Eight Second Angel: The Ballad of Lily Grace (Lonesome Point, Texas Book 7) by Jessie Evans Page A

wouldn’t have let you fall in love with me.”
    “You didn’t let anything happen, Grace.” He sat up, propping his elbows on his bent knees and driving his hands through his hair. “This isn’t real. You’re not a guardian angel sent to save me. And I shouldn’t take you to the bus station tomorrow, I should take you somewhere to get help.”
    She laughed, making him turn to see her lying on her back, shaking her head back and forth. “Pigheaded. You’re so damned pigheaded.”
    He sighed. “I’m not pigheaded, I just—”
    “You’ll see that I’m right someday,” she said, not a trace of doubt in her tone. “You’ll die and wake up in the land in-between and you’ll want to apologize to me. So you might as well do it now while you’ve got the chance.”
    He smiled in spite of himself. “Fine. I’m sorry, Lily Grace, for not believing your perfectly sane stories about the afterlife and guardian angels.”
    “I never said I was a guardian angel,” she said, sitting up beside him. “You put those words in my mouth.”
    “I’d rather put my tongue in your mouth,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist.
    “Not until we’re back at the tent,” she said, flipping his hair away from his forehead. “You know once we start kissing we don’t like to stop.”
    “No, we don’t,” he agreed. Then added seriously, “Am I a bad man for taking advantage of a delusional person?”
    “You’re not taking advantage of me,” she said, her gaze softening. “And I think deep down you know it. You know I’m not crazy, you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
    He didn’t respond, but as they dove back into the water for another swim, he couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said. Or about how quickly she’d learned to swim, how mature she was for someone so young, and how grief-stricken she’d been after seeing the men she claimed had been her boys.
    And what about the name she’d given him? Did that woman really exist?
    By the time they headed back to the campsite, he’d decided it was worth a search on his phone while Grace was showering to see what he could learn about Lily Grace Lawson.
    It was crazy. But no crazier than the other decisions he’d been making lately, he thought grimly as they arrived at their campsite to find a van parked beside his truck and Rudy sitting on their picnic bench cleaning his fingernails with a pocketknife.
    “What’s up?” Canyon asked, fighting the urge to guide Grace behind him to shield her from Rudy’s stare. He didn’t want the other man to know how much it got to him when he leered her way.
    “Change of plans,” Rudy said, working on his filthy thumbnail. “Drake knows one of the border guards on duty tonight. He’s promised to send you straight through as long as you get in and out before three a.m. when his shift is over. If you leave right now, you ought to be able to make it. The van’s loaded and ready to go.”
    Canyon frowned. “I can’t go tonight.”
    Rudy’s brows lifted. “Yes, you can, son. This is your chance to get this done with no stress, no mess. It would be stupid to wait.”
    “Then call me stupid,” he said. “I can’t go tonight. Grace and I have plans I can’t break.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Rudy looked up, gesturing toward Grace with his pocketknife. “You’re going to put twenty large on the line because you don’t want to piss off your bitch?”
    “Get out,” Canyon ground out, pointing a finger toward the van, his decision made. “Get in your van and forget you ever knew my name. I’m not interested in working with you.”
    Rudy jumped off the table. “No, son. It doesn’t work that way. You don’t get to say no anymore. We don’t have time to find another driver. Now get your ass in the van and get on the road.”
    “Go lock yourself in the bathroom, Grace,” he muttered softly, sensing this was about to turn ugly.
    “No,” she whispered, grabbing hold of his tee shirt. “I’m not