Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Adam pushed the truck faster, his heart pounding with a rhythm that had nothing to do with speed. He should have told her. The thought hit him out of nowhere and stuck hard. He should have told Bianca he loved her. He had known it for days, maybe longer, every time she smiled at him and every time she turned his quiet ranch into a brighter place just by being there. He loved her, and he had been waiting—waiting for the right moment, waiting until the film wrapped, waiting until everything settled down. What had he been thinking?
Hawk pointed forward. “Trail splits up there.”
“I know.” Adam took the right fork without slowing. Dust exploded behind the truck.
“Quinn, Jake, and Colton are coming,” Hawk said. “We need a plan if Boyd is armed.”
Adam wasn’t waiting for anybody. He had to get to her.
He just prayed he wasn’t already too late.
Bianca pressed harder on Ewan’s wound. “He needs help, Boyd.” She looked up, trying to keep her voice calm. “You made a mistake, but you haven’t killed anybody yet. You don’t want to do this. Help him, please.”
Boyd’s shoulders slumped. “It’s too late. Just too late.”
Ewan made a weak sound on the ground.
Maggie cried softly. “Please, Boyd.”
Bianca kept pressure on the wound, fear pressing down hard. Adam. The thought surfaced again, stubborn and desperate. Had he seen the text? Had the message even gone through? Her phone was still in Maggie’s SUV somewhere above the pit. Maybe he hadn’t gotten it. Maybe he was still out fixing fences, completely unaware she was down here with a man holding a gun. Her throat clogged.
“Get up,” Boyd said suddenly.
Bianca looked at him. “What?”
“Both of you. Move away from him.”
Maggie stood slowly, her hands still red with Ewan’s blood. Bianca hesitated before easing Ewan back onto the ground.
“I said move.” Boyd’s gaze flicked up the ramp for a moment. “I’m really sorry about this, but I don’t have a choice.”
“No.” Panic burst through Bianca. She jumped in front of Ewan and yanked Maggie behind her. The woman had two kids to worry about. “Don’t kill us, Boyd. You can’t live with that on your conscience.”
The air changed. A faint crunch of dirt came from above.
Boyd stiffened. “What the—”
A shape moved at the rim of the pit, and before Boyd could fully turn, a body dropped down the slope with explosive speed. Adam hit the ground hard and drove straight into him, the impact knocking Boyd’s gun arm sideways as the shot fired wildly into the dirt.
Bianca screamed.
Adam slammed Boyd into the ground and punched him once, twice, the blows brutal and fast. Boyd tried to twist free but Adam drove a shoulder into his chest and ripped the gun from his hand.
“Don’t,” Adam growled.
Boyd swung again but Adam slammed his fist into Boyd’s jaw. Boyd’s head snapped back and he collapsed against the dirt, unmoving.
Silence rushed into the pit as dust floated through the air. Adam rose slowly, breathing hard, the gun still in his hand. “Adam,” Bianca whispered.
He turned.
The moment their eyes met, something inside her cracked wide open.
He crossed the space between them in three strides and dropped beside her. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“I thought—” His voice broke off.
She threw her arms around him.
He caught her immediately, pulling her close, feeling strong and sure. Hawk dropped down into the pit behind him and instantly lifted Ewan up to several men in cowboy hats.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
“You came,” she whispered against Adam’s shoulder.
“Of course I came.”
She pulled back just enough to see his face. Dirt streaked his jaw and his eyes burned with fear and relief all at once.
“I thought I was too late,” he said.
“You’re not.”
His hands came up to cradle her face. “I thought I lost you.”
Tears finally spilled from her eyes. “I texted you.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t know if it went through.”
“It did.”
She let out a shaky laugh.
For a second they just stared at each other, the world shrinking down to the space between them.
“Adam,” she said softly.
“I should’ve told you something,” he said at the same time.
They both stopped.
“You first,” she said.
He shook his head. “No. You.”
Her heart pounded. “I love you.” The words came out raw and breathless.
Adam froze.
“I thought I might die down here without ever saying it,” she whispered.
His expression shifted in a way that made her breath catch. “I love you too,” he said, the words rough and certain, like they’d been waiting too long to be spoken. “I should’ve told you days ago.”
She let out a shaky laugh. “This happened way too fast. You know that, right?”
He kissed her. “I know that we have all the time in the world to go slow. We’ll figure out our lives, our jobs, and everything else.”
“I know.” She looked up at him. “I’ll still travel for work. Just not as much. I have you to come home to now.”