Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and walked inside. What I had to say couldn’t wait until she was off work. I needed to see my girl now.
The bookshop was quiet at this hour, warm and softly lit, with only a handful of customers milling around.
From somewhere in the back, I could hear the muffled sound of women laughing, and I followed it to the doorway of the stockroom, where I poked my head in to find a dozen ladies sitting around a table, paperbacks and e-readers in hand.
Every single one of them looked up.
“Real mountain men aren’t allowed!” Kelly hollered, and the whole room erupted.
“Keep your pants on, Amos!”
“No stripping allowed!”
Peals of laughter followed those announcements.
I knew what they were talking about, even if I hadn’t participated inthatparticular Red Oak Mountain incident. For once in my life, I was innocent.
I grinned and held my hands up in surrender. “I come in peace. I’m just looking for my gal.”
Shelly was at my side with her hand wrapped tight around mine within seconds.
She pulled the stockroom door shut behind her and dragged me back to the sales floor.
We stood in the middle of the quiet bookshop, while she looked at me as if she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or furious.
“I’ve been worriedsickabout you, Amos,” she huffed.
I stopped her right there and kissed her roughly, my hands tangling in her curls. I could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The poor thing had been worried about me.
“It’s okay, Shelly Bear. I’m here with you now.”
She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a pair of tourists wandered to the register, chattering about the stack of romance novels they’d found on the display table.
Shelly put on a professional smile and went to help them.
So I wandered the shelves while I waited, trailing my fingers along the spines of books, reading titles I didn’t recognize, and thinking about exactly what I wanted to say.
When the tourists finally left with a bag full of mountain man romances, I walked to her counter and leaned on it, looking straight into her eyes, as my pulse pounded in my throat.
I’d never been more nervous in my life.
“You got him?” she asked, a tiny frown pinching her lips.
My texts had been cryptic over the past two days. Just quick check-ins letting her know what was happening, and that I was safe.
“We took him to the Tennessee border.” I held her gaze. “He won’t be coming near Mina again. I promise you that.”
Hall and I had chased Mina’s ex all the way to the state line.
She gripped my arms, looking all over me, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I rumbled out a laugh, then pulled her into a hug, breathing her scent in deeply.
Damn, I’d missed this woman.
“I’m fine. Hall’s fine. Dax is not.”
Shelly furrowed her brow and searched my eyes. “Did you hurt him?”
