Something About a Bounty Hunter Read online

  “I don’t know what I’m doing. I need some time to think on things. I’m hoping you and Winter don’t mind if we stay here until I do.”

  His father gave a shake of his head and roughly pulled him into an embrace. “Always welcome here. You know that. And Winter loves having her boys around. She really likes Stormy too.”

  “As much as Amaryllis and Cecily?”

  Wes didn’t know why it mattered so much to him that his family approved of Stormy, but it did.

  His father released him and met his stare. “Son, we’ll always be happy as long as you are.”

  He nodded.

  “One more thing before we fix this damn gasket.”

  Wes looked up. “What’s that?”

  “Don’t you think it’s about time you start calling Winter your ma? She has been nothing less to you all these years. And I think you both need it.”

  He nodded, a lump blockading any words he could think to utter.

  “Good. Now let’s get to work.”

  * * * * *

  As Stormy watched Dirty—or Wes—cross the lawn between barn and house, she couldn’t help but think how silly it all was. Her life in the club had never made her ask people’s real names. To her, they were Wrench, Breaker, Sundance. None of those were given names and somehow, it had never mattered. They were family.

  So when Dirty came along, she hadn’t given it much thought. But now that she knew his name was Wes, she wondered what else she didn’t know.

  Spotting her, he gave that crooked smile that wrapped around her heart and gave it a big hug. But she had things to say and this time she was more nervous than when she’d asked him to bring her to Eagle Crest.

  “Sit down?” she asked.

  He was grubby and looked tired, but she didn’t want to wait and allow life to envelop them before she could get up the gumption to speak what was on her mind.

  With a smile, he drew her down to the porch step and held out a hand, clean compared to the rest of him.

  “What were you doing?” she asked.

  “Fixing a gasket on the tractor. I washed up out back of the barn.”

  She nodded. Her heart raced.

  “What’s going on?” he asked quietly. “Did my aunt say something to upset you?”

  She hesitated. “Well, she did say something.”

  “And that was?”

  “Your name. Wes.”

  He went as still as a predator in stalk mode, watching her with a flat stare that almost frightened her. Finally, he broke her gaze and looked down. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have.”

  “I’m sorry I never thought to ask. But now I’m curious about what else I don’t know about you.”

  He compressed his lips. “Okay. I’m not sure I want to do this here, after we’ve had the best two days of my life.”

  Now she was scared. Her stomach fluttered and she had a wave of dizziness. She braced herself. “Tell me what it is.”

  He searched her gaze. Silhouetted against the beauty of the ranch and distant mountains, she didn’t think she’d ever forget how beautiful this man was or how dear to her.

  “Stormy, my last name’s Roshannon.”

  She’d heard that somewhere but couldn’t place it.

  When she didn’t respond, he said, “My family, my brothers… they’re in the law. Judd’s a sheriff and Aiden’s a special investigator.”

  She flashed her gaze to his. “And you?”

  “Bounty hunter.”

  “I’m not sure why you were afraid to tell me.”

  He made a noise in his throat. “It didn’t matter—at first. I came to the club looking for someone who knew my mother, who may be my father. I found Sundance and discovered he’s not related to me.”

  That would be shock enough, but she could see by his face there was more.

  “I was just Dirty, hanging out at the club, getting to know the guys—and you. You were the best part, Stormy.”

  “But…” she prompted.

  “But things have changed. I’m looking for a fugitive known to be a Bighorn.”

  Her blood ran cold. All the secrets between her father and Alexander, his leaving suddenly and staying away so long. She knew he’d been arrested once and was out on bail, but…

  Dirty gripped her fingers too tight, and she pulled free.

  “I need to ask you something now, Stormy.”

  She trembled and wrapped her arms around herself. Feeling alone and far from home.

  “I need to know if your last name is Bonner.”

  She didn’t have to tell him, was under no obligation. But not answering Dirty made her feel she’d crack in two. He was searching for her brother, that much was apparent. And she was torn, trapped in the middle of what would become a war. Not only between her father, brother and Dirty, but the club would be involved too.

  She took a step backward. “It’s Bonner.”

  A breath whooshed from him and he tore off his hat, jamming his fingers through his hair. The action killed her. Knowing he was as ripped apart as she was.

  Suddenly, he stood and grabbed her, cradling her face so she couldn’t escape as he searched her gaze. “This doesn’t change anything between us.”

  “How can you say that, Dirty? We can’t be together.”

  “Yes, we fucking can. I’m not giving you up. I’m in love with you.”

  Her world spun on its axis. A woman shouldn’t hear a man loves her for the first time when she’d just realized she had to walk away from him.

  Oh God, it hurts.

  Chapter Ten

  “I think you’d better take me back to the club now, Dirty.”

  Those words had been playing on repeat through his brain for the past twenty-four hours since driving back to the foothills and leaving her at the club.

  He’d been riding for hours and still couldn’t figure out what the fuck to do. On one hand, his father could be on to something—have one of his brothers or their deputy friends capture Bonner. Then Wes would be in the clear.

  His loyalty unquestioned.

  But Stormy would still know, and she was the only one who mattered.

  When he finally rolled up to the sheriff’s office, he hoped to hell Birdie wasn’t going to give him crap about seeing Judd, because he wasn’t in the mood to be polite.

  Luckily, her desk was vacant and Wes walked right into Judd’s office.

  His brother looked up and went still. “What happened?”

  He dropped into the seat across the desk. “My new bounty is Stormy’s brother.”

  He gathered a big breath, chest moving as his lungs expanded, and then blew out it out. “Fuck, that’s bad.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Hell if I know. It’s why I’m here.”

  Judd nodded and sat back in his seat. “You have a choice not to capture the guy.”

  “Yes, but she still knows it’s my job. I’m not sure she’ll forgive me for that.”

  “Not even if you don’t actually take him in? Just ignore that it ever happened?”

  Wes stared at his brother. “You know I can’t do that. Could you?”

  “If it was Cecily, no. Hell, I see your point. Maybe you can find a way to get the guy to turn himself in.”

  He shook his head. “Unlikely. He’s wanted on drug charges and I know it’s going on. I’ve seen some shit.”

  “Fucking fabulous.” Judd’s sarcasm told Wes how upset he was by the prospect. “No way of getting him to give himself up.”

  “Nothing in sight.”

  “Have someone else haul him in.”

  “Thought of that. Actually, Dad suggested you or Aiden do it. But Stormy still knows it was me in the long run.”

  “Anonymous tip wouldn’t work either. Damn, you’re hemmed into a tight corner, aren’t you?”

  “Thanks for reminding me.”

  Judd stared into space for a minute. When he looked back at Wes, he said
, “Any chance one of your government friends could do it?”

  Wes almost choked on his own tongue. “How the fuck do you know about that?”

  “Jesus, if it has to do with a Roshannon, we hear it. Thought you’d know that by now.”

  “Well, no on that front. I can’t ask. I have no contact with anyone these days and I wouldn’t want them involved anyway.”

  In the other room, they heard Birdie humming, back from her break or whatever errand she’d been running.

  Judd gnawed his lower lip. “Have you considered taking Stormy out of the club?”

  “I’d fucking love to.”

  “Get the girl, take her to home to the ranch and pop out a couple kids?”

  Wes nodded. “And buy her a ring and a pony too. Except I lost her. She’s not speaking to me, asked me to take her to the club and drop her off. I don’t know what the fuck to do, Judd.”

  The pain in his own voice made him wince, but Judd’s eyes warmed with sympathy. He knew how it was to love a woman.

  Judd rocked a bit in his chair. “I can only see one other way, bro.”

  “What’s that?” He hoped to hell it was a sure thing, because he couldn’t entertain the possibility of anything less.

  “Capture your fugitive and then buy yourself a pair of knee pads.”

  Confusion pinched his brows together. “For what?”

  “Because you’ll spend a lot of time on your knees, begging for forgiveness from Stormy.”

  * * * * *

  Stormy counted beer cans as she tossed them in the trash. Eleven, twelve… There had to be more to life for her than this.

  She loved the club—she really did. It had been her home forever, the Bighorns her family. But now that she’d experienced Eagle Crest with the man she loved, everything here looked dimmer.

  Nothing had changed, but she had. She was ready to find a life of her own, outside the club. She’d been too stupid to believe she’d have it with Dirty.

  What they’d had together had been whirlwind, chemistry-packed and bright with promise. And now it was over.

  After he’d dropped her at the club, she’d gotten the third degree from DeeDee but had refused to talk about what happened. How could she when it involved her own brother?

  He shouldn’t have jumped bail and then nobody would be after him. She guessed he’d been arrested for running drugs or dealing them. She didn’t condone it, but as you did with people you loved, she analyzed where Alexander had gone wrong.

  He wasn’t the first person she’d ever seen strung out on something, and being led astray had been the easier path than staying straight.

  She sighed and tossed two more cans into the trash. One hit the rim and she had to walk across the room to pick it up. Then she gave the room a glance. It was tidy enough. She was over it.

  When she walked into the kitchen, all the ladies looked up at her, concern on their faces. Ignoring them, she went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottled water.

  “You want me to make you a sandwich, sugar?” DeeDee asked, leaning against the counter to eye her better.

  Stormy shook her head.

  “You can’t go on like this, Stormy. Pining over a man is no way to spend your life. You know that. You’ve seen it before.”

  She had. Women fell for bikers who would never commit and left the club with broken hearts. But Stormy wasn’t only missing Dirty with every cell of her body—the light of her future hopes had been snuffed out. Finally, she’d found what she wanted and now she couldn’t have it.

  But she was too exhausted to explain to her friends, and besides, it wasn’t their business.

  Without a word, she left the kitchen and headed for her bedroom. She was about to close the door when DeeDee squeezed into the crack.

  “I don’t want to talk,” Stormy said.

  “Well, I don’t care. I’m the closest thing to a momma you got, and I’m not watching you suffer anymore.”

  “Fine.” Stormy stepped back to allow the woman inside. DeeDee closed the door and leaned against it.

  “Remember when you were younger, you’d have bad dreams? I’d make you talk it out and then you’d feel better. Sometimes just saying it aloud makes it go away.”

  She shook her head. “This isn’t going away.”

  DeeDee grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit on the bed. “Men can be asses. Did he do something to hurt you?”

  How to answer that? Not really—Dirty, or Wes, was just doing his job. He was supposed to capture Alexander. It wasn’t his fault her brother was dumb and had gotten himself in that trouble.

  DeeDee squeezed her hand. “Tell me what’s going on. If that man hurt you in some way, I’ll send Sam and the boys out to teach him a lesson.”

  Stormy grunted, almost with amusement. That was the Bighorn way—protecting their own even if it meant doing wrong to fix a wrong. Plus, she’d like to see those guys take on someone of Dirty’s size.

  “Girl, you always were stubborn to a fault. Like a kid who won’t eat her vegetables. Just tell me what’s going on.”

  Stormy felt terrible for causing her friend distress. Pulling her hand free, she gripped her fingers together in her lap and stared at them. Thinking of Dirty’s callused fingers, the way they felt so good against her smoother skin.

  “He isn’t who I thought he was.”

  DeeDee’s eyes were sympathetic. “It’s hard to know a person in the short time you were together.”

  “That’s not what I mean. He’s a lawman. A bounty hunter.”

  Something skittered over DeeDee’s face, and Stormy wouldn’t be surprised one bit if her friend knew everything about Alexander’s problems. Things Stormy was kept in the dark about, protected as usual by her father.

  “He just got a new fugitive to hunt… and it’s Alexander.”

  DeeDee nodded, unsurprised as Stormy had guessed. And yet paler at the news.

  “So once he found out you’re his sister, Dirty dumped you?”

  Stormy shook her head. “No, I dumped him. Asked him to bring me home.”

  “Well, we aren’t exactly going to accept him as a Bighorn after he captures one of our own.”

  It was a miracle they’d accepted Dirty at all, but he’d proved himself. The tests her father had put him through had been all bullshit and for show—day after day Dirty was here working alongside the guys, supporting the club’s causes and doing his best for them had been the real tests.

  “Stormy, did you ask Dirty to back off, forget about that particular bounty?”

  She shook her head. “I hardly spoke to him after he told me the truth. But asking him wouldn’t have helped. I know what should have rightfully been done, and that is for him to do his job and make my brother show up for court.”

  DeeDee remained silent.

  “I can’t ask a man like Dirty to compromise himself, mess with the way he earns his living. If he did, how could we go on together? The problem would never go away and resentment would build.” She shook her head. “No, what we had was too beautiful to allow that to happen.”

  Stormy’s voice trailed off, full of tears. Her face crumpled.

  “Oh, sweetie.” DeeDee hugged her tight and rocked her lightly for long minutes as Stormy spent all the emotion she thought she’d gotten out in the days since last seeing Dirty.

  She sniffled, and DeeDee went out of the room for a minute, coming back with a box of tissue. Stormy took several and blew her nose and mopped at her eyes.

  “Better?” DeeDee asked, taking a seat on the bed again.

  She shrugged. “Nothing’s changed. Nothing can.”

  “The pain of love lost takes a while to heal, but it will.”

  “I don’t think so. I want him and nobody else. And it isn’t only him I love. I love his ranch, his way of life, of looking at things. It’s the best mix of his world and mine—here.” She waved at her small, tidy room.

  “I was afraid of that.” DeeDee caught her gaze.

  “You don’t
think I should ever leave the club.”

  “I didn’t say that. There are plenty of Bighorns who don’t live here and immerse themselves in this life as deeply as we do. Think of Sundance’s wife. When she’s here, she loves her man and fits in like the best of them. But then she knows when it’s time to head back to her own life.”

  She nodded in understanding. “Dirty came and went like that. And each time he’d return, I’d love him a little bit more until he consumed my world so much that I wanted to go and be part of his as well.”

  DeeDee stroked the hair from her cheekbone. “There’s nothing wrong with that kind of living. Any life you choose is the right one for you.”

  Stormy looked up into her friend’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “I wish I could offer advice, but I don’t know either. I can only say let time and distance make the decisions for now.”

  Mulling that over, Stormy nodded. “Thank you, DeeDee. You’re always here for me. But you’re wrong about something.”

  DeeDee’s eyes widened as if she’d let her down. “What’s that?”

  “You’re not like my momma because you’re not nearly old enough. But I do think of you as a wonderful big sister.”

  “Ohhh, come here.” She wrapped her up in a hug.

  When they broke apart, the guys were back, the front of the club noisy as ever. But this time, their voices projecting through the walls weren’t laughing or amused.

  “They sound serious,” she said.

  “Too serious.” DeeDee got up and walked out with Stormy behind her.

  In the main room, the guys were all on their feet, shoulders tense as they spoke in quieter tones.

  Stormy spotted her father and hurried up to him, putting a hand on his arm. “What’s going on?”

  When he looked at her, she saw creases around his eyes he didn’t often wear. “There was a big shootout next county over. An officer shot four times.”

  The next county over could be north, south, east or west, but her heart stopped at the word officer. Crimes like that weren’t taken lightly in any part of the country, but in these smaller towns of Wyoming, they were unheard of.