Free StrongArmsoftheLaw by Cerise DeLand Page A

him?”
    “Will he know where we are?” Where I am?
    “Best not to, no.”
    “I need to know how he is, Jose. Can I call him and—”
    “Not a good idea. Sorry.”
    “Right. Got it.” She turned away, lost suddenly without Rex. As if he were my anchor. And I’m drifting away.
    “Don’t worry. He’s going to be at the trial. And I’m sure
you’ll be able to talk there in the courthouse.”
    She bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying like a
kid. Must be nerves from all the terrors of the day. “Sure. Good.”
    Jose reached across, took her hand and squeezed it. “Know
what the other motto of the Texas Rangers is?”
    Sniffing back her tears, she inhaled and smiled at him. “No,
tell me.”
    “One Ranger. One woman.”
    She blinked. Then smiled at him. “That obvious, is it?”
    “Your attraction for each other?” Jose laughed. “On him,
since about week one with you. On you? Since…oh, week two.”
    Her propensity to cry was lost in the next few miles as the
two of them chuckled about men, women and obvious attractions.

Chapter Eight
     
    When the jury entered the courtroom over three weeks later,
Skye watched the twelve men and women take their seats, then listened to the
judge’s invitation to the foreman to stand and deliver their verdict on Manuel
Gonzaga for murder in the first degree. But her eyes focused on Texas Ranger
Rex Martinez who stood on the other side of the room, his hands clasped behind
his back. She’d seen him here only once on opening day of the trial. Then he’d
worn his uniform, but beneath it he wore a bulky bandage on his shoulder. And
his skin was pale and taut. Today, with his brown Ranger uniform on, his
broad-brimmed white Ranger hat shielding his eyes, he was the very essence of
raw Texas power. His stance easy, his bandage seemingly gone, his shoulder
wound healing. His color was healthy. And his melting blue eyes were zeroed in
on hers.
    At the foreman’s announcement of “Guilty,” Skye breathed an
audible sigh of relief. With a few more formalities, the trial was over. Skye
was free. Ranger Jose Sanchez who had protected her these last few weeks stood
next to her and shook her hand.
    “Thank you, Ranger Sanchez,” she told him using his formal
title in public. “You were wonderful to me and I will never forget what you did
for me and for…us.”
    “You’re very welcome, Miss Chamberlain. It was my duty, but
more than that, my pleasure. I wish you well and I hope to see you again. Soon.
In fact, I—”
    “He says,” Rex’s rough voice rumbled through her as he came
to stand beside her, “you have an invitation to his wedding.”
    “Wonderful,” Skye beamed at Jose, as she stepped backward
slightly to feel Rex’s deliciously warm body heat ooze into her soul. “When is
it?”
    “Two weeks from Sunday. In Del Rio.” He pressed a vellum
card into her hand. “Excuse me, will you? I promised the judge I would talk
with her after the proceedings. You have things in order here, I know, Rex.”
    Jose and Skye said their goodbyes and then Skye allowed
herself the intense pleasure of gazing up into the stunningly handsome face of
the man she adored. “I missed you like the devil.”
    He gave her that disarming half smile that tipped one corner
of his mouth. “Same goes. You look rested. Fit.”
    “I told Jose I needed a set of weights.”
    “He wouldn’t let you leave the house, either, is that
right?”
    She nodded, unwilling to stop admiring how healthy he
looked. “No. He was a bigger ogre than you.”
    “Good.” Rex frowned. “I failed you.”
    She put her hand to his wrist and whispered, “Like hell you
did. Can we leave here? Are you free?”
    “I did. We can and I am.” He put a hand out toward a side
door. “Shall we?”
    He didn’t touch her as he followed her out. She was
immensely grateful for that, because the next time they touched, she was
certain she’d kiss him for hours and strip him bare to make love to him. When
he