Under Threat

There were faint lines around his blue eyes as he squinted toward the house before settling his gaze on her.
She felt heat rush to her center. The cowboy standing in front of her set off all kinds of desires with only a look. And yet after all this time, did she know this man? He’d come back. But that didn’t mean that he’d come back to her.
“I got your letter,” he said as he took off his Stetson to turn the brim nervously in his fingers.
“You didn’t call or write back,” she said, wondering when he was going to get to the news about the fiancée.
His gaze locked with hers. “I’m sorry but what I wanted to say, I couldn’t say over the phone let alone in a letter.”
Her heart pounded as she thought, Here it comes.
There was pain in his gaze. “I’ve missed you so much. I know you never understood why I had to leave. I’m not sure I understood it myself. I had to go. Just as I had to come back. I’m so sorry I hurt you.” His blue-eyed gaze locked with hers. “I love you. I never stopped loving you.”
She stared at him. Wasn’t this exactly what she’d dreamed of him saying to her before she’d gotten the call from his fiancée? Except in the dream she would have been in his arms by now.
“What about your fiancée, Chase?”
“Fiancée? What would make you think—”
“She called me after I sent the letter.”
He stared at her for a moment before swearing under his breath. “You talked to a woman who said she was my fiancée?”
She nodded and crossed her arms protectively across her chest, her heart pounding like a drum beneath her ribs. “Wasn’t she?”
He shook his head. “Look, I was never engaged, far from it. But there was this woman.” He saw her expression. “It wasn’t what you think.”
“I think you were involved with her.”
He closed his eyes and groaned again. When he opened them, he settled those blue eyes on her. “It was one night after a party at my boss’s place. It was a barbecue that I didn’t even want to go to and wish I hadn’t. I’d had too much to drink.” He shook his head. “After that she would break into my apartment and leave me presents, go through my things, ambush me when I came home. She found your letter, but I never dreamed that she’d call you.” He raked a hand through his hair and looked down. “I’m so sorry. Fiona was...delusional. She was like this with anyone who showed her any attention, but I didn’t know that. I told her that night I was in love with someone else.” His gaze came up to meet hers. “You. But I didn’t come here to talk about her.”
Fiona? Of course he had dated while he was gone. So why did hearing him say the woman’s name feel as if he’d ripped out another piece of her heart? She felt sick to her stomach. “Why did you come here?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I hated the way we left things too,” Chase said. “Mary, I love you. That’s why I came back. Tell me that you’ll give us another chance.”
“Excuse me.”
They both turned to see a man silhouetted against the skyline behind them. Mary blinked as she recognized the form. “Dillon?”
Chase’s gaze sharpened. “Dillon?” he asked under his breath.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, and then realized that she’d agreed to a lunch date she’d completely forgotten about because of Chase’s surprising return.
“Lunch. I know I’m early, but I thought we’d go on a hike and then have lunch at one of the cafés up at the mountain resort,” he said as he came partway down the slope to the creek and into the shelter of the pines. “More fun than eating at a restaurant in the village.” He shrugged. “When your pickup wasn’t at your office, I figured you’d be here.” Dillon’s gaze narrowed. “Why do I feel like I’m interrupting something?”
“Because you are,” Chase said, and looked to Mary. “A friend of yours?”
“Mary and I are dating,” Dillon said before she could speak. “I’m Deputy Dillon Ramsey.”
“The deputy, huh,” Chase said, clearly unimpressed.
Dillon seemed to grind his teeth for a moment before saying, “And you are...”
“Chase Steele, Mary’s...” His gaze shifted to her.
“Chase and I grew up together here in the canyon,” she said quickly as she saw the two posturing as if this might end with them exchanging blows before thrashing in the mud next to the creek as they tried to kill each other. “I didn’t know Chase was...in town.”
“Passing through?” Dillon asked pointedly.
Chase grinned. “Sorry, but I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere.” He said that last part to her.
His blue eyes held hers, making her squirm for no reason she could think of, which annoyed her. It wasn’t like she was caught cheating on him. Far from it since he had apparently recently dated someone named Fiona.
“If you’re through here,” Dillon said to her, “we should get going before it gets too hot.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” Chase said, his penetrating gaze on her. “But we aren’t finished.”
“You are now,” Dillon said, reaching for Mary’s hand as if to pull her back up the slope away from the creek.
Chase stepped between them. “Don’t go grabbing her like you’re going to drag her away. If she wants to go with you, she can go under her own steam.”
Dillon took a step toward Chase. “Stop,” Mary cried, sure that the two were going to get physical at any moment. She looked at Chase, still shocked by his return as well as his declaration of love. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He smiled again then, the smile that she’d fallen in love with at a very young age. “Count on it.” He stepped back and tipped his Stetson to her, then to Dillon. “I’ll be around.” In a few long-legged strides, he climbed the slope