Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

step away from him. Being so close to Chase with him looking at her like that, she couldn’t think straight. “It makes me nervous, the two of you with your heads together.” When he said nothing, she’d looked over at him.

He grinned. She did love that grin. “Your mom and I have always gotten along great. I like her.”

She eyed him for a moment and let it go. Did he think that getting closer to her mother was going to make her trust him again? “How is work going on the Jensen Ranch?”

“I’ve been helping with fencing so if you’re asking about Beth Anne? I haven’t even seen her.” He shook his head. “Like I told you, it’s temporary. I start as finish carpenter with Reclaimed Timber Construction next week. I’ll also be moving into my own place in a few days. I was just helping out at the Jensens’ ranch. Since I left, I’ve saved my money. I’m planning to build my own home here in the canyon.” He shrugged and then must have seen her surprised expression. “Mary, I told you, I’m not leaving. I love you. I’m going to fight like hell to get you back. Whatever it takes. Even if I have to run off that deputy of yours.”

“Don’t talk crazy.” She noticed the bruise on his cheek from last night reminding her of their fight.

“Seriously, there is something about him I don’t like.”

“That was obvious, but I don’t want to talk about him. Especially with you.”

“Not a problem,” he said as he spread out a blanket in the sand and opened the picnic basket “Fresh lemonade. I made it myself.”

“With my mother’s help,” she said as he held up the jug. She could hear the ice cubes rattling.

“I know it’s your favorite,” he said as he produced a plastic glass and poured her some. As he handed it to her, he smiled. “You look beautiful today, by the way.”

She took the glass, her fingers brushing against his. A tingle rushed through her arm to her center in a heartbeat. She took a sip of the lemonade. “It’s wonderful. Thank you.”

“That’s not all.” He brought out fried chicken, potato salad and deviled eggs.

“If I eat all this, I won’t get any work done this afternoon,” she said, laughing.

“Would that be so terrible?”

She smiled at him as she leaned back on the blanket. The tops of the dark pines swayed in the clear blue overhead. The sound of the flowing clear water of the Gallatin River next to them was like a lullaby. It really was an amazing day, and it had been so long since she’d been here with Chase.

“I haven’t done this since...”

“I left. I’m sorry.”

“Not sorry you left,” she said, hating that she’d brought it up.

“Just sorry it wasn’t with you.”

She nodded and sat up as he handed her a plate. “I guess we’ll never agree on that.”

“Maybe not. But we agree on most everything else,” he said. “We want the same things.”

“Do we?” she asked, meeting his gaze. Those old feelings rushed at her, making her melt inside. She loved this cowboy.

“We do. Try the chicken. I fried it myself.”

She took a bite and felt her eyes widen. “It’s delicious.” It wasn’t her mother’s. “There’s a spice on it I’m having trouble placing.”

“It’s my own recipe.”

“It really is good.”

“I wish you didn’t sound so surprised.” But he grinned as he said, “Now the potato salad.”

“Equally delicious. So you cook?”

His face broke in a wide smile. “You really underestimate me. Cooking isn’t that tough.”

They ate to the sound of the river, the occasional birdsong and the chatter of a distant squirrel. It was so enjoyable that she hated to bring up a subject that she knew concerned him. But he’d said he needed to talk to her about the names of men he thought might be his father.

“You said you’ve narrowed your search to three names?” she asked.

He nodded. “J.M. I’ve searched phone listings. Since it was someone in the Big Sky area that helps narrow the scope.”

Unless the man had just been passing through. Or if he’d left. But she didn’t voice her doubts. “What is your plan? Are you going to knock on the door of the men with the initials J.M.?”

He laughed. “You have a better suggestion?”

She studied him. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

Chase looked away for a moment. “I wish I could let it go. But I have to know.”

“What will you do when you find him?”

He chuckled. “I have no idea.”

“I don’t believe that.”

Chase met her gaze. “This man used my mother and when she got pregnant, he dumped her.”

“That isn’t what she said in her diary.”

“No, she didn’t spell it out, if that’s what you mean. But I know how it ended. With her being penniless trying to raise me on her own. It’s what killed her, working like a dog all those years. I want to look him in the face and—” His voice broke.

She moved to him. As he drew her into his arms, she rested her head against the solid rock wall of his chest. She listened to the steady beat of his heart as tears burned her eyes. She knew how important family was. She’d always known hers. She could feel the hole in his heart, and wanted more than anything to fill it. “Then let’s find him.”

As they started to pack up the picnic supplies, Chase took her in his arms again. “You know I’ve never been that good with words.”

“Oh, I think you’re just fine with words,” she said, and laughed.

“I love you,” he said simply.

She met his gaze. Those blue eyes said so much that he didn’t need words to convince her of that. “I love you.”

“That’s enough. For now,” he said, and released her. The promise in his words sent a shiver of desire racing through her. Her skin tingled from his touch as well as his words. She’d wanted this cowboy more than she wanted her next