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For almost two years, Skye had told herself that what she’d experienced with TJ that first time had been nothing more than ignorance, virginal infatuation disguised as love. She’d even very nearly convinced herself of it.

But it had been a lie. TJ had been right: Once would never be enough.

Intimacy couldn’t be forced. It was either there or it wasn’t. Skye’s problem – the one she couldn’t avoid any longer – was that the very person she’d promised herself she’d never allow back into her heart was the only man who had the power to walk back in anyway.

And he just had.

Chapter 34

Rapid City, South Dakota – February 3, 2027

TJ stood on the sidelines as Skye and Kai took third place in Denver and then first place in the 1D at a local jackpot the following weekend. With a little money in Skye’s pocket and new tyres on the trailer, they drove north to South Dakota for Rodeo Rapid City. Skye had purposefully entered the slack, taking place the day before the rodeo performance started, so that she could push north to the Bismarck PRCA Rodeo in North Dakota in time for her performance run just two days later.

It would be her first time competing in two rodeos back to back, and although TJ knew that Skye was as ready as she would ever be, telling her that didn’t seem to help. Between her race schedule and her birthday, both looming on the horizon, the cracks started to show.

She was restless, edgy. When she was trapped in the truck on the road, she talked constantly, critiquing her runs and rambling on about things she needed to improve on, so that TJ had eventually lost his patience, clamped a hand over her mouth, and said, very clearly, ‘You know what you’re doing. Stop panicking. Take a fucking breath.’

Instead of recovering from travelling and getting the rest she needed to perform, Skye tossed and turned all night and woke up with rings under her eyes and skin so pale he could see the blue veins snaking beneath.

But it was only when she stopped eating that TJ put his foot down.

They’d booked an RV hook-up and two stalls at the Black Hills Dude Ranch, only a twenty-minute drive from The Monument, where the rodeo was being held. And because nobody could possibly know where they were staying, they stalled the horses with peace of mind before making their way over the two-hundred-acre property to their RV hook-up.

When TJ had showered, he took stock of the mini fridge, overflowing with health foods from the long list of anti-inflammatories the doctor had given Skye. He rapidly dismissed the beetroot and radish, asked, ‘How about salmon and salad?’

Skye was curled on her side on the bed, wearing sweatpants and a black cotton sports bra. She didn’t even raise her eyes, just said, ‘I’m not hungry. But go ahead.’

TJ took a moment to check his temper, but when he said, ‘You haven’t eaten at all today,’ it still came out tight with impatience.

‘I said I’m not hungry.’ She enunciated every word.

TJ slammed the fridge door. ‘Not good enough.’

Skye sat up and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly pissed. But with her short hair mussed and her odd but sexy outfit, the effect was lost on TJ. All he could think was, Mine.

‘I’m doing the best I can, TJ.’

‘To repeat what you said to me only a week ago: that isn’t good enough for me.’ He walked to the bed, but he didn’t touch her, knowing that if he did, he would give in and let her have whatever she wanted. He rested his forearms on the mattress, met her eyes. ‘I’m doing everything you’ve asked of me. The physio. The diet. The sitting on my ass while you do all the heavy lifting. And it’s not easy for me.’ Willing to use the truth to his advantage, he added, ‘It makes me feel useless. But I’m doing it because you asked me to.’

‘I know.’

‘I expect the same from you,’ he said firmly. ‘To look after yourself.’

Skye’s shoulders slumped. ‘I’m just tired,’ she said quietly.

The tears that filled her blue eyes just about killed him. But they didn’t scare him. TJ had stored every memory of her in his mind and body. He knew that the more she trusted, the more she allowed herself to be vulnerable. ‘Why don’t you nap?’ he said. ‘We can eat later.’

‘I can’t sleep.’ She laughed bitterly, tiredly. She looked down at her lap, distractedly picked at a loose thread on her sweats. ‘I used to have these nightmares …’

When she shook her head, embarrassed, TJ didn’t let her get away with it. He carefully climbed onto the bed. He lay down on his back, and when she didn’t move right away, he tugged her down next to him, tucked her against his side.

Skye was quiet for a long moment, her emotion clear.

TJ didn’t push, just waited. Despite the fact that they had solidly ignored her ‘one time’ rule over the past few weeks, lying there next to Skye when she was vulnerable was almost as intimate as having sex with her.

When she started talking, her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. ‘When I was little, living in the house, it was always the same nightmare. I would be sleeping, and a giant red snake would slither into my bed. It would coil itself around me, and by the time I woke up, it was wrapped so tightly that I couldn’t breathe or call for help. I just lay there and felt myself suffocating.’

Her tears wet his shirt, over his heart. But TJ didn’t say anything. He just held her as she spoke, as her words branded his heart with ugly, red wounds.