“I’m not understanding any of this.”

“I don’t understand either. Let me just start at the beginning.”

For the next hour, I chronicled my time with Talon. I left out the specifics of our incredible sex, but other than that, I spared no detail to my best friend. I told her how we’d met in the kitchen during the night and talked, how he kissed me, how he told me he’d never love me but that he needed me, craved me…right up until last night, when he’d treated me to an elegant dinner in his room.

“I can’t believe all this was going on under my own roof and I had no idea,” Marj said.

“Well, it was mostly at night, and you know you can sleep through anything.”

“But Jade, why would you keep this from me? We tell each other everything.”

I sniffed. “I know. It’s just… He’s your brother, and something about him… I guess I just didn’t feel like I was at liberty to say anything. You know how closed off he is.”

“He’s not as closed off as I thought he was. Frankly, I’m thrilled that he connected with you. I’m not sure Talon has ever connected with anyone before.”

“But that’s just the problem. I’m not sure we really ever did connect. I mean, he would shut me out at every turn. Even after an…intimacy.”

“You mean a fuck? You can say the word, Jade. You were fucking my brother. I can take it. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t confide in me.”

I didn’t know how else to explain it to her. I had wanted to confide in her, but Talon was so impenetrable sometimes. He had so many walls built up around him. I didn’t feel like I could tell anyone about what was going on between us, not even my best friend. How could I make her understand that?

“Please don’t be mad at me, Marj. I couldn’t handle losing you too.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake. You haven’t lost me. And you probably haven’t lost Talon. Just tell me why he asked you to leave.”

“I’ve told you. I don’t know. I was in the middle of giving him a massage, and all of a sudden he had this meltdown. He started screaming, and I couldn’t make out any words other than ‘make it stop.’ Frankly, it scared me a little. When I finally got him calmed down, he wouldn’t talk to me. He just said that I needed to leave. I told him I couldn’t until morning, and he told me to leave then. This morning, when I was done in the shower, I came out to find a red rose on my bed.”

“A red rose?”

“Yeah. No note or anything. I assumed it was from him since you weren’t home.”

“Even if I had been home I wouldn’t have left you a red rose. Don’t you know what that means?”

I didn’t know what anything Talon did meant, and he wasn’t exactly the floral type. “No. Do you?”

“Jade, a red rose—a single red rose—means love. Talon loves you.”

My cell phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor, my heart pounding.

“…where he got a rose?” Marj was saying when I got the phone back to my ear.

“Sorry, what?” My hands shook.

“I’m wondering where he got a rose. We don’t grow roses anywhere on the ranch.”

I was still stuck on the “Talon loves you.” Sweat coated my palms. I stayed silent.

Finally, Marj went on. “I want you to come back. Come back tomorrow morning, okay?”

“I can’t,” I said, still trembling.

“Why the hell not? This is my house too, goddamnit.”

I still hadn’t quit my job at the Snow Creek city attorney’s office. I had planned to call my boss, Larry Wade, on Monday. Tomorrow was Sunday. Going back to Snow Creek would keep me from having to find a new job in the city. Plus, I could use all the investigative tools at the city attorney’s office to do some sleuthing of my own. But I couldn’t go back and live in Marj’s house, not with Talon right down the hall. Whatever the rose meant, it didn’t mean he loved me. He didn’t want me there, and I couldn’t do that to myself. Constantly seeing him, wanting him—it would be easier to rip my heart out of my chest with my bare hands.

“Do you know where I could rent an apartment in town?”

“You’re not renting an apartment in town. You’re staying with me.”

“I can’t, Marj. Seeing Talon would be too difficult, and he doesn’t want me there.”

Marj gritted her teeth. Yeah, I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was doing it.

“All right. We’ll get you set up at the hotel tomorrow. You can stay there for a few nights until we can arrange for an apartment for you.”

“I…” God, why was this so complicated? “I can’t come back tomorrow. I used up all my cash for the cab fare to get here.”

“Cash? You’re really worried about cash? I’ll pay your fare, for God’s sake.”

“You’ve already done too much.”

“No, I haven’t done enough. My best friend in the entire world kept a serious secret from me. Obviously I haven’t been a very good friend.”

“Marj, you’re the best friend ever. You know that.”

She sniffled into the phone.

“Oh, God, please don’t cry.”

“I’m okay. Please, just let me pay for your cab fare. I’ll help you out with the hotel until we can find you a nice place to live that you can afford. Okay? Please?”

“No. I wasn’t thinking. A cab here in the city will take a credit card. I’ll be fine.” I drew in a deep breath.

I was going back to Snow Creek.

Chapter Three

Talon

Ryan’s mouth fell into an O as he poured himself another glass of wine. He stopped just before it overflowed. “What?”

“You heard me, bro.”

“You’re in love with Jade?”

I let out a chuckle. “I am. I mean, I was pretty sure I was, but I’m not sure I knew it for a fact until just now.”

“That’s great. She’s awesome. Really smart, too. She caught on at the winery right away.”

Hell, yes, she was awesome and really smart. More importantly, she was giving and caring. And of course, smoking hot. Basically, she was perfect.