LITMIR.BIZ

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what was he going to do? Besides go up to that compound and get the baby for Lola? He tried to imagine himself as a father to an infant. What a joke. He couldn’t have been in a worse place in his life to take on a wife and a child.

      He looked across the ranch. All his life he’d felt tied down to this land. That his father had tried to chain him to it still infuriated him—and at the same time made him feel guilty. His father had had such a connection to the land, one that Colt had never felt. He’d loved being a cowboy, but ranching was more about trying to make a living off the land. He’d watched his father struggle for years. Why would the old man think he would want this? Why hadn’t his father sold the place, done something fun with the money before he’d died?

      Instead, he’d left it all to Colt—lock, stock and barrel, making the place feel like a noose around his neck.

      “It’s yours,” the probate attorney had said. “Do whatever you want with the ranch.”

      “You mean I can sell it?”

      “After three months. That’s all your father stipulated. That you live on the ranch for three months full-time, and then if you still don’t want to ranch, you can liquidate all of your father’s holdings.”

      Colt took a deep breath and let it out. “Sorry, Dad. If you think even three years on this land is going to change anything, you are dead wrong.” He’d put in his three months and more waiting for an offer on the place.

      When his leave was up, he was heading back to the Army and his real job. At least that had been the plan before he’d found Lola standing on his doorstep. Now he didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that he had to fly. He didn’t want to ranch. Once the place sold, there would be nothing holding him here.

      He thought about Lola asleep back in the house. If this baby was his, he’d take responsibility, but he couldn’t make any promises—not when he didn’t even know where he would be living when he came home on leave.

      Up by the road, he could see the for-sale sign by the gate into the ranch. With luck, the ranch would sell soon. In the meantime, he had to get Lola’s baby back for her. His baby.

      He pushed open the door and headed for his bedroom. Everything was going to work out. Once Lola understood what he needed to do, what he had to do...

      He lay down on the bed fully clothed again and closed his eyes, knowing there was no chance of sleep. But hours later, he woke with a start, surprised to find sunlight streaming in through the window. As he rose, still dressed, he worried that he would find Lola gone, just as she had been that morning in Billings.

      The thought had his heart pounding as he padded down to the guest room. The door was partially ajar. What if none of it had been true? What if she’d realized he would see through all of it and had taken off?

      He pressed his fingertips against the warm wood and pushed gently until he could see into the dim light of the room. She lay wrapped in one of his mother’s quilts, her long blond hair splayed across the pillow. He eased the door closed, surprised how relieved he was. Maybe he wasn’t a good judge of character when it came in women—Julia a case in point—but he wanted to believe Lola was different. It surprised him how much he wanted to believe it.

      * * *

      LOLA WOKE TO the smell of frying bacon. Her stomach growled. She sat up with a start, momentarily confused as to where she was. Not on the hard cot at the compound. Not locked in the claustrophobia-inducing tiny cabin with little heat. And certainly not waking to the wonderful scent of frying bacon at that awful prison.

      Her memory of the events came back to her in a rush. What surprised her the most was that she’d slept. It had been so long that she hadn’t been allowed to sleep through the night without being awakened as part of the brainwashing treatment. Or when the sisters had come to take her breast milk for the baby. She knew the only reason, other than exhaustion, she’d slept last night was knowing that she was safe. If Colt hadn’t been there, though...

      She refused to think about that as she got up. Her escape had cost her. She hurt all over. The scratches on her face and the sore muscles were painful. But far worse was the ache in her heart. She’d had to leave Grace behind.

      Still dressed in the sweatshirt and sweatpants and barefoot, she followed the smell of frying bacon to the kitchen. Colt had music playing and was singing softly to a country music song. She had to smile, remembering how much he’d liked to dance.

      That memory brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. She’d told herself that she hadn’t been in her right mind that night, but seeing Colt again, she knew that was a lie. He’d liberated that woman from the darkness she’d been living in. He’d brought out a part of her she hadn’t known existed.

      He seemed to sense her in the doorway and turned, instantly smiling. “I hope you don’t mind pancakes again. There was batter left over. I haven’t been to the store. But I did find some bacon in the freezer.”

      “It’s making my stomach growl. Is there anything I can do to help?”

      “Nope, just bring your appetite.” He motioned for her to take a seat. “I made a lot. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

      She sat down at the table and watched him expertly flip pancakes and load up a plate with bacon.

      As he set everything on the table and took a chair, he met her gaze. “How are you feeling?”

      “Better. I slept well.” For that he couldn’t imagine how thankful she was. “On the compound, they would wake me every few hours to chant over me.”

      “Sounds like brainwashing,” Colt said, his jaw tightening.

      “Jonas calls it rehabilitation.”

      He pushed the bacon and pancakes toward her. “Eat while it’s hot. We’ll deal with everything else once we’ve eaten.”

      She looked into his handsome face, remembered being in his arms and felt a flood of guilt. If there was any other way of saving Grace, she wouldn’t have involved him in this. But he had been involved since that night in Billings when she’d asked for his help and he hadn’t hesitated. He just hadn’t known then that what he was getting involved in was more than dangerous.

      Once Jonas knew that Colt was the father of her baby... She shuddered at the thought of what she was about to do to this wonderful man.

       Chapter Four

      Colt picked at his food. He’d lied about being hungry. Just the smell of it turned his stomach. But he watched Lola wolf down hers as if she hadn’t eaten in months. He suspected she hadn’t eaten much. She was definitely thinner than she’d been that night in Billings a year ago.

      But if anything, she was even more striking, with her pale skin and those incredible eyes. He was glad to see her hair down. It fell in a waterfall of gold down her back. He was reminded again how she’d looked the first time he’d seen her—and when he’d opened the door last night.

      “I’ve been thinking about what we should do first,” Colt said as he moved his food around the plate. “We need to start by getting you some clothing that fits,” he said as if all they had to worry about was a shopping trip. “Then I think we should go by the sheriff’s office.”

      “There is somewhere we have to go first,” she said, looking up from cutting off a bite of pancake dripping with the red syrup. “I know you don’t trust me. It’s all right. I wouldn’t trust me, either. But don’t worry, you will.” She smiled. She had a slight gap between her two front teeth that made her smile adorable. That and the innocence in her lightly freckled face had sucked him in from the first.

      He’d been vulnerable that night. He’d been a broken man and Lola had been more than a temptation. The fact that she’d sworn he was saving her that night hadn’t hurt, either.

      He

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