Page 30 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

TWENTY-EIGHT

Ayla

I cleaned up a bit, and then we each got dressed. I braided my hair to make myself presentable, while Teller smoothed out his own messy strands.

Then Teller helped me pack my things. He stopped every so often to kiss and touch me. Like he was as eager for these last few moments together as I was.

I checked my other messages. There hadn’t been any formal plans for breakfast this morning, but I’d missed a few texts from the O’Neals. “I wanted to see Maisie one more time and give her a kiss and hug goodbye.”

“Go find your niece,” Teller said. “I’ll carry your things down to the lobby for you.”

“Thanks. Do you want to go to your room first to change? Someone downstairs might notice you’re in the same clothes from the wedding.”

He tilted his head like he was thinking about it. “Nah. Actually, I don’t have the energy to care about that. Unless you mind.”

“I don’t. Just thinking of your reputation. Don’t want your constituents to see their chief on a walk of shame.”

“No shame here.” He smiled and pressed his lips to my forehead .

I wasn’t ashamed either. I didn’t plan to publicize our night together, but I was on the same page as Teller. He’d wiped me out last night and this morning, and I’d loved it. I didn’t have it in me to worry about the Hart County gossip mill just yet.

Maisie was playing with Emma’s little siblings again. I gave her as many hugs as I could fit into five minutes, then said another goodbye to Emma and Ashford, who wouldn’t leave for their hot springs honeymoon until tomorrow.

I felt rushed and didn’t like it. But I probably would’ve felt the same if I’d spent the entire morning with them.

And I couldn’t regret the hours I’d spent with Teller last night and this morning, either. It had meant a lot to me. So much that I still struggled to wrap my head around what I was feeling for him.

But there was no time to ponder it. Not until later, when we’d be hundreds of miles apart.

In the lobby, Teller stood off to the side with my bags.

Cheryl paced by the fireplace, decked out in a designer tweed pantsuit with long necklaces layered over her silk blouse.

She stuck out here like a giant sign declaring, This doesn’t belong!

But Cheryl was always herself, and I appreciated that about her.

She crossed the lobby to me as soon as I stepped out of the elevator. “So that’s the chief of police?” She nodded at Teller with a frown. He regarded her coolly right back, though he stayed where he was.

“Yes? So?”

Cheryl pulled me a few feet from the elevator, away from the wedding guests milling around the checkout area. “I recognized him. A few more photos of the altercation in Silver Ridge have made it to social media. Him carrying you out of there.”

I shrugged, hoping that my cheeks weren’t turning red.

“And now he’s got your luggage. I recognize your suitcase. I also know the look of a man who just rolled out of bed and is wearing the same clothes from the night before. Just how close are you two?”

“That’s not important,” I whispered. “I want to know why you’re really here. This wasn’t necessary, showing up with no notice like this.”

“I did give you notice when I texted this morning. I was concerned about you when we talked on Friday, after your video interview for the magazine. You were evading my questions, and I don’t like that.”

“But it’s not your job to?—“

“It is my job, Ayla.” The pure calm of her tone was so infuriating.

“Are you forgetting how you got so overwhelmed that you suspended your tour less than two years ago and then disappeared altogether? Ran away to Colorado? Trust me, the media hasn’t forgotten.

Your label has not forgotten either. They’ve invested too much in you. ”

“Right. I’m an asset, not a person. Is that why Paul is here somewhere? To protect his investment? Is he waiting in the car because the Last Refuge Inn is beneath him?”

She sighed like an indulgent mother dealing with a wayward child.

“Paul is here because it’s his job. Just like me.

Dear, I know you hate some aspects of this business.

So do I. But we work within those boundaries.

That’s why you hired me after you returned to work and made a fresh start.

To help you navigate these issues. To step in when I see you need help so we avoid future hiccups. I’m on your side.”

My past mental health episode was a hiccup ? I took offense at that. But everything else she’d said was true. So I swallowed down my annoyance and my disappointment at my time with Teller being cut short.

But I wasn’t leaving without a proper goodbye.

Teller picked up my bags as I approached him. “Everything alright?” he asked under his breath. I knew he meant with Cheryl.

“Mostly. Yes.” She was worried I’d run away again and refuse to leave Colorado , I added silently.

Had I been tempted to stay? Maybe a little. But I’d decided all on my own to take the wiser course. I wasn’t running away from my career again .

“Will you walk me outside?” I asked. “I was hoping for a goodbye kiss.” I would ask for a kiss right now except for the people strewn around the lobby, watching us without any subtlety.

But the way Teller smiled at me was filled with such an intense mixture of affection and scorching heat, no one could fail to notice. Including Cheryl.

“You think I’d let you leave without one?” Teller rumbled as he helped me put on my coat.

We walked outside with Cheryl wedged next to me like she really thought I might bolt. Teller followed us with my bags. Thankfully, she and Paul had parked their rental—a Mercedes G-wagon—off to the far side of the lot, out of sight of the inn’s entrance.

And there was Paul, leaning against the driver’s side door in a Burberry coat, immersed in his phone.

He flashed a cocky smile when he heard the crunch of our footsteps on the half-melted snow and gravel.

“Ayla, there you are.” His grin shifted to suspicion.

He must’ve noticed Teller behind me. “A police escort? That seems unnecessary.”

“I’m here in a personal capacity.” Teller put an emphasis on the word personal .

Paul’s jaw flexed. His gaze shifted to me. “You kept us waiting, Ayla. We should get to the airport. They said they can move up your scheduled departure window.”

Teller’s heat warmed my back. “Why does this guy talk like he’s your boss?” he said in my ear. “Like he owns you.”

“Because he kind of does .” I didn’t have time to explain the nuances of record contracts, or the fact that I had to play nice with my label until my renewal came up.

But Teller’s resting grump face was out in full force. Every bit the intimidating police chief even though he wore his rumpled clothes from last night. It was freezing out here, and he hadn’t bothered with an overcoat.

Teller strolled to the G-wagon’s trunk, opened it, and placed my bags inside. Then he walked back to me, held my face in his hands, and kissed me.

There was no hesitation in this kiss. Anyone could’ve seen us, but Teller didn’t care, and neither did I. His tongue teased me with slow, deep strokes that left me shivering as I remembered his cock moving inside me just an hour ago.

A throat cleared. Paul muttered something. But Teller kept kissing me until I was dazed and breathless.

He pressed his lips to mine one last time and said, “Goodbye, Troublemaker.”

“Bye, Teller.”

He kissed my forehead. Let go and walked backward by several steps. My heart beat at a reckless pace, like it wanted to leap right back into his arms.

“Ayla,” Paul said sharply. “Let’s go.”

I stood still another moment. What choice did I have, really?

I had to get back to LA. Back to my regular life. No matter how much I loved my visits to Hart County, there was always an end.

Teller stood in the parking lot until we pulled onto the road. We turned a corner, and then I couldn’t see him anymore.

Paul was driving. “It’s good to have you back,” he said brightly.

I kept my mouth shut and watched the trees pass by in the window.

Cheryl sat in the backseat, typing on her phone. I received a text notification.

Cheryl

I know it’s difficult, but you have to put the police chief out of your mind.

Don’t get any romantic ideas. Can you imagine if the media sniffs out that you had a tryst with the man?

Especially with the whispers already swirling about how you almost got arrested by him? They wouldn’t leave him alone .

I paid Cheryl to tell me the rough, unvarnished truth, but right now? I kind of hated her for it. Which wasn’t fair. She hadn’t made the world the way it was.

My presence in Hart County made Teller’s life harder. I didn’t see any way around that.

Another text appeared on my phone.

Teller

I miss you already.

My heart lodged in my throat.

I reacted with a heart to his message but didn’t write back, simply because I had no clue what to say. Instead, I squeezed my phone in my fist and held it to my chest.

Every time I left Colorado, I felt like I was leaving a piece of myself behind.

Before, it was about Maisie. The O’Neal family.

And that emptiness was still there right now, because I would never be able to participate in their lives as much as I’d have liked.

Not if I wanted to keep the career I’d fought so hard to build.

But after this weekend, Hart County had carved another chunk out of me. The part that wished I was someone else.

A girl who belonged with a man like Teller Landry.

I would never forget what we’d shared. He’d said he wouldn’t either.

But it would’ve been easier for us both if we did.