C26 You won't go out on a limb for me.

"Yes, I like it."

I slapped her ass and set about preparing the salad.

Once it was cooked and ready, we sat down to eat at my rustic table. "How does it taste?" I asked him once he had eaten it.

"Yum," he replied. "Seriously, it's yum."

"There's more if you want some." I took a swig of my beer.

"This is more than enough."

Damn, I love watching her eat. She stuck her tongue out, cleaning up the sauce, and my cock twitched. I'd barely eaten the last bit when I ordered, "Let's grab a blanket and finish our beers on the deck."

He nodded his head, unwilling to face the discussion ahead.

When we finished putting everything in the dishwasher, I grabbed a blanket and we headed out.

"The village and your people are safe," she blurted out as soon as I covered her with the blanket. We sat, side by side, on a bench made with my own hands, looking out into the night from my lighted deck.

"Scott's?"

She nodded. "I made sure no one was following me. I used a burner and changed my dishes. No one followed me here."

"You didn't call to give away my location?"

Her eyes bugged out. "No.

"Just checking.

"Sorry," he muttered, clutching his beer. "It's just...I wouldn't do that. I don't get paid for this job."

"I figured that when you said something about your uncle."

"I make enough hunting for the state," he continued. "I don't need private jobs. I'm good at what I do. And unfortunately, that seems to be the reason I've landed in this mess."

"Why?"

"My uncle raised me. He's not the best of role models, but he did the best he could. I branched out on my own five years ago, helping him out from time to time on bounty hunting jobs. He struggles with the bottle, the racetrack, the slots, the cards, you name it."

"He gambled at Scott's casino?" I guessed.

"Yes. And when Scott's men dragged me off the street and into his office, I found him with a pistol pointed at Spencer's temple . He claimed that my uncle had bragged enough about my reputation, and that should be enough to settle his debt of fifty thousand if he brought Paul Reeds ." He looked straight at me. "The man who killed his daughter."

My jaw clenched. "What happened after that?"

"I offered to pay the debt. I had money in my savings account. Scott didn't want a dime. I negotiated a month to bring Paul in , and he made it clear that he would have my uncle watched day and night and get him out if I failed." He laughed humorlessly. "My uncle is in for a scare if he tries to leave town."

I sensed his pain, took his hand and stroked his soft skin. "How did you find me?"

"Scott gave me a sketch of you and a hacker call later I had where to start. I rattled my net and followed my instinct." He smiled meekly. "I heard the stories about the men who could become wolves under the moon. Wolves who bonded under some form of alliance, or whatever that was." She shook her head, a blush staining her cheeks. "A silly thing to say, I know. But it appealed to me in a way I couldn't ignore. I focused on the fables and where they came from. I paid those who needed the money when many refused to tell me more. I turned to the people I have met over the years, some I trust, some I don't. It pays to let a lot of people know your name when you pursue someone. A favor for a favor creates bonds and opens up channels of information."

"And you found me because of that?"

"I found a name, an investor named Paul Roel , from that. And the name Paul was linked to Paul Reeds , and that's how I work. I follow the thread, no matter how thin it is. Then when I saw you in The Little Red Riding Hood, my goal was confirmed when the sketch was registered and you told me your name."

"You weren't expecting the connection?"

"Of course not."

I burst out laughing. "Yeah. Neither was I. I wanted to be a bastard to you. I wanted to make you suffer."

"Fuck with me, huh?"

"And fuck you. Send you back to Scott with a big 'fuck you'. But things didn't work out that way."

"Good plan," she smiled. "But what would have stopped me from blabbing about the location? Giving it to Scott once I'd released my uncle from his debt?"

"I never thought that far ahead. Too consumed by your ass. But why didn't you do it once you confirmed who it was?"

"Because I don't trust Scott," she replied. "He's a piece of shit who greases the palms of the right people to look the other way. The rumors of the things he's done give me the creeps. No way did I intend to bring him to the doorstep of innocent people."

"But it's okay to serve me up on a platter?"

"I had doubts," she murmured. "If that helps."

I smiled, "Yeah, I guess it does. How were you planning to lead me to Scott?".

Her cheeks reddened. "I planned to play the seduction game. Take you to a public place and get you high on booze. I was going to wait for you to say your feet were heavy, take you to my truck, handcuff you, and then drive you back to Idaho."

I nodded, impressed. "That might have worked with some men. But not with me."

She narrowed her eyes. "Cocky much?"

I winked at her. "No. And you'll soon understand why. So that's why you took the beer out of my hand earlier?"

"Yes. I couldn't do it. I'd been frantic from the moment you'd summoned us to the bar. But I had to numb myself. I couldn't think of another way out, and I was worried that if I told you the truth you'd kick me out on my ass, and then I'd have nothing. When you kissed me and told me about the drawing and what it meant, it brought me to my senses. I couldn't do it. I couldn't serve you like that. Not even when I had planned to help you escape after I turned you in to that asshole."

"From what I've learned about you so far, I don't doubt it. But Paul is my problem now. I'll solve it. And what's more, I'll do it without putting your uncle in danger. You should have come to me sooner."

"Yeah, well," he sighed. "I've dealt with shit on my own for long enough. Trust is a big thing for me. Especially with someone I just met."

"I didn't kill your daughter." That would have hung over her head, so I understood her resistance. "No matter what Paul says ."

"Yes. I realized that very early on. I just had no idea how to deal with it all. Ever since I saw my uncle in Paul's office , looking so weak, so scared, I've put one foot in front of the other, hardening myself to everything to get through it until I got here. Then I met Mary . And you. Then, for a while, I forgot myself, enjoying the respite." He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and then looked at me. "He wanted me to find you in two weeks or he'd put a bullet in Spencer's brain . I bargained for a month. I was on the road ten days before I got here."

"I could put a bullet in your uncle's brain anyway," I said, needing him to know the truth.

"I know. That's why I needed leverage. As soon as I got something from Paul , he was planning to get Spencer and me out of Idaho."

"You're afraid for him."

"I'm mad at him," she spat. "For putting me in this position. He knows what Paul is like . Yet he bet there anyway. And not only that, he loaned money to gamble with. Spencer probably came up with the idea of my services and told Paul anything to get out of the hole he had dug. He always has, he was looking for ways to use me." He leaned his head against the wooden logs of the cabin wall behind us. "But he took me in, Paul . He took me in when no one else would, so he could keep me out of the system. He fed me, gave me a roof over my head, and taught me how to fight and fend for myself. I can't let him die."

"I won't let him die." After I set my bottle down on the deck, I took his from her hand and pulled her close, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. "There are some people I need to meet with to discuss some things, will you give me time to do that?"

"You won't go out on a limb for me."

"Paul was my problem long before he was yours. If I had taken care of him sooner, you wouldn't be in this mess. So you'll stay here with me."

He smiled. "Won't people talk?"

"Let them talk. Other than Mary , people here think you're a derelict stranger. Let them keep thinking that. Even if they think you're a sexy whore for sleeping with the owner of their town."

She snorted. "Sexy whore. Yeah, I can think of worse names than that."

"You've already won half of them over, so don't worry. Including Mary."

Lara sighed. "I need to talk to her."

"She knows almost everything. She supported you from the beginning."

"Really?"

"Yes. She also yelled at me for lying to you. That little woman has bite."

He laughed. "Now I like her even more. Thanks, Paul."

"Don't thank me yet. There's more to tell you. Much more. But for now, we'll sit here, and you're going to let me hold you."

She snuggled. "Sure. Why not, it's not like I have anywhere better to be."