CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CAIN HADN’T INTENDED TO MAKE LOVE TOJENNY THAT NIGHT. SHEwas battered and bruised and exhausted. But when they’d climbed into bed, she had turned to him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him, not a sweet, goodnight kiss, but a deep, fiery kiss that made him hard.
After all that had happened, she needed him, he realized. As much as he always needed her.
He had taken her gently, let her set the pace. He was in love with her. It might have taken him a while to figure that out, but he knew it now, deep in his bones.
And Jenny loved him. He had never met a woman he trusted more, never met a woman he respected more, and he intended to keep her.
They slept late that morning, made love again before they dressed and walked down to the Copper Star. Ryder Vance was in jail, his bail denied. Bart Harwell was in the hospital, chained to the bed, on his way to prison as soon as he was well enough to travel.
Cain was grateful to have his own problems wrapped up, but there was still something going on at the Copper Star. Will Price was going to be all right, but he was in no shape to act as Jenny’s protector. That left Cain, and he intended to be sure this time she was safe.
He was seated at one of the barroom tables when he looked up to see Jenny getting ready to leave.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice a little harsher than he’d intended. “I thought we agreed you’d stay close until we figured out what’s going on here.”
“I was only going to the library. I just wanted to check one more thing before Cleo and I made a plan.”
“If I recall correctly, the last time you headed off to the library, Will was shot in the back and you were abducted.”
Jenny’s cheeks flushed. “That was different. Those men were after you, not me.”
“A fine line of distinction. You want to go to the library? Fine, let’s go.” Since he was no longer a target, he didn’t mind the walk. The day was overcast, a chilly wind racing up from the flat desert lands below the mountain.
The librarian, Evelyn Dunning, was at the front desk when they walked inside.
“Maybe Evelyn can help speed this up,” Jenny said.
“I’ll wait right here.” He took a seat at one of the tables while Jenny spoke to the librarian at the counter. He had yet to have the conversation with Jenny he’d been wanting to have.
He wished he had time to make a trip to Scottsdale, pick out an engagement ring. Then again, he had no idea what Jenny would say when he broached the subject of marriage. Loving someone and becoming that person’s wife were two very different things. Jenny Spencer was extremely independent, and Cain was demanding and used to people doing whatever he told them. Not an easy man to love.
Cain shoved the thought away and pulled out his cell phone to check his email, but seconds later, he was back to thinking about Jenny.
He’d take her somewhere nice for dinner. Or maybe they would drive up to Sedona, spend the night. There were five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants in Sedona, and the town was only forty-five minutes away. It occurred to him there were first-class jewelry stores in Sedona. Surely, he could find a nice diamond for Jenny.
If she said yes.
Cain straightened in his chair. If he wanted something, he could be damned determined, he reminded himself, and Cain wanted Jenny. He wasn’t about to let her say no.
He was smiling, his mind going over his plan, when Jenny walked up beside him.
“You find what you were looking for?” he asked, forcing himself to focus on the current situation.
“I did. It was even more interesting than I thought. Evelyn made me copies of the articles. Let’s go back to the hotel, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
And maybe they would get the chance to talk about that trip to Sedona.
* * *
Jenny walked through the swinging doors to find her brother pacing impatiently in the saloon, waiting for her. Behind him, a few feet away, Summer sat on a barstool, sipping a Diet Coke.
She slipped off the stool and hurried over, gave Jenny a fierce, sisterly hug. “Everyone knows about the kidnapping. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” She hugged Summer again. “I’m just glad Cain and Nick found me before it was too late.”
At one time or another since she’d arrived at the Copper Star, half the town had come in to see her. They all wanted to express their concern over her abduction and tell her how thankful they were that she was all right.
