Stone Cold Surrender (8 page)

sister’s
husband,
Sheikh
Jamal
Ari
Yasir,
had
grown
on
him
and
his
brothers,
and
now
he
was
as
welcome
a
sight
as

Delaney.
Stone
knew
Jamal
loved
his
sister
immensely.

He
looked
around
the
plane,
wishing
there
was
some
way
he
could
walk
around
and
stretch
his
stiff
muscles,
but
knew
that
would
mean
waking
Madison
to
reach
the
aisle,
and
he
didn’t
want
to
do
that
for
fear
she
would
start
talking
again
about
the
man
who
could
be
his
uncle.
Until
he
got
some

answers
from
Durango,
the
last
thing
he
wanted
to
do
was
come
across
as
if
he
were
deceiving
her.

He
glanced
over
at
her
once
more
and
admired
her
beauty.
To
his
way
of
thinking,
Madison
Winters
was
a
woman
no
man
in
his
right
mind
would
want
to
deceive.

Two

T
he
landing
was
smooth
and
as
the
plane
taxied
up
to
the
terminal,
Madison
breathed
a
sigh
of
relief
to
be
back
on
the
ground.
She
unbuckled
her
seat
belt
and
watched
as

the
other
passengers
wasted
little
time
getting
out
of
their
seats
and
gathering
their
belongings
from
the
overhead

compartments.
Some
people
were
moving
quickly
to
catch
connecting
flights,
while
others
appeared
eager
to
be

reunited
with
the
loved
ones
waiting
for
them.

“Do
you
need
help
getting
anything?”

She
turned
and
met
Stone’s
gaze.
His
voice
was
low,
deep
and
seductive,
and
reminded
her
of
the
husky
baritone
of
the
singer
Barry
White.
The
rhythm
of
her
heart
increased.

“No,
I
can
manage,
but
thanks
for
asking.
If
you
don’t
mind,
I’ll
wait
until
the
plane
empties
before
getting
off.
If
you
need
to
get
by
I
can
move
out
of
your
way.”

“No,
I’m
in
no
hurry,
either.
I
doubt
my
cousin
is
here
to
pick
me
up
since
he’s
never
on
time.”
He
smiled.
“But
then
he
just
might
surprise
me
this
time.”

His
smile
did
funny
things
to
her
insides,
Madison
thought,
glancing
around
to
see
how
many
people
were
left
to
get
off
the
plane.
The
best
thing
to
do
would
be
to
get
as
far
away
from
Stone
Westmoreland
as
soon
as
she
could.
The
man

messed
with
her
ability
to
think
straight
and,
for
the

moment,
finding
her
mother
needed
her
full
concentration.

“Do
you
have
transportation
to
the
Silver
Arrow
ranch?”

Again
she
met
his
gaze.
“Yes.
I
was
told
they
would
be
sending
someone
for
me.”

Stone
nodded.
“Too
bad.
I
was
going
to
offer
you
a
ride.
I’m
sure
Durango
wouldn’t
mind
dropping
you
off
since
it’s
on
the
way.”

Madison
lifted
a
brow.
“Durango?”

Stone
smiled.
“Yes,
my
cousin
Durango.
He’s
a
park
ranger
at
Yellowstone
National
Park.”

Stone
watched
her
eyes
grow
wide.
“A
park
ranger?
Then
there’s
a
chance
he
might
know
the
man
my
mother
took
off
with,”
she
said
excitedly.

Durango
might
know
him
better
than
you
think,
Stone

wanted
to
say
but
didn’t.
Although
the
man
she
had

described
sounded
a
lot
like
Corey,
it
was
still
hard
for

Stone
to
believe
that
his
uncle
had
actually
taken
a
woman
to
his
mountain.
Stone
never
knew
the
full
story
why
Corey
had
written
off
any
kind
of
permanent
relationship
with
a

woman,
he
only
knew
that
he
had.
“Yes,
there
is
that

possibility,”
Stone
finally
said.

“Then,
if
you
don’t
mind,
I’d
like
to
ask
him
about
it.”

“No,
I
don’t
mind.”
Stone
only
hoped
that
he
would
get
the
chance
to
speak
to
Durango
first.

“The
way
is
clear
to
go
now.”

Madison’s
words
recaptured
his
attention.
He
watched
as
she
stood
and
eased
out
into
the
aisle.
Opening
the

overhead
compartment,
she
pulled
out
an
overnight
bag,
a
brand
he
recognized
immediately
as
being
Louis
Vuitton.
He
smiled,
remembering
that
he
had
given
his
sister

Delaney
a
Louis
Vuitton
purse
as
a
graduation
present

when
she
had
earned
her
medical
degree.
He
had
been
amazed
at
how
much
the
item
had
cost,
but
when
he
had
seen
how
happy
the
gift
had
made
Delaney,
the
amount

he’d
spent
had
been
well
worth
it.

Delaney
had
once
explained
that
you
could
tell
just
how

polished
and
classy
a
woman
was
by
the
purse
she

carried.
If
that
was
the
case,
Madison
Winters
was
one
hell
of
a
polished
and
classy
woman
because
she
was
sporting
a
Louis
Vuitton
purse,
as
well.
He
stood
up
and
followed

her
into
the
aisle.

Madison
looked
ahead
and
thought
the
aisle
of
the
plane
seemed
a
hundred
miles
long.
When
they
had
to
stop

abruptly
for
the
line
of
people
moving
slowly
ahead
of
them,