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Still, driving back to her land, where she planned to ca about him Every word she’d told him about herself had been true But had he been as honest with her? She’d seen his badge She kneasn’t really working for Ferg But she’d sensed a wall around hi him her trust would be more than she dared to risk

Pulling up next to the fallen tree, she took her pistol from under the seat, cocked the hammer, and climbed out of the cab By noas alht breeze Crickets chirped in the undergrowth The babble of the creek was peaceful, the shadows quiet Still, Rose knew that this wasn’t a safe place to spend the night She would sleep with her pistol beside her and probably lie awake, listening for any sound or er

After locking the cab, she went around to the back of the camper and opened the door The bed was above the cab She would have to cliht now, that couldn’t be helped She could arrange the place better for living tomorrow

Getting ready for bed involved stripping off her clothes in the dark and finding a nightgown in her duffel There were no sheets, and she could only hope thea quilt behind her, she climbed onto the bed, rolled the comforter around her, and closed her eyes

She was exhausted It would have surprised her to know that she had fallen asleep almost at once

Froht He had scouted the shadows and satisfied hioing to happen to Rose on his watch

Her account of killing the drug lord who’d raped her, then going on the run from the cartel, seemed alhtened eyes compelled him to believe her His instincts told him that she was honest to the bone and unspeakably brave, with little e to protect her Yet Tanner sensed that in her heart she was afraid

As far as he knew, this small woman had killed two evil men Those acts would be burned into her memory She would carry theliiven hiee fro? What else lay behind the fear he’d seen in those breathtaking sunflower eyes?

As a law cartels But he’d heard and read about them The ones that ope

rated south of the border were ruthless enough to wipe out entire towns,their bodies into s they’d done made him shudder

If these kinds of rave peril And yet she re out here alone on the land she’d resolved to claim, stubborn, determined, and so vulnerable that Tanner ached for her Every instinct in his body cried out to protect her—if not froers that lurked in the shadows on a quiet Texas night

For the space of a long breath, he stood watching the pickup Then he went back to his horse, untied his bedroll from the back of the saddle, and returned

Finding a level spot, he laid out the bedroll, checked his pistol, and lay down on his side, facing the creek He didn’t plan to sleepsure she was safe

CHAPTER NINE