She exhaled and looked into his face. A face she loved. She didn’t see arrogance there, not anger or calculation. His words seemed genuine. She wanted to believe him so badly.

“Okay. We both have our buttons and I realize what Sandra did to you changed you and made you gunshy. I’m sorry she hurt you so much and I wish you hadn’t been so devastated. Honestly, the woman is out of her damn mind. So in the offing, after all is said and done, you have baggage and you unloaded it on me. Problem is, you heaped a lot of nasty on me. Even for just a moment. And that intersected with six years of my life that I don’t care to repeat, even as a sick, vague memory caused by your behavior.

“You can be a tool and do stupid guy shit, that’s normal. But derision like that is another story. I can’t deal with it. I won’t ever again. I won’t.” Reaching out she took his other hand in hers as well. “I know. I know what it feels like to have that shadow of who you used to be come up and surprise you.”

He closed his eyes a moment and let out the tension that’d built up in his muscles. “I love you so much, Cassie.”

She smiled. “Yeah, yeah. I love you too, Shane.”

Standing up, he pulled her to him, hugging her tight. “We’ll just work it through. You and me, we’re it, right? I’ve missed you this week. My bed has been empty, my arms, my life. I was getting used to your presence in my life and then you were gone and I didn’t know quite what to do. Don’t tell anyone that last bit.”

She laughed. “Yeah, wouldn’t want to blow your cred as a hard ass or anything. I missed you too.”

He moved slowly, bringing his lips to hers and kissed her. Relief, joy, reconnection, desire, love—all rushed through him at once at having her back. “Bedroom?” he asked, breathless as he broke the kiss.

“Can’t. Brian is due home any minute.”

“I’d say I’ll be quick but that’s not really a good thing in this situation. Can I stay over? And you and Brian can fill me in on everything about your ex too. I want to know not just as the sheriff but as the man who loves you. Share your life with me.”

“You hate my bed. You think the mattress is too soft.”

He grinned. “It’ll absorb the sound of the make up sex.”

“Uh.” She blushed. “Well go on home and get some clothes and bring back some cobbler from The Sands, it’s still open. And then I’ll let you have the side closest to the door.”

He brought his lips back to hers, brushing his mouth over hers softly and nipping her bottom lip between his teeth for a moment. “When you put it like that, how can I refuse? Peach or berry?”

“I had peach yesterday so berry.”

“You ate an entire cobbler?”

“So sue me. Your mother and Maggie made me some but I get hungry when I don’t get sex regularly. You were an ass. I needed the comfort.”

“I’ll help you burn the calories.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“You saying I’m fat?”

“Oh, you’re just torturing me for fun now, aren’t you?”

She laughed and tip toed up to kiss his chin quickly. “Yeah. G’wan then. I’ll see you back here in a bit.”

The minute Shane walked into The Sands and asked for a berry cobbler, Ronnie looked at him and smiled at him for the first time in a week and exclaimed how happy she was that he and Cassie were back together.

When Shane returned, Brian had gotten back and Cassie had a pot of decaf brewed to drink with the cobbler.

Shane relayed the story to Cassie and Brian. “The whole damned town took your side, I’ll have you know. They didn’t even know what the hell happened and still they took your side. My mother hasn’t spoken three words to me other than how I had to fix it between us. My brothers wouldn’t play pool with me. At dinner last Sunday you should have seen it. My brothers all got these big juicy steaks and I got this tiny piece of gristle.”

Unsuccessfully stifling a laugh, Cassie put a plate with cobbler and ice cream in front of him and then filled his coffee cup. “Your mother came over on Tuesday. She called every day this week too. Came into the bookstore every day I worked as well. Brought me cobbler to sweeten me up on your behalf. She’s Machiavellian, that woman.”

Cassie got her brother and herself a cup of coffee and joined them at the table. “She likes Brian. Maggie even baked tartlets for us. Lemon because it’s his favorite.”

Brian started to laugh, pleased to see his sister so lighthearted and silly. His reservations about Shane had faded over the week as he watched the man continue to reassure Cassie that he loved her but also didn’t crowd her. And his family was just what Cassie needed. Brian didn’t like the heartache she’d endured but he did like the fact that the man owned up to it and made it better. It was more than Terry had ever done.

“Tell me about him. Give me the details.” Shane continued to eat but his expression darkened and by the end of the story, his eyes were narrowed and his mouth set in a tight line.

“Here’s what we’re going to do…with your permission.” He looked quickly at Cassie who’d tensed up and then relaxed. “I hear you’re a crack shot, we’ll keep you going to the range, we can both go together so neither of us gets rusty. I’d like to put in a full security system here. We talked about it a little bit a while ago. I’ve got a list of available options and one of our contractors can put it in as soon as you decide on which you want. I even spoke with Chuck and he said he’d pay for half of it and not raise the rent if you paid the other half. If it’s more than you can afford right now, we can work out a payment plan.”