Page 7 of Her Guarded Hero

“Let’s get back to how you recognized the gun I was holding,” Dalton slowed down their pace until they were stopped, and he was staring down at her.

“Why is it a big deal that I know?” He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. He shouldn’t have made such a big deal of it.

Aurora gave him a considering glance then smiled slowly. “You’re not Ironman, you’re a Navy SEAL.”

“All that from the gun I carry?”

“That and the way you disappeared like smoke. Am I right?” Her eyes were sparkling.

Yep, no sign of a concussion.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “Petty Officer First Class, Dalton Sullivan, at your service. Tell me how you recognized the gun.”

“Granddad’s gun magazine. I think it goes along with his name. He’s a big-time hunter, he still meets up with his brothers up in Alaska to go hunting every year. The poaching that has been going on around here is driving him insane. I know that he has been going out looking for signs of the poachers.”

“Aurora, those weren’t poachers. They had you in their line of sight.”

She winced. “I really don’t want to believe that someone would actually take a shot at me on purpose. I don’t Dalton. Do I have to?”

He rubbed his hands along her arms and stared at her.

“Dammit,” she finally said, her lip trembling. “Dammit, dammit, dammit.”

One of her hands tentatively came up and rested on his chest. “I don’t know why anyone would want to take a shot at me. I just don’t.” She looked so lost and bewildered. Then she began shaking her head in protest, her blonde hair went flying and he watched as she winced. Dalton stopped her before she pressed her fingers against her forehead to contain her pain.

“Calm down, Sunshine.”

“How do you expect me to be calm if someone was using me as target practice?” Aurora gripped his hand like it was a lifeline. He noted she wasn’t wearing her gloves anymore. She let go of him quickly. “Nope. I choose to believe you’re wrong.”

“What?”

“I get to choose my reality. You live in a world where bad things happen all the time, right? You’re constantly having to protect and serve. There are bad guys that you’re constantly fighting, so you always think the worst. Isn’t that true?”

Dalton looked at her. She was serious. Before they had gotten off course, hadn’t she been going to tell him a love story? A fairytale?

“Dalton, answer me. I’m right, aren’t I? You live in a world that is far away from mine.”

“I suppose I do.”

“They were poachers.” Her grip gentled caressing his. How could something so dainty handle such a wild horse?

“Okay Aurora, it’s within the far-reaching realm of possibility, in some universe that you live in that they were poachers.”

Her smile ticked up at the corner. “Thank you for that, I’m glad you see it my way. Now let’s get a move on and I’ll tell you about my Granddad and Grandma so you’re all caught up by the time we get to the ranch.”

Sunshine was a good nickname for the woman. He’d really thought to get her to the road, get a phone signal and call the sheriff, afterall this was the day he normally spent alone, but maybe it was time for a change.

2

“Grandma had three brothers, and she could out ride them all. She was amazing on a horse. Back in the eighteen-hundreds the story was that two Comanche brothers came to live with the Washoe people, and that was where my Grandmother’s family got their horsemanship skills.”

Aurora watched as Dalton took a closer look at her features. Everybody always did when she mentioned her grandmother was Native American.

“It’s the cheekbones and the eyes,” she grinned.

“What?” he asked.

“Weren’t you wondering how a blonde girl was part Native American?”