Free Renegade Hearts (The Kinnison Legacy Book 3) by Amanda McIntyre

this going to get violent?” He smiled, hoping to ease the look of tension in her eyes.
    She turned on her heel and walked toward the back of the barn, her boots thumping the hard dirt floor in her stride. She opened the back door and let it slam behind her.
    “Oh, hell yeah, this oughta be fun.” Dalton blew out a sigh and followed. Stepping outside, he found her looking at the mountains. Her chin lifted slightly in defiance gave her profile a regal beauty. Hard as he tried to fight it, he swore she grew more beautiful each time he saw her. Memories slithered to the surface, snaking through his brain as he waited for her to notice his presence. Images of thick steam fogging his truck windows on that cold, rainy night, her soft lips bending to whisper that she wanted him, ran through his mind.
    “Look.” She swung her gaze to his. He inadvertently took a step back, reacting to her stern tone. “I don’t know how to act around you. You’ve made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that you regretted what happened. Or maybe you were just too drunk to remember it fully.”
    If he’d harbored any doubts that her recollection of that night was different than his, she’d just set the record straight. “I remember,” he replied quietly.
    She searched his eyes then shook her head in disbelief. “Whatever. That was a long time ago, right? And I admit, we were both maybe a little buzzed. The thing is, we’ve both moved on. Now I have another life--at least, I’m trying to make another life that doesn’t include my past. So, if we could just play nice, I’d appreciate it, okay?” Having said her piece, she started around him.
    He caught her arm. “What about Emilee?”
    Her gaze snapped to his and pure fear flashed in her eyes. He dropped his hold as though she was on fire. Her expression eased some, but she looked away. He’d heard bits and pieces--mostly rumors—that her marriage hadn’t been stellar, that she’d been in an abusive relationship. “What are we going to do about the promise I made to her about the trail ride?”
    Her gaze, softer now, looked up at him, but she held her ground. “We aren’t going to do anything. I’ll need to think about it, like I told her.”
    “Fair enough, and while you’re at it, think on this. There may be one or two things about that night I don’t remember too well.” He touched her chin and forced her gaze to his. Those dark eyes bore into his sorry excuse for a soul. He knew he didn’t deserve someone like her, but that didn’t make things any easier in the middle of the night. “I must have said something that hurt you enough to make you detest me like you do.”
    She jerked her arm from his grasp. “I don’t detest you, Dalton. I just don’t see any possible future with you. To be honest, I’m not sure I ever did. I admit, I’m as much to blame for what happened that night. It was careless and stupid.”
    “It might have been careless, might have been many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.”
    “I’m surprised you felt anything. Figured as much time as you spent at Dusty’s that day…. ” She shook her head and looked away.
    That stung, and maybe he deserved it. He could refute it, but it was true--he’d been there most of the afternoon. Still, if darts were being thrown, it wouldn’t be easy to pin her with why she’d given up her daughter for the past four years to be raised by someone else. Maybe there was more to the story, maybe not. He’d known one woman who hadn’t thought one red hot damn about abandoning her children. But that wasn’t what challenged him. It was her disbelief in his memory. Because he’d sure as hell remembered that night--remembered her sighs, the way her hands fisted in his hair as she called out his name. “That’s not at all how I remember it.” He took a step closer, knowing he risked bodily injury. “In fact, I felt everything in vivid detail. And so did you, let’s be truthful about that,