HAILEY “Of course. I picked the rings. I planned on getting you drunk so I could marry you. I won’t lie about it anymore,” he said fiercely. “I told myself I’d let you go once we’d satisfied ourselves, but that was never going to happen. It just took me a while to admit it to myself. I was angry with you for marrying someone else after what happened on New Year’s.” “But he wasn’t real.” “I didn’t know that,” he replied. “How was the wedding?” “For me, it was the happiest day of my life, even if you were drunk. I put my ring on your finger and you became mine after years of pain. It was selfish…but true. We were married by a justice of the peace, and it was short. Terrence stood up for me, and I found a young woman to stand as your witness. I’m sorry. It wasn’t the wedding you deserved, and we can get married again—the right way this time.” Jayden rubbed her back and shoulders to comfort her. “I don’t think the wedding is important. It’s the marriage after the wedding that
HAILEY “Yes.” She looked him straight in the eyes. Tears kept falling down her face. “Did you?” “I love you more than anything or anyone in this world, Hailey.” He held her hand and laced their fingers together. “I’d take back how our marriage happened in a heartbeat if I could, but I don’t regret being married to you. I want it too much. I love you too much.” His voice broke with feeling as he squeezed her hand. “Can you forgive me?” Remembering she planned to make him grovel, she asked, “How badly do you want my forgiveness?” She had already forgiven him the moment he risked his life for her, maybe even before that, but she wasn’t ready to tell him that yet. “I want it bad enough to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. You’ll always come first, sweetheart. And I’ll never lie to you again.” “Why did you do it?” Jayden winced. “For the exact reason you told Gavin you hoped for on the phone. I was crazy about you, and when I heard you were getting married, I coul
HAILEY “Please. Just to say thank you,” she pushed. “No. I don’t want your lips or body anywhere near Roberts in the future,” Jayden argued fiercely. His arms tightened around her waist, holding her close. “All he’d need to do is smell your sweet scent and he’d try to steal you.” Smiling against his shoulder, because he clearly thought she was irresistible to every man, Hailey said, “Right now, I stink.” “You’re still not kissing him,” he said firmly. “We’ll see,” she replied playfully. The helicopter began to land. He grunted, annoyed, then said, “Right now, all I care about is you. Looks like we’re at the hospital. Are you still hurting?” She nodded a little. Her ankle throbbed badly, but she didn’t want Jayden to know how much. “I’ll be fine.” “I’m so sorry, Hailey. You’ll never know how much,” he said in a rough, regretful voice. She opened her mouth to comfort him, but the door of the helicopter flew open. Helping hands lifted her onto a gurney that had been ro
HAILEY “I can’t promise you that, sweetheart. I take my promises seriously, and I’d do it again and again if it meant getting to you,” Jayden said in a rough voice. “You’re crazy,” Hailey told him, half amused by his stubbornness. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at Jayden Knight, more worn-out than she had ever seen him. He looked like he’d been dragged through dirt and then left under the hot sun for hours. “You made me this way,” he said hoarsely. “I used to be perfectly sane,” he added calmly. Hailey heard the sound of a helicopter coming closer, and both of them went quiet as they watched it land smoothly not far from where they sat. Jayden lifted her up and jogged toward the helicopter. He waited until the blades slowed and the pilot waved them in to open the door behind the pilot’s seat. He placed her on the seat and climbed in after her. Once the door was shut, he pulled her onto his lap. “Go. She needs to get to the hospital. She hurt her ankle, maybe broke
JAYDEN She knew better than to wander off after dark. She had no gear: no flashlight, not even her cell phone, he’d seen it still plugged in at the kitchen. Fuck! Terrence had said she didn’t even have water, and it had been a hot Colorado afternoon. Jayden wiped sweat from his face with his dirty shirt. If she was hurt or trapped, she couldn’t even reach water. His voice was hoarse from calling her name as he watched the sun disappear behind the mountains. Pushing through the trees, he reached a clearing and saw the canyon wall across from him. He moved to the edge and looked down at the steep drop. It was a long, wide canyon, and she couldn’t have gone farther than this. There was only one entrance, so the plan was to hike down the slope, find the entrance, and search back. The rest of the area was rough and unlikely. “Shit!” he cursed, frustrated and desperate. He had to find her. “Hailey!” he roared, his voice echoing back from the canyon wall higher than the one he
HAILEY “I know my way back, and I’m not a stranger to hiking in the Colorado wilderness.” She rolled her eyes. “You want to hug me,” Terrence said playfully. Narrowing her eyes, Hailey shot back, “No, I really don’t.” She shut the door in his face with a small smile. Terrence Roberts could charm any woman out of her panties—every woman except her. She knew his game now. Still, he’d be hard to resist for any woman not already in love with someone else. Hailey found the trail back to the guesthouse and followed it. Her thoughts drifted to Jayden, a man just as impossible to ignore. "A man I don’t want to ignore." She was hurt, but maybe Terrence had been right about some things. She didn’t really want to go back to storm chasing anymore. She loved taking wildlife photos, and she was ready for something new. Years of watching storms destroy people’s lives had taken its toll. Burnout had hit her not long after returning to the field after her kidnapping. She could have q