“Oh, God.” She hugged him harder. “You could never disappoint me, Brandon. Never.”
He kissed her quick and hard, set her away, and went to see about scumball Ray Cummings. As he knelt to assess the wound, he looked back at Jessie. “Your shot missed the heart. You didn’t kill him.”
“I didn’t miss. I didn’t kill him because I wanted to so badly.”
He almost smiled.
“I’ll call 911.” While Jessie went to make the call, he grabbed a towel and used it to slow the flow of blood.
Jessie made another call, this one to Detective D’Marco Porter. “Ray Cummings is on the floor of my living room. He’s bleeding from a bullet to the chest that came from my pistol.”
Porter said something, then Jessie ended the call and turned to Bran. “The police have been dispatched. Detective Porter is on his way.”
Bran pressed harder on the wound. “He’s losing a lot of blood. Grab another towel, will you?”
“Or maybe we should just let him bleed out.”
This time he did smile. “There’s my girl.”
Shaking her head, Jessie went after more towels.
Cummings was still breathing when the ambulance hauled his sorry ass away. Porter and another detective took his and Jessie’s statements, then, finally, they were alone.
“I shouldn’t have left you the way I did,” Bran said, pacing over to the window, his hands on his hips. “The bastard could have killed you.”
“I don’t think so. If anyone was going to die today, it was Ray Cummings.”
He turned to look at her. “Yeah?”
“That’s right.” She walked up to him. “And if you can forgive me for being such a coward before, I’d love to accept your invitation and go to Dallas with you.”
His chest clamped down. He started to shake his head. It was over. Jessie was right—it would never work.
He felt her hand on his cheek, drawing his attention. “I know you. I know the man you are. I trust you to handle whatever your job requires. I’m not afraid anymore.”
“Jessie...”
“Do you love me, Brandon?”
He couldn’t lie to her. Not about something so important. “I should have told you. I wanted to. You’re not the only coward.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known. You’re the man I love. I want us to make a life together.”
Something was opening inside him. Something warm that felt like the sun shining on his heart. He wanted what she was offering, wanted it so badly.
He drew her in front of him, set his hands at her waist. “You really think Danny would be okay with us being together?”
Jessie smiled at him so sweetly his chest ached. “If he saw us together, yes, I really do.”
The tension slid out of his shoulders and a feeling settled over him that felt like coming home. She wanted to be with him. He could make it work, have the woman he loved. A woman who also loved him.
“So...ah...you’re moving to Dallas?”
She smiled. “Looks that way.”
Bran felt the biggest grin sliding across his face. Dipping his head, he very thoroughly kissed her.
