Free Rocky Mountain Redemption by Pamela Nissen

life at risk like that?”
    Hauling her chin up a notch, she glared at him as he advanced on her. Flinched as if he might haul out to strike her. Then gave him a hollow kind of look.
    And that had him inwardly kicking himself.
    When she slowly rolled away from him, he knew he’d pushed too far, too fast.
    â€œListen, I didn’t mean to sound so—” He braced a hand at the back of his neck, feeling every bit worthyto play the evil part of the nightmare he’d found her in when he’d entered the room just minutes ago. He gently adjusted the quilt at her back, tucking it in so that she wouldn’t catch a draft. “I’m sorry. I’m just glad that you turned to me.”
    When he pivoted to leave the room, he could’ve sworn he heard her whisper, “You were my last resort.”

Chapter Six
    F or the past hours those words, You were my last resort, had marched through Callie’s mind like dark shadows marking out her future. She’d hoped to eliminate Ben and the disturbing effects of his concern from her thoughts, but his subtle, piney and masculine scent lingering in the room infused her every sense with his memory.
    She’d lost track of time as she’d crawled out of bed and slowly made her way around the room. She grasped the satin-smooth furniture to steady herself, studying the few other framed photographs hanging about the room. Raw emotion squeezed her heart seeing the way a much younger Max seemed bent on puffing his chest out in some kind of stubborn refusal. As she inched her gaze over a picture of Max, looking close to the age she’d first met him, she trailed a fingertip over his charming yet devilish grin. That smile had once drawn her, like some forbidden fruit.
    But one taste of his empty promises confirmed the grave mistake she’d made in succumbing to his tempting charm.
    The image of Ben’s half-cocked grin and earnestgaze barged into her mind as she made her way back to bed. This job was her only hope to earn the money she needed, but the way Ben seemed focused on probing into her life and her heart…well, she was walking in very dangerous territory.
    Ben was nowhere near safe.
    His caring touch, the tender way he looked at her, the kindness in his gentle ministrations, all of those things worked against her, wearing down a very hard-won safeguard she’d erected. His thoughtfulness threatened to destroy her resolve. Threatened to uncover the vulnerability she’d vowed to protect. She’d never again find herself stuck in a defenseless and vulnerable relationship.
    Especially with a man like Ben Drake.
    The heavy weight of her desperation pressed in hard, making her feel horribly frail and even weak as she crawled under the covers.
    Max had always hated it when she’d cried. Rarely would she weaken, seeing as how he’d grow instantly angry. Out of mere survival she’d learned how to stop up the sorrow, though sometimes there was no helping it. Like an overgrown vine in dire need of tending, grief would smother the light of hope.
    Especially after she’d lost her newborn baby girl at birth, six agonizing years ago.
    Setting her trembling fingers to her lips, Callie tried to ward off the memory’s bitter sting. But Max hadn’t allowed her even the opportunity to see her little girl, kiss her, hold her. Callie had been left with an aching emptiness that hurt, even today. And sometimes, out of nowhere, that familiar, painful lump would swell in her throat, her stomach would grow queasy, and hot, unshed tears would threaten.
    Would the anguish ever go away? Would she everrise above regret’s relentless storm, enough to see the possible hope of what lay ahead?
    Or maybe, for Callie, hope was dead.
    â€œNo,” she whispered, thrusting the miserable thought away. If she didn’t, she’d fall into the hands of a fate worse than death. A fate that threatened to crush her spirit.
    Determined to