The Badge and the Bad Boy (Redemption Ranch, #1)

by Lena Hendrix

it didn’t change the fact that someone came to Redemption for one of two reasons: either you were a criminal, or you were being hunted by one.

needed to get out of that barn. To talk to Ma about why the hell a police officer, let alone the one I’d taken a bullet for, was standing in front of me at the ranch.

Did he feel the spark between us when he touched me? Have I lost my damn mind? This man is a stranger. A criminal. He is everything that you stand against.

Despite my better judgment, I wanted him. More than I had ever wanted a man, I wanted to feel what it was like to be Evan’s woman.

“A man like me always wants what he can’t have. But you, baby girl, are the most dangerous thing on this ranch.”

Tonight I had learned Evan Walker was a criminal who didn’t want to break the rules.

Fuck. Being friends with Val was going to kill me.

Over the past few weeks, I knew a few things to be true. One, Evan was a criminal and I was a cop. Two, I was leaving as soon as I was cleared by Agent Walsh. And three—most important—nothing more could come between us without burning both our lives to the ground. It was the wrong time for either of us to start anything serious.

I already knew the day I watched her leave the ranch would be brutal.

We could get caught at any moment, and the risk of that sent a new, hot fire burning down my spine.

I knew Evan was right. Because that was all we could ever have. Secrets.

I didn’t care that I was nothing more than a reformed criminal and she was an officer. There has to be a way.

I could love him.

In my heart, I knew it was a simple truth. In another life, I could love Evan Walker. He was a broken boy, grown into a man who’d pieced himself back together.

“I know you should leave, but if you go now, you’d be taking my heart with you.”

I had made my intentions clear to Evan. And he had made his intentions clear to me. He didn’t want me.

There are so many more important words that I should have said to you. Three in particular. I hope one day I’ll get the chance to say them.

But mostly I worry that one day people will stop mentioning you. I promise to say your name every day.

Waking up without you is painful. My bones ache from the minute I wake up until I lie in our bed and stare at the ceiling.

You deserve so much more than a man who lived to break the rules. I know this. I’m working on it. I’ve convinced myself that if I can be the best version of myself, the semblance of a man worthy of your love, you’ll find your way back to me.

There is nothing more important than love.