She angled herself so that she sat next to Christopher instead of sprawled on top of him.
“I’ll make sure to remind him if he forgets again, Dr. Gavin. Thank you for all you’ve done.”
As soon as the doctor left the room, Christopher hauled her back into his arms. “Are you all right?”
She tried to resist, but he was stronger than she thought. Fighting him might cause more strain than letting him have his way. Avoiding his wound as best she could, she pressed against him as he dipped his head for a deep, wet kiss. The pain of almost losing him burst in her chest like a flowering ball of fire, and tears unexpectedly stung her eyes.
He finally broke the kiss but held her face in his hands. “I’ve been worried. Tell me what happened. Are you all right?”
She gripped his wrists. “I’m fine. You’re the one who was almost killed.”
The tightness around his eyes eased, and he grinned. “I was, wasn’t I? I’m just like everybody else.”
His rude reminder forced her to pull out of his grasp. What she had to tell him would be hard enough without pretending they could actually have a future together. “You’re not like everybody else, and you wouldn’t have been hurt if it weren’t for me.”
“Did Douglas tell you that?” The fierce man who had first come to her door, pistol in hand, returned in his scowl.
“He didn’t have to. It’s true.” She clasped his hand to keep from touching his face.
She swallowed the thick emotion that coated her throat. Letting him go was the right thing, no matter how much it hurt. His earnest hazel eyes showed he’d finally defeated his ghosts. He’d seen Jay’s happiness, and even learned to love again.
Unfortunately, her past continued to haunt her. In fact, one of her demons was on his way back to Arriba in handcuffs. She would be involved in the trial of the year rather than the wedding of the year. Christopher was healed. Now that he could, he’d find another woman to love.
When she returned her gaze to his, he studied her as if he had read each of her desperate thoughts. “You're going to still marry me. I don’t care what Douglas said—”
“Not Douglas.” She dropped her eyes, unable to look at him while she told him why they couldn’t marry. “My brother.”
“Lorelei, no.” The note of desperation in his voice jolted her gaze back to his. He’d laid his head back on the pillow as if he were too weak to fight any longer. “Don’t let him do this to us.”
She couldn’t stand the defeated pull on his eyes. He was hurting. The fact that he really did love her gave her no joy.
“He had the gold, Christopher. He had it the whole time. He had it when you came to the ranch the first time, when we were at Jay’s, even when he sent you to Specter Canyon.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Damn. I didn’t want you to find out.”
“You knew?” She blinked back her shock. “How long have you known?”
“Since the first time I rode to Specter Canyon.”
Lorelei studied his serious gaze. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He clasped her right hand in his. The contrasts in their skin and size seemed to hold his attention. “I…”
His uncharacteristic hesitation caused dread to surge into her throat. She placed her other hand on top of his, stopping the glide of his thumb across her skin. “Please, Christopher. Just tell me.”
“I was afraid you’d get yourself in more trouble trying to protect him. I didn’t want to lose you.”
She couldn’t continue to meet his sincere gaze because she couldn’t deny his words. “And in trying to protect Corey, I almost got you killed.”
She pulled away from his grasp and stood on shaky legs. In all the bad things that happened in her life, there had been one common theme: Lorelei Sullivan. She was the cause of all her own troubles. She had believed Corey’s elaborate fabrications because she wanted to.
Her gaze fell to the hollows under Christopher’s cheeks, then slid to the white bandage wound around his chest. His tanned skin had started to fade and his collarbone stood out in strong relief. He’d lost weight, but he’d recover. Especially if he no longer had her to drag him down.
“Lorelei, if you don’t want me to get out of this bed, you’d better sit down and talk to me.”
She fumbled for a chair and forced herself to sink into it. “I can’t marry you, Christopher. There’s going to be a trial, and Corey—”
“We’re going to marry.”
She shook her head. “I told Wade Langston about the gold and Corey.”