But even if he did want a future with her, she wasn’t the girl for him, and it wasn’t just because they came from different worlds. Her hand touched her stomach. Jag deserved to live in that big old house—with a family—and she couldn’t give him that. The last thing she wanted was for him to end up cheating on her with someone who could give him what he wanted.

That stopped her. Jag was a good man. The best one she knew, and he’d never cheat, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t grow to resent her. She couldn’t do that to him, or to herself.

No, she needed to step away, give him the space and freedom to find the woman who could give him everything he wanted and deserved to have.

Raw emotions squeezing her heart and tears pricking her eyes, she tiptoed through the room until she found her clothes. She pulled them on quickly, and quietly made her way back to her room. It was time to pack up, get on the plane, and get back to the real world. She could barely breathe as she hurried down the hall, but she spun around when she heard a loud sound at the foot of the stairs. A pair of dark angry eyes met hers, and her heart lurched, the bottom falling out of her world.

Jag stretched out on the bed, and with no hurry to do anything but wake up and make love to the woman who had given herself to him over and over again, in so many ways, he lay there, basking in contentment. Birds chirped outside, and a feeling of peacefulness fell over him, because now that he had Alix back in his life, he knew he wanted to make some changes, and the first thing he wanted to do was ask her to move into the big old homestead with him.

He stretched a little farther, and when he found the other side of the bed both empty and cold, he peeled one lid open. He rolled to his side, but still couldn’t find her.

“Alix.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he peered into the bathroom. An uneasy feeling moved through him, and his gut clenched. Where the hell was she?

Jag threw his legs over the side of the bed and pulled on his jeans. He hurried to the bathroom. When he found it empty, he made for the door. Yanking it open, he looked up and down the hall. No Alix.

Shit.

A few fast steps took him to her room, and it was only sheer strength of will that stopped him from tearing the door clear off its hinges.

Despite the storm going on inside him, he knocked softly. “Alix,” he whispered, “Are you in there?” When he met with no answer, he tried the knob to find it locked. Why the fuck was she locking him out? Frustration boiled his blood. Something was wrong, very wrong, but did it give him the right to pound down her door? No, it didn’t.

He ran his hands through his hair and knocked again. This time he heard a soft cry coming from the other side.

Alix!

He drew a quick breath and kicked the door. It flung open and smashed against the wall, the sound reverberating down the quiet hall. He heard a gasp, and a familiar heaviness pressed against his heart as he looked at the woman he loved…in another man’s arms.

Un-fucking-real.

“Jag,” Alix squeaked out. He turned to her, and conflicting emotions passed over her eyes when they met his. The pale, stricken look on her face haunted him. Had she grown tired of slumming with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks and invited her fiancé to the ranch to collect her? Was she planning to go back with him, to fall back into the life laid out for her?

“Get the fuck out of here,” the guy said to him as he hauled Alix closer, his hands tugging at her in a possessive way that filled Jag with rage. “Or I’ll put you out of here.”

He clenched down on his jaw, his stomach roiling. He laughed harshly even though this wasn’t funny. Despite the man’s warning, he took a step closer. He spotted her suitcase on the bed, her clothes tossed inside. He looked back to the man clutching Alix like he was afraid she was going to flee and shook his head.

Son of a bitch.

“Take your fucking hands off her,” Jag said. “Or I’ll take them off for you.”

“I’m her fiancé, and I’m here to take her back home where she belongs. She made a mistake coming here, and she knows it.”

Jag angled his head. “Do you have a hearing problem?” he asked, giving him one last chance to get the fuck out of there before he personally threw him out.

“Jag,” Alix said, her voice pleading, like she was trying to make him understand.

He scoffed and without taking his eyes off Nelson, he said, “So this is the asshole who cheated on you, got another woman pregnant, and still expects you to stand behind him.”

Alix opened her mouth to answer, but her fiancé cut her off. “The name is Nelson, and Alix and I have worked it all out. Now if you’ll get out of the way.”

“Really? Because the Alix I know wouldn’t stand for your slimy shit.”

Alix pulled out of Nelson’s grasp and squared her shoulder. “That’s right,” she said. “And my only mistake was getting involved with you in the first place.”

That’s my girl.

Nelson reached for her again and dragged her against him. Standing as still as a stealth soldier, Jag sized the man up. Nelson was a big man; the fight would be fair.

She struggled against him, but this time his grip was too tight.

“Get your hands off her,” Jag said.

“It’s okay, Jag,” she said, sounding breathless. “I can handle this.”

“I know you can. But he’s touching you, and he shouldn’t be. Do you want him here?”

Alix looked from the man holding her to Jag. And then she shook her head. That was all he needed.

Jag stormed across the room, hauled the guy off her, and shoved him toward the door.

“You had your chance, pal. This is my ranch, and you’re trespassing. We tend to lay down the law when it comes to that sort of thing. And when it comes to manhandling a woman—especially mine—you’ll be lucky if you’ll be able to walk out of here by the time I’m done with you.”

Nelson stumbled and then climbed to his feet. He charged. But Jag drew back and punched him square between the eyes, knocking him to the floor.

Nelson groaned and clutched his forehead. “You’re going to pay for this,” Nelson sputtered.

“Yeah, feel free to send the bill,” Jag said.

“Alix, your mother has been worried sick about you. When she hears about this, about him,” he seethed as he shot Jag a warning glare, “you’ll have some explaining to do.”

Jag grabbed Nelson by the scruff of the neck and lifted him to his feet. “Alix doesn’t have to explain herself to anyone, least of all you.” He tossed him out the door and said, “The plane will be here at one sharp. Be on it, and don’t let me see your face until then.”

Jag slammed the door and turned to face Alix, who stood there, her arms hugging herself as she stared at him.

“He found the invitation,” she answered.

His features softened when he looked at her. “I figured it had to be something like that.”

“He wanted—”

Jag lowered his voice. “It doesn’t matter what he wanted, Alix. What matters is what you want.”

She went quiet for a moment and then whispered, “Thank you.”

Jag stepped up to her and brushed his thumb over her cheek. A riot of emotions erupted inside him when he saw the warmth in her eyes. “For what?”

She swallowed and waved her hand around the room. “For seeing this for what it really was. With your job, I was sure you would logically jump to the conclusion that I’d run back into Nelson’s arms when you saw him here with me. I’d never want you to think that I’d do something like that.”

He dipped his head. “Alix, I know who you are, and you wouldn’t do that.”

She blinked up at him. “So you never thought it? Not even for a second?”

He grinned. “Okay, well, maybe for a second, but hey, cut me some slack, I was half asleep.”

She exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry he came here and you had to deal with him.”