To Gabriel's mouth claiming mine in his office. To the way he'd marked me with that bite, possessive and hungry. To the heat that flared in his eyes when I told him about spending the night with Colt and Beau.
Everything looks the same in this little clinic where I've spent so many hours these past few weeks. The filing cabinets I organized. The appointment book I color-coded. That ancient coffee machine that still makes terrible coffee unless I'm the one coaxing it to life. All familiar. All mine in the way places become yours when you pour your heart into caring for them.
But I'm different now.
Now I'm a woman involved with three men. Three dominant, overwhelming, utterly devastating men who'vesomehow become the center of my universe in ways I never imagined possible.
The thought should terrify me more than it does.
Instead, what scares me senseless is everything else. The complications. The questions. The impossibility of navigating this without someone getting destroyed. Without me getting caught.
Three men. Three very different, very powerful men who are pillars of this small community. Gabriel with his badge and his responsibility to uphold the law. Beau with his ranch and his family name that goes back generations in these parts. Colt with his practice and his reputation as the man who saves everyone's animals.
What happens to their reputations when people realize they're sharing a woman who's been lying about who she is? When they find out I'm not just Lucy Reid, temporary clinic assistant, but Lucinda Kensington-Reid, escaped mental patient?
The familiar panic starts clawing at my chest, that suffocating feeling that makes breathing an effort. Uncle Richard has resources I can't even imagine. Private investigators. Lawyers. Doctors who owe him favors.
What if he goes after them? What if my presence here puts Gabriel's job at risk, threatens Beau's ranch, ruins Colt's practice? What if caring about me becomes the thing that destroys everything they've worked for?
My hands shake as I reach for my coffee mug. I can't let that happen. I won't be the reason three good men lose everything. Maybe I should start pulling back now, before anyone gets too attached. Before the inevitable disaster strikes and takes them down with me.
But even as I think it, I know I won't. Can't. Because what we have together feels too real, too precious.
The bell above the clinic door chimes, and I look up to see Mrs. Cross entering with her usual no-nonsense stride. Today she's wearing a floral print dress that makes her look like someone's favorite grandmother.
"Afternoon, dear," she says, approaching the reception desk with a smile that's far too knowing for my comfort. "I'm here to pick up healthy food for my boy, but I have to say, you look like you've got the weight of the world sitting on those shoulders."
"Just thinking about work stuff," I say, forcing a bright smile. "How's Tyson been feeling?"
"Oh, he's been fine as frog's hair. But that ain't what I'm asking about, and we both know it." Mrs. Cross leans against the counter, studying my face with those sharp blue eyes that see far too much. "Word around town is that you've been keeping some very interesting company lately."
Heat floods my cheeks. "I don't know what you mean."
"Honey, this is Briarhaven. We've got three stoplights and two grocery stores. When a pretty young woman startsspending time with our most eligible bachelors, people take notice." Her smile turns wicked. "Especially when she spends the night at one of their ranches and gets driven to work by another one."
"Mrs. Cross, I..."
"Now don't you go getting all flustered on me," she interrupts, waving a hand dismissively. "I ain't here to scold you. Lord knows if I was forty years younger and had three men like that looking at me the way they look at you, I'd be doing a lot more than blushing about it."
The frank admission makes me laugh despite my mortification. "You really think it's that obvious?"
"Honey, a blind man could see the heat between you four. And, that bite mark on your neck is fresh as this morning's bread." She winks at my horrified expression. "Don't worry, most folks won't notice, but I've got grandchildren. I know what kids are up to these days."
I touch my neck self-consciously, remembering Gabriel's claiming bite. "People are talking?"
"People always talk, dear. Question is, are you gonna let their opinions dictate your happiness?" Mrs. Cross's expression becomes more serious, maternal in a way that makes my chest tight with longing. "I've lived on this earth for sixty-seven years, and I've seen a lot of people let fear keep them from grabbing hold of the good things life offers. Don't be one of them."
She reaches across the counter and pats my hand with gentle firmness. "Lucy, I don't know what brought you to Briarhaven, and I don't need to. What I know is that you've been a blessing to this clinic, to those animals, and to three men who needed something beautiful in their lives more than they probably realized."
"What if it doesn't work? What if someone gets hurt?"
"What if it does work? What if you find the kind of love most people only dream about?" Mrs. Cross straightens, her voice taking on the tone of someone who's lived long enough to know what matters.
"Lucy, life's too short and too uncertain to waste time on what-ifs. You take it with both hands and an open heart, or you spend your whole life wondering what might have been."
The simple wisdom in her words settles something restless in my chest. Maybe she's right. Maybe instead of focusing on all the ways this could go wrong, I should focus on the fact that it's going right.
"Thank you," I tell her, meaning it more than she probably realizes. "I needed to hear that."
