He knew the sensible thing, the best thing, would be to go and leave her in Travis’s hands. But he couldn’t trust him with her. The man was known to have a different woman every weekend. And he was a Dom. A strict one. Something Jenna didn’t need at all.
And if it wasn’t Travis hitting on her then what about all the overprotective cowboys in this town, who seemed overly fond of ménage relationships? He couldn’t believe it when Cady told him about this place. Was there something in the water? How could these guys want to share their woman with another man?
If Jenna were his no other man would even be able to look at her without his permission, and . . . okay, even he could hear how creepy and stalkerish that sounded.
The truth was, she wasn’t his. He didn’t deserve someone like her. His current predicament was a testament to that. She was injured and alone, and where was he? In jail because he hadn’t been able to control himself.
But he should be with her. Taking care of her. Watching over her. Obviously, she needed it. He’d been in town only three minutes when he’d seen her knocked down by a thief, then nearly mauled by a dog before she’d pushed herself between two angry men. She was in definite need of a keeper.
And you think you’re going to be that keeper? You, who let your fear morph into such anger you didn’t even stop to think, you just lashed out and hit a deputy sheriff.
No, he definitely didn’t deserve her. That didn’t mean he didn’t want her. Desperately. These last few months he’d told himself he’d forgotten about the night she’d kissed him. What she’d told him.
The only time I ever feel safe is with you, Curt.
He’d told it had meant nothing. It was only because he’d rescued her. Hero worship.
Yeah, he’d lied to himself over and over, even as he’d spiraled into a dark, empty space. Was it any wonder he was snapping? That he’d nearly reached the point of no return? The darkness in him had grown. Denying himself her love was his punishment for all the fuckups he’d made in his life. With his wife. His child.
But he didn’t know if he could do it a second time. If he could push her away again.
“Fuck.” He ran his hand over his face. “Fuck, she doesn’t need me in her life.”
But he needed her. And maybe . . . maybe there was something he could do for her. He was tough, he was strong, and he could protect her. He could ensure shit like today never happened again because he’d watch over her. Yeah, he could do that.
And what about his need to dominate his partner? There was no way he could even think about Jenna submitting to him. Not that the idea of it wasn’t hot as hell. And God only knew he’d thought about smacking her ass several times today. But that would be it.
He didn’t need to tie her up, spank her, drive her to the edge again and again without letting her come. He
didn’t need any of that. Not if it meant he could have her. She meant everything, and he wouldn’t risk losing her.
He turned as he heard footsteps, and the sheriff appeared on the other side of the bars.
“About time,” he snapped. “What took you so long? Everything moves a bit slower in the country, is that it?”
The sheriff’s eyes flared open and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, now, perhaps I should have taken my time. Seems like this wasn’t long enough to cool that temper.”
Curt took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “Sorry,” he forced himself to say. “I need to get out of here and check on Jenna. Do you know if she’s been admitted to the hospital?”
“Not sure I should be telling you.”
He ground his teeth together. “She’s a friend.”
The sheriff looked him up and down then sneered slightly. “Yes. That’s what she said.”
“You’ve spoken to her then? She’s all right?”
“She is,” was all he said, and Curt knew he said that much reluctantly. Curt hadn’t won over any friends in the sheriff’s department, that was for sure.
“Is she at the hospital? I need to speak to her.” He wanted to get to her before she heard about her father from someone else. According to Travis’s source, they’d arrested her father about an hour ago, and he’d gone quietly. Her mother, on the other hand, had thrown a fit worthy of a two-year-old. He hoped to speak to Jenna before her mother did so he could . . . what? Comfort her?
What the hell did he know about comforting a woman? He’d never been able to comfort Amelia. And after a while he’d given up. It seemed like everything he said and did angered or upset her. He couldn’t win.
He hoped like hell Jenna didn’t fall apart.
“Around here, we don’t really take kindly to people hitting our deputy sheriffs. Or our citizens.”
“Yeah, well, that upstanding citizen was holding me back from getting to Jenna.”