Stories of family and romance
beneath the Big Sky!
She wanted Dev.
But hadnât she learned the price of being impulsive?
Regret and fear welled up and brought tears with them.
âBrynna,â Dev said sleepily. âItâs okay, baby.â
He ran his hand through her hair, but she pulled away.
âGo, now,â she whispered hoarsely.
He reached for her.
She moved back, shaking her head, and pulled the sheets around her body. âNo. Leave.â
He cursed. âIâm damned tired of you telling me to leave.â He stood and fumbled in the dark for his clothes. âWhat was tonight about, then?â he asked, frustration plain in his voice.
âIt was a mistake.â
Denim rustled. His belt buckle clanked. âNo, burning the toast is a mistake. Taking the wrong highway is a mistake. Not this. Not this, Brynna. The mistake here is you not giving us a chance.â
Eight months ago
âHeâs still looking this way,â Emma Carlisle said from behind her third rum and Coke. The animated woman was married and had three teenage children, but hearing her talk about the tall sandy-haired cowboy at the bar, anyone would think she was a teen herself. In fact, theyâd have thought the entire group of nurses were high-school sophomores at the mall.
Rae Ann Benton elbowed Brynna. âHeâs heading this way. Act like you didnât see him coming.â
âI didnât see him coming,â Brynna replied, but her heart had leapt into her throat at the news that the six-foot-something hunk in the slim-fitting jeans, worn cowboy boots and faded chambray shirt was walking toward them. Heâd been the subject of their lively discussion and avid appreciation for the past half hour.
When he strolled up to their table and gave a disarming grin, Brynna already knew that his name was Devlin Holmes, that he was better known as Devil and that he worked as foreman at his cousinâs ranch outside town. What she didnât knowâand couldnât have predictedâwas that his flirtatious green eyes would take her breath away when he acknowledged the gathering of women with a polite hello and then singled her out with a confident nod.
âCare to dance?â he asked, his voice a stirring deep baritone that reached her toes.
The jukebox had started a lively Dixie Chicksâ number that did make a person want to get up and move. Brynna never usually drank. Tonight sheâd had two drinks and would probably trip and embarrass herself, but what the heck. She couldnât recall the last time sheâd danced. She wanted to dance with him. Her heart-pounding reaction to the guy was crazy.
Rae Annâs elbow dug into her side so sharply, Brynna practically leaped up out of her seat. If she fell and broke something, she was with the best nurses in the state of Montana, she thought giddily, catching her balance. The handsome fellow gestured toward the dance floor and she led the way across the wooden floor littered with peanut shells, conspicuously aware of his presence close behind her.
Sheâd showered at the hospital after her shift, changed into jeans and a sleeveless cotton top, and her shoulder-length hair had only begun to dry. She wasnât wearing a lick of makeup except lip gloss and a little blush sheâd found on the top shelf of her locker. She couldnât imagine why the man of nurse dreams would look twice, let alone ask her to dance.
Dev thought the slender, fresh-faced beauty was the prettiest thing heâd seen in a long time, and she moved with a beguilingly natural sensuality that appealed to him on a purely masculine level. The single young women who normally came into Joeâs Bar were made up for a manhuntâmakeup, perfume, tiny T-shirts that bared their midriffs, low-slung jeans that usually revealed tattoos. There were also the older manhunters with more skin covered, but with smiles every bit as predatory.
This young womanâs smile was a little nervous, a lot embarrassed, and even if he hadnât been coming here and knew she wasnât a regular, heâd have known just by observing her discomfort. âNameâs Devlin Holmes,â he said, leading her to the small dance floor, where several couples parted to make some space. âCall me Dev.â