fight. When you tried to walk away, he found a way to keep it going. In a world not ruled by Langley power and money, you wouldn't have been charged, let alone convicted. I read the newspaper stories. They played up the fact that you didn't have a scratch on you while Collier looked like he had been hit by a large, fast-moving truck."
Dalton remembered. His lawyer had tried his best to counter the accusations, but the three witnesses backed up Collier's side of the story. It was his word against theirs. When Bonnie took the stand, she claimed Dalton had beaten her because she refused to sleep with him.
"By the end of that trial, Collier and Bonnie came off as the perfect couple. You were the evil outsider trying to destroy their love." Colleen made a gagging sound. "When I read that, I almost lost my dinner."
"How do you know it wasn't the truth?"
"Living in Midas all these years, I know Collier's and Bonnie's reputations."
"Ah." Dalton was deciding how to take that when Colleen laughed.
"Did you expect me to proclaim my absolute faith in you? We've known each other for less than forty-eight hours, Dalton. I think you are a good guy. But I don't know it."
The good guy label was tough for Dalton. He wanted to do the right thing. He lived his life in a way he hoped would have made his mentor—Silas Freed—proud. However, good equated boring. He pictured a rocking chair and Saturday nights watching PBS and drinking hot cocoa. Someday. Maybe. Not now. He certainly didn't want Colleen to think of him that way.
As if reading his mind, Colleen met his gaze. What he saw took his breath away. That was not the look a woman gave a man she found boring.
"You are sexy as hell, Dalton Shaw. I don't have to know you to sleep with you. Or trust you. However…"
"Yes?" As far as Dalton was concerned, Colleen could have stopped with sexy as hell .
"When we sleep together—"
"When, not if?"
"When we sleep together," Colleen continued as though he hadn't interrupted. "I want to trust you enough to let go completely."
"How do we get there?"
"Tell me something nobody else knows."
There wasn't much to tell. Ryder, Ashe, and Zoe knew him inside and out. Long hours together on the road with nothing to do but talk. They shared so much of themselves. Nobody knew him better. But everyone had their secrets. Little things they kept to themselves. Dalton had a few. There was one—exactly the kind of thing Colleen meant. It wasn't an earthshaking revelation. It wouldn't destroy him if it hit the press. Only one other person knew, and he was dead. If he told Colleen.
"I would never tell another soul."
Dalton had no reason to believe Colleen. Yet, for some reason, he did. Meeting her emerald gaze, he felt something indefinable pass between them. It was a moment, so brief it might not have happened. Dalton felt it and so did Colleen. He kept his eyes locked with hers.
"My first night in the state penitentiary. After the lights were out. When I knew without a doubt, this was my new reality. I cried myself to sleep."
Silently, Colleen closed the distance between them, taking him in her arms. Dalton saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
"I survived."
"Yes, you did." Colleen brushed her lips across his cheek. "But it's wrong that you had to."
CHAPTER EIGHT
COLLEEN SOMETIMES WONDERED if her feelings about Midas and the people who lived there were unjustly skewed in a negative manner. When her mother remarried—for the first time—moving them from Kansas, Colleen had not been happy. Kansas hadn't been perfect, but leaving meant breaking with friends she had known all her life. Starting over. Her mindset hadn't been the best.
Arizona wasn't a bad place. It boasted the Grand Canyon, for Christ's sake. But they didn't settle in Phoenix. Or Albuquerque. Or any place resembling civilization. For a girl just entering her teens, it felt like a barren desert. Socially, Colleen found her niche. Academically, she did fine. But she never shook
Dalton remembered. His lawyer had tried his best to counter the accusations, but the three witnesses backed up Collier's side of the story. It was his word against theirs. When Bonnie took the stand, she claimed Dalton had beaten her because she refused to sleep with him.
"By the end of that trial, Collier and Bonnie came off as the perfect couple. You were the evil outsider trying to destroy their love." Colleen made a gagging sound. "When I read that, I almost lost my dinner."
"How do you know it wasn't the truth?"
"Living in Midas all these years, I know Collier's and Bonnie's reputations."
"Ah." Dalton was deciding how to take that when Colleen laughed.
"Did you expect me to proclaim my absolute faith in you? We've known each other for less than forty-eight hours, Dalton. I think you are a good guy. But I don't know it."
The good guy label was tough for Dalton. He wanted to do the right thing. He lived his life in a way he hoped would have made his mentor—Silas Freed—proud. However, good equated boring. He pictured a rocking chair and Saturday nights watching PBS and drinking hot cocoa. Someday. Maybe. Not now. He certainly didn't want Colleen to think of him that way.
As if reading his mind, Colleen met his gaze. What he saw took his breath away. That was not the look a woman gave a man she found boring.
"You are sexy as hell, Dalton Shaw. I don't have to know you to sleep with you. Or trust you. However…"
"Yes?" As far as Dalton was concerned, Colleen could have stopped with sexy as hell .
"When we sleep together—"
"When, not if?"
"When we sleep together," Colleen continued as though he hadn't interrupted. "I want to trust you enough to let go completely."
"How do we get there?"
"Tell me something nobody else knows."
There wasn't much to tell. Ryder, Ashe, and Zoe knew him inside and out. Long hours together on the road with nothing to do but talk. They shared so much of themselves. Nobody knew him better. But everyone had their secrets. Little things they kept to themselves. Dalton had a few. There was one—exactly the kind of thing Colleen meant. It wasn't an earthshaking revelation. It wouldn't destroy him if it hit the press. Only one other person knew, and he was dead. If he told Colleen.
"I would never tell another soul."
Dalton had no reason to believe Colleen. Yet, for some reason, he did. Meeting her emerald gaze, he felt something indefinable pass between them. It was a moment, so brief it might not have happened. Dalton felt it and so did Colleen. He kept his eyes locked with hers.
"My first night in the state penitentiary. After the lights were out. When I knew without a doubt, this was my new reality. I cried myself to sleep."
Silently, Colleen closed the distance between them, taking him in her arms. Dalton saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
"I survived."
"Yes, you did." Colleen brushed her lips across his cheek. "But it's wrong that you had to."
CHAPTER EIGHT
COLLEEN SOMETIMES WONDERED if her feelings about Midas and the people who lived there were unjustly skewed in a negative manner. When her mother remarried—for the first time—moving them from Kansas, Colleen had not been happy. Kansas hadn't been perfect, but leaving meant breaking with friends she had known all her life. Starting over. Her mindset hadn't been the best.
Arizona wasn't a bad place. It boasted the Grand Canyon, for Christ's sake. But they didn't settle in Phoenix. Or Albuquerque. Or any place resembling civilization. For a girl just entering her teens, it felt like a barren desert. Socially, Colleen found her niche. Academically, she did fine. But she never shook
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