a good cry without an audience. But a few seconds later, she heard him return. The bed shifted as he sat down next to her.
“Here.” He thrust a small white handkerchief into her hand. “It’s clean.”
She laughed and used it to wipe her eyes. “Thank you. I’m sorry to act like such a baby.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Listen, it’s been a long night, and I bet we both could use a little sleep. I’m going to make sure we’re locked up tight and then I’ll get a little shut-eye myself.”
She twisted the handkerchief between her fingers. “I bet you don’t usually lock up, do you?”
He looked at her. “No. Not usually.”
“I don’t lock up at home much, either. I guess that’s craziness in a world like this, huh?” She tried to smile, but inside, she felt as if something small and innocent had died.
The bleak understanding she saw in his eyes was cold comfort. “I guess it is.” He gave a brief nod and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
RILEY SLOWLY CIRCLED the ranch house, checking doors and windows to make sure they were secure. The place was all that was left of his family ranch-the house, the stable and enough acres of land for the horses to graze and roam. His parents had wearied of the bitter Wyoming winters and the struggle to make a cattle ranch thrive when family ranches were a dying breed. So they’d retired to Arizona.
They’d offered to let him keep more of the land, to turn the place into a guest ranch, like so many places in the state had become, but he liked his work as a cop, and Emily was dedicated to her nursing job. Plus, they’d been talking about starting a family. They couldn’t have given any time to running a dude ranch.
So much had changed since then. His whole life, really.
He wandered into his bedroom and sat on the edge of the old four-poster bed Emily had found at a flea market in Thermopolis. It was solid oak, battered by time and use, but she’d loved it. He was a man, and it was a bed, so he’d loved it, too.
He’d loved her in it.
He released a weary breath and pulled his boots off, letting them drop to the floor with two heavy thuds. Stripping off his T-shirt, he lay back on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to will himself to sleep.
For the moment, Hannah Cooper was safe with him. Only a handful of people knew where she was going when she left the hospital-Joe, Sheriff Tanner and him. Tanner had agreed not to tell anyone else on the Teton County force.
But secrets had a way of getting out, no matter how carefully you tried keeping them, he knew. About a year earlier, he’d seen how easily a bad man with determination and the right connections could find the person he was looking for. Joe and Jane had nearly died as a result.
He didn’t want Hannah Cooper to die because he was sleep deprived and off his game. He was so close to finding the bastard who’d killed Emily and destroyed his life.
He couldn’t make any mistakes.
He pushed himself up from the bed and grabbed a fresh change of clothes from the bureau by the bed. Maybe a shower would help him relax. He started out into the hall, then backtracked to grab the Ruger pistol in its holster by his bed.
He paused in the bathroom doorway, listening for sounds from the guest room. Everything was quiet.
Too quiet?
He shook off the paranoid thought and entered the bathroom. He turned on the shower to let the water warm while he undressed, then stepped into the hot spray. The drumbeat of water felt good on his tense muscles.
Unbidden, an image popped into his mind. Hannah Cooper’s bare back, smooth and golden-brown, peeking through the ribbons of her hospital gown. The thin cotton had done little to hide her curvy hips or the soft swell of her breasts.
He closed his eyes and pressed his head against the shower tiles, reaching down to turn the cold tap.
HANNAH HEARD THE SHOWER cut on and wished she’d thought of it first. She’d managed a sponge bath in the hospital, but a nice hot shower seemed like sheer bliss at the moment.
And maybe it would help her fall asleep, because lying here staring at the ceiling wasn’t getting it done.
She sat up, lifting her hand to her brow as the room spun a little. Her equilibrium settled and she padded barefoot out of the bedroom to the kitchen just down the hall. She found a tumbler in the cabinet next to the sink and filled it with water from the tap. Leaning against the counter, she drained it quickly and turned back to the sink for a refill.
Behind her, she heard the rattle of a door lock. Her whole body jerked with reaction. The glass slipped from her nerveless fingers and shattered in the sink.
The door opened behind her with a creak. Cool morning air drifted inside, scattering chill bumps along her bare legs. Down the hall, the shower cut off.
Reaching into the sink, Hannah grabbed the bottom of the broken tumbler and whirled around to face the intruder, holding the jagged glass in front of her.
A tall, slim man with raven-black hair and dark eyes stared back at her, his mouth open with what looked like genuine surprise. “Who the hell are you?”
“Don’t take another step!” Hannah said firmly as he started toward her.
He held up his hands and froze in place.
Down the hall, the bathroom door opened, slamming back against the wall. Riley burst into the kitchen, wearing nothing but a dark-blue towel and carrying a Ruger. He swept Hannah behind him and turned to face the intruder.
“Geez, cowboy, dial it down a notch,” the dark-haired man drawled.
Riley’s shoulders slumped, and he dropped the Ruger to his side. “Jack.”
“Jack?” Hannah asked.
“Jack.” The dark-haired man peeked over Riley’s shoulder and waggled his fingers at her.
Riley laid the gun on the counter and stepped aside. He waved at Jack. “Hannah, this is Jack, my brother-in- law.”
Jane had told her that Riley was an only child, so Jack must be…
“Emily’s brother,” Jack added, slanting a look at Riley.
Riley’s lips pressed to a thin line. “I thought you were in Texas these days.”
“Yeah, well, Texas had about all of Jack Drummond it could handle.” Jack smiled wickedly at Hannah, flashing a pair of dimples Hannah was sure had broken more than one heart in Texas. Then he looked at Riley, his smile fading. When he next spoke, there was a dark undercurrent in his voice. “So, Riley-you’ve moved on, I see.”
Riley looked at Hannah, his eyes dark with pain. “Had to happen some time. This is Hannah Cooper. My new girlfriend.”
Hannah dropped the broken glass she’d been holding.
Chapter Five
“Don’t move,” Riley said quickly, putting out a warning hand toward her. “You’re barefooted.”
She met his urgent gaze, trying to regain her mental balance. Had he really just stormed in here, wearing nothing but a blue towel, and told his brother-in-law that she was his new girlfriend?
What the hell was he thinking?
A droplet of water slid down the side of his neck and pooled briefly in the hollow of his throat before trickling over the muscles of his chest. Hannah licked her lips and dragged her gaze away to meet Jack Drummond’s dark scrutiny.
Now that her initial panic had subsided, she saw that Riley’s brother-in-law was only a little older than she, no more than thirty. His sun-bronzed skin was smile-lined, as if he laughed a lot, although at the moment, the pained look in his eyes made her stomach hurt.
“I guess I shouldn’t have just sprung the news on you like that, Jack. I wanted to be a little more sure where things were heading-” He shot Hannah a look full of pleading, as if begging her to play along with his story.
She cleared her throat. “I told him he should call you and give you a heads-up.” Her tone was more tart than
