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It had been a year since the shooting, and I’d been gone for a long time.

One of them was engaged now, and the other had a new guy in her life.

While I’d always be close to them, I didn’t feel the same bond that I did now with Hannah, Lauren, and Anna.

If I had to leave my life here in Montana, it was going to tear my heart out.

“You’re thinking too much,” Devon said as he dropped a kiss on top of my head. “Relax.”

“I should be relaxed, right?” I questioned him. “It’s over, and that’s something I’ve desperately wanted for a long time.”

“Today was traumatic,” he argued. “Of course you’re not relaxed. It’s not like they apprehended the asshole, and you never had to see him again.”

“I feel horrible about what happened to Cole,” I said remorsefully.

“He’ll live,” Devon said drily. “Although he might be unhappy about having his doting aunt by his side all the time.”

I smiled. He’d already told me about Millie’s determination to nurse Cole back to health. “But he’ll eat well, and he needs his family. Cole might have an abrasive personality, but he’s a good man, Devon. I’ll be his friend for life, whether he wants it or not. He saved my life.”

“Which is exactly why I’ll owe him for the rest of my life,” Devon told me. “I should have been with you—”

“Don’t start,” I said as I put a finger on his lips. “I was on your mother’s property. Nobody knew he was coming here. There’s no way you could be with me every minute of every day, and I was in a safe place. It was a freak occurrence that he just happened to pull into town at the exact moment that I was close enough to be seen from the road. It’s over, Devon, and Burke is the only one who died. Let it go.”

“Not going to happen,” he muttered. “Seeing that bastard with a gun pointed in your direction is going to haunt my nightmares for a long time.”

“You protected me,” I reminded him. “I don’t think there’s another person in the world that could have taken me down and covered my body as quickly as you did.”

“Pure panic,” he insisted. “Natural instinct.”

“Everything you did saved my life, too. You came after me. Ralph was there at exactly the right moment to take Burke down.”

“Kaleb said he was here to grill you about everything that happened,” Devon said in an unhappy tone.

“I don’t think he had a choice,” I mused. “He needed to justify the fact that he killed the bad guy. He’s going to be at the hospital bright and early to interview Cole, too. Maybe this is horrible, but I’m glad he’s dead. Kyle was completely innocent, and he had so much to offer patients who needed his help. He was also one of the most kindhearted friends I’ve ever had. Maybe some of it is selfish, too. The boogieman is gone and not just in a different location in prison.”

“Hell, I’m glad he’s dead, Reese. I wouldn’t expect you to feel any other way.”

God, that was one of the reasons I loved this man.

Even when I had feelings that were against my nature, Devon made me feel like they were completely normal.

He never judged anything I thought or did.

“Do you want another glass of wine?” he asked as he nodded his head at the empty glass on the coffee table.

I shook my head.

All I wanted to do was forget what had happened today.

“I think I’m ready for bed. I could use a good distraction,” I murmured suggestively as I nuzzled his neck.

If tonight, tomorrow, or the next few weeks was all I’d ever have with Devon, I didn’t want to waste a single moment of it.

I wanted to be skin-to-skin with this man and savor the way I always felt when I was with him.

“Reese, it was a long day for you…” his voice trailed off, and I knew he was trying to do what was best for me.

I kissed him, a long, slow, sensual kiss that told him exactly what I needed.