A Real Cowboy Never Walks Away (Wyoming Rebels Book 4) by Stephanie Rowe Page B

The world he hated, but the world he knew.
    Travis walked into the middle of the café, faced the door, and folded his arms over his chest. Waiting. Ready. Visible. As Lissa reached for the lock to open it, a familiar darkness settled over Travis, the darkness that had gotten him thrown in jail as a youth, the darkness that kept him hammering on his punching bag for hours at a time, the darkness that had been a legacy from his father, the darkness that made him a threat to anyone who came too close.
    The darkness that stalked him every second of his life.
    He'd never defeated it, but he'd managed to suppress it...until now.
    Until Lissa McIntyre had awakened it, and the man at her door had unleashed it.
    Country music superstar Travis Turner couldn't afford for this to get ugly.
    Piece-of-shit wrong-side-of-the-tracks Travis Stockton was hoping it would, because right now, he felt more alive than he had in a long time. He wasn't going to lie. It felt good to care again.
    Damn good.

    * * *
    N ine years .
    It had been almost nine years since Lissa had seen the man standing at her window.
    Nine years since he'd betrayed her so badly that she'd almost never recovered.
    It had been so long that she'd stopped thinking that someday he'd show up again. She'd rebuilt herself, her world, and her future. She'd shut him out of her heart, tried to glue the shattered pieces of her soul back together...and now he was back.
    Lissa had a sudden instinct to fix her hair, to brush the flour off her shirt, to somehow make herself look so amazing that he'd regret, for even a split second, walking out on her, but it was too late. Too late for everything when it came to Rand Stevens.
    She paused with her hand on the door handle and took a deep breath, so aware of Travis standing behind her, so glad he was there.
    Why was Rand here? After all this time? Why... A sudden thought struck her. Dear God, what if he'd come for Bridgette? Fear knifed through her, and for a split second, she couldn't breathe. Her legs seemed to give out, and her fingers slipped off the door handle—
    "Hey." Travis caught her, his strong arms sliding around her waist. "I got you."
    Lissa closed her eyes and leaned back against his chest, gripping his forearms as she fought to breathe, but no air would come.
    Travis leaned his head against hers, his cheek resting against hers. "It's okay, Lissa. I won't leave. I'm staying right here. I've got your back, okay?"
    She squeezed her eyes shut, listening to his whispered words. His voice was deep and gentle, encircling her like a protective shield. His arms tightened around her, wrapping intimately around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, a solid, impenetrable wall of muscle. Panic swirled through her, and she started to shake. "I can't do this," she whispered.
    "I'll make him leave." Travis's voice was short and clipped, laced with a dark, barely contained violence that sent chills rippling down her spine.
    She froze, startled by the change in him, by the deadly rage pouring through him. Gone was the man who'd touched her face so gently. In its place was a predator ready to strike. She twisted in his arms to look at him. Her stomach lurched when she saw the darkness in his eyes, the hard set to his jaw. He looked like a man ready to destroy anyone who got in his way.
    She should be scared, but she wasn't. Somehow, she knew she was safe from that anger, protected from that rage. He'd never use it against her...but he would use it to protect her. This man she barely knew had somehow assigned himself the role of her protector, and she knew he wouldn't back down, no matter what.
    The tightness around her chest eased, and she reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
    His gaze flicked to hers, and his eyes narrowed as he studied her face. "Who is he?" he asked.
    She lifted her chin. "No one who matters," she said fiercely, determinedly.
    Rand thudded his fist against the glass, making her jump.