beautiful big window. You wouldn’t even have to worry about someone seeing you out here. I strip off and turn the shower on, stepping in and sighing.
As the water washes over me, I think about Raide and the situation I’ve gotten myself into. It’s risky, but I can’t deny there are feelings building in my heart for him, and I want to help him. I know what my job is, and I know the risk I’m taking, but Raide deserves someone to at least try to help him. I’ve still got a few weeks till the deadline. If I can use some of my contacts, I might be able to get something to help him. Either way, he’s got to go in, but if I find something to prove he’s innocent, he might just be able to get back out and we’ll be closer to getting the right man put away.
I flick the thoughts from my mind for now and decide to push the guilt away and just enjoy these next few days. It’ll be over before I know it, and I’ll be forced to make a damned hard choice. I take a towel from the rack and turn off the shower. I dry off, get dressed, and then run a brush through my hair. When I’m presentable, I head back out. Raide is standing in the kitchen, whisking what I’m assuming is eggs.
“A man who cooks—I must say I’m shocked.” I grin.
Raide’s lips curve up into a sexy half smile. “I’ll have you know I’ve evolved quite well.”
I giggle. “So you’re not going to throw me over your shoulder and carry me off to your cave?”
He chuckles while whisking. “It’s not a bad idea, might help to fix that sassy mouth of yours.”
“I am not sassy,” I gasp, but keep the smile on my face.
He looks up at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re kidding right?”
“Of course,” I grin. “I live to be sassy.”
His lips spread into a bigger smile, which makes my heart pitter-patter. “Were you always sassy?”
I shrug. “Not always—there was this time when I was in my mother’s stomach that I didn’t get the chance to find my sassy side.”
He shakes his head. “That answers my question.”
“We’ve all got to be something, Raide.”
He tilts his head and studies me. “Yeah, lady, I think you’re right about that.”
I throw myself onto the bed, stretching out. Suddenly the whisking stops and the floorboards creak. I try to hide my smile as Raide approaches the bed. A moment later he’s over me, hard body flattening mine, elbows beside my head. His amber eyes hold mine for long moments, and then he dips his head and kisses my neck. Oh boy.
“I thought we were having eggs,” I gasp.
“Fuck the eggs.”
Right.
His lips move down my throat, and my fingers find his biceps and give them a light squeeze. He growls, I whimper, and a throat clears.
Raide’s off me in a second, and I’m bolting upright, gasping as I lay eyes on a man standing at the door. Oh my God. He could have seen so much worse than us making out. We didn’t even hear him enter. I turn to Raide and see he’s grinning, big and broad.
“Benny!” he says.
“Sorry to interrupt, brother. Heard you were here a few days, thought I’d come say hi.”
Raide starts striding toward him, then stops and adjusts his erection—yes, adjusts it—before completing the distance. I want to curl up and die. My cheeks are burning. It’s clear Raide knows Benny, because the two embrace in a man hug to beat all man hugs, and then both are staring at me.
“Benny, this is Gracie.”
Benny nods and I scurry off the bed, rushing over to thrust my hand at him. He shakes it with a crooked grin on his face. “Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”
Benny is cute. Now that I’m closer, I can see that. He’s got long blond hair that falls around his shoulders. He looks to be in his early thirties, and his eyes are a light hazel and his skin is olive, but not in the natural way, more the ‘I’ve had too much sun’ way. His body is tall and lean, and he’s got a shotgun slung over his shoulder. His big black boots are undone, laces trailing off behind him. It’s clear Benny doesn’t go to town often.
“Come in, was just makin’ some eggs. You hungry?” Raide says, giving me a lustful look before turning to the kitchen.
“Clear you were makin’ something, bro,” Benny chuckles.
My cheeks heat once more.
Benny slides past me with a grin and flops down onto the couch. He pats a cushion and calls me over.
Hesitantly, I slink over and sit beside him.
“Tell me, Gracie, what’d he have to do to get you up here?”
Raide snorts.
“I’m sure he’s had plenty of girls up here,” I say.
Benny laughs. “Nope, he’s a loner. I thought he was swinging for the other team, you know?”
I giggle.
“Fuck off, Benny,” Raide grunts.
“Can’t blame me. There was that time you tried to get me up here.”
“For a fuckin’ guys weekend,” Raide mutters.
“Sure, buddy,” Benny laughs, nudging me to let me know he’s just playing around.
“Well, I must say, it was probably his charm and good looks that got me up here.” I laugh softly, too.
“Lucky man, he is. Tell me what you do, Grace?”
I shrug. “Just a waitress.”
Benny raises his brows. “A waitress? Seriously?”
Here we go again.
“That’s what I said,” Raide mumbles from the kitchen.
“I have no idea why it’s so surprising.”
“Lady,” Raide calls. “I’ve seen you drop grown men. You ain’t cut out for a waitressing job.”
“So I’m skilled in self-defense—aren’t most women?”
“Skilled?” Raide chuckles. “Ben, you should have seen her take down this dude for tryin’ to nab her purse.”
Benny chuckles. “Think I’d like to see that.”
I roll my eyes. “What do you do, Benny?”
His eyes soften and he replies with a gentle voice. “Lost my wife two years ago, been tough since. Been working on my land, fixin’ cars for folks, things like that.”
My heart breaks. “I’m so sorry.”
He smiles. “Life happens, sweetheart. Lost her to cancer.”
I look down at my hands, and my heart twists. Good people. All of them. Raide, Benny, good people.
“Once again, I’m sorry.”
“Eggs are up,” Raide says softly from the kitchen.
Benny leaps up and flashes me a smile that tells me it’s okay, before walking in and scooping up a plate off the counter. I follow behind and stare down at the scrambled eggs and buttered toast Raide has pulled together. We all go and sit at the table, and dig in. It’s really good, surprisingly so. Not that I doubted Raide could cook. Most men can, they just choose not to.
“This is great,” I say between mouthfuls.
“Yeah, bud.” Benny nods. “Great.”
Raide nods back and scoops the fluffy eggs into his mouth. We finish up, and I’m in the middle of washing up when three other people enter the house. There’s an older man, an older woman, and a pretty young blonde. They all embrace Raide, hugging and slapping backs. I smile from my spot in the kitchen as I watch them interacting.
“It’s good to see you, son.” The older man grins.
He looks like Benny, so I’m guessing that he’s his father. His eyes are warm and blue, his hair is salt-and-pepper, and he’s got laughter lines gliding out from his eyes. He’s handsome, even in his older age. The woman beside him is obviously Benny’s mother. She’s petite and small, with a short pixie cut that’s dyed light brown with streaks of blond. Her age shows only around her eyes and mouth; otherwise, she looks radiant and lovely.
“It’s been too long, Raide,” the woman says, embracing him.
“Yeah, Benny has been yammering on about missing you for ages now.” The lovely blonde smiles.
Raide smiles at her, and it’s warm. Super warm. Familiar warm. He puts his arms out and says, “Come here, girl.”
My heart clenches, it’s irrational and completely stupid but I can’t push it back.The girl beams and throws herself into his arms. He holds her tight, pressing his nose into her neck and whispering something into her ear. She flushes and steps back with that same huge grin when he lets her go. She’s a beautiful woman, really she is. Long blond hair that’s straight as a tack, hazel eyes like Benny’s, and a body to die for.
“Come here, Grace,” Raide says, stretching his arm out.
I slowly edge around the counter and walk toward the people, who are all watching me now. I force a smile, hoping like hell it looks genuine. When I reach Raide, he pulls me into his side, and I don’t miss how the blond girl’s mouth tightens. I’m intrigued about the relationship between the two of them, because there’s clearly one there, or there was at one time.
“This is Grace,” Raide introduces. “Grace, this is Edgar, Lynn, and Mandy.”
I smile again and give a little wave. “Hi, I’m Grace.”
He already told them that. Smooth, Grace.
“Hi, dear.” Lynn smiles. “It’s wonderful to meet you. We didn’t know Raide had company.”
I flush and shrug lightly. “It was last minute.”
“It’s nice to see him with company.” Edgar laughs and I smile.
“Leave him alone, Pops.” Benny chuckles. “It’s not his fault he’s socially stunted.”
Raide launches his fist out and connects with Benny’s shoulder. Benny makes a grunting sound, but he does it with a smile.
“How did you two meet?” Mandy asks.
“Grace was stalking me.”
I gape and twist to look up at Raide. “I was not stalking you!”
He chuckles. “Lady, you were.”
“I was not.” I turn back to the crowd. “I wasn’t. He was just everywhere I was.”
Lynn laughs. “I bet he was following you. Why wouldn’t he? You’re lovely, Grace.”
I beam and turn back to Raide. He winks down at me and pulls me back into his side. “You guys want to stay for a drink?” he asks.
“I’m in,” Lynn says.
“Could use one after today,” Edgar adds.
We all migrate to the front porch, and Raide brings out a beer for everyone. I curl up on an old swing chair beside Raide and listen to them all catching up. Edgar talks about his property, and Lynn tells me about the coffee shop she owns down in Denver. Mandy is studying at college to be a doctor. Their laughter fills me, and my heart aches. I realize, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m part of something.
Don’t get me wrong—I have Kady, Dad, and Vance, and they’re amazing, but they’re individual people. I haven’t just sat with my family and laughed, joked, and talked about life. These people are good people, they’re kind and funny, and I’d do anything to be a part of something like this. My chest cramps, and I have to focus on taking a few deep breaths just to calm myself.
“Are you okay, love?” Lynn asks.
Raide’s hand is on my leg, and it tightens, causing me to jerk and lift my head. “Sorry, I’m okay.”
“You look sad.”
I force a smile. “I’m just thinking about how nice this is. My family … we don’t do things like this.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Lynn sympathizes. “That must be hard.”
I nod, but say no more.
“You okay, baby?” Raide murmurs into my ear.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “I’m good.”
We continue on with the conversation, and Raide’s hand never leaves me. It’s on my leg or around my shoulders or holding my hand. It feels nice to be important, to be special, to be wanted.
“God do you remember that time you and Raide got busted making out at Lookout Point?” Benny laughs, and my head snaps up.
Mandy is blushing and Raide is glaring.
“God, yes,” Edgar mutters. “I had to explain to the cops why my sixteen-year-old daughter was kissing an eighteen-year-old in a car at midnight.”
“You two dated?” I ask softly.
“For a few years,” Raide says in his own mutter.
“We were engaged,” Mandy says, and it feels like someone has slapped me clean across the face. “We were going to get married but then—”
“Kelly,” Benny says softly.
“Kelly?” I ask.
“My sister,” Raide says, and I realize he never told me her name, and I must have missed it in the file.
“Oh.”
“Childhood sweethearts, these two were. Raide went to the same school and was always the jock,” Edgar teases. “He was in the foster family across the road, they were a good family, and these two hit it off.”
God. Engaged. He was engaged to her. You don’t just get engaged for no reason. He must have loved her, adored her.
“He was such a jock,” Mandy laughs. “Do you remember when you carried me out of that ice cream place over your shoulder because that man was looking at me?”
My chest gets tighter.
“Yeah,” Raide mutters, and I guess everyone takes the hint he doesn’t want to talk about it, because Lynn quickly changes the subject.
“Well, we should let you two get some rest. It’s getting late.”
We all stand and say our good-byes, then they’re gone and Raide and I are alone once more. We go back into the cabin, and this time Raide locks the door. The sun has just set, and the sounds of the night fill the small space.
“They’re lovely people,” I say.
Raide turns to me just before he reaches the bathroom. He’s got his shirt bunched in his hands, ready to lift over his head. “Yeah, they are.”
Our eyes lock, and so much passes between us. He knows I want to ask, but what he doesn’t know is that I won’t do it. Not because I don’t want to know—I do—but because it’s none of my business. I’m never going to be anything to Raide. I can’t be. I care about him, I want to help him, but the cold hard facts are, I’m going to betray him in a big way, and he’s probably going to get locked up because of it.
That very thought has tears burning under my eyelids. Raide notices and drops his shirt, striding over to me. He wraps his big arms around me, crushing his body to mine and holding me close. “It was a long time ago, Grace. Don’t love her anymore. We dated, I cared once, but we wanted different things. She wanted a white-collar kind of man, and she struggled when Kelly was down and being difficult. She didn’t know how to handle her. I realized then that the love I felt for her wasn’t what I thought it was. I could never be the man she wanted. She pushed for me to go into professions that would put me high in the business world. That wasn’t me, so I broke it off. She’s a good girl, but she’s not the girl I was ever meant to spend my life with. When I got charged, she didn’t call me for weeks. I thought I meant more to her—I mean, we grew up together, and we’d been on good terms the last few years since we broke up. She admitted I wasn’t the best fit for her either but she didn’t have the guts to call off the engagement . She’ll always be like family now, but that’s it. She let me down. I thought she’d be there when I needed her, even if we weren’t together, but she wasn’t. I don’t go back when my trust is shattered.”
Oh. God.
I don’t go back when my trust is shattered.
I cry hard, but I let him go on thinking it’s over Mandy. Because if he knows what I’m really crying about, there’s a good chance I’ll be in Mandy’s place and he’ll never trust me again.
And if that happens, I’ll lose him forever.