Her Hidden Falls Bodyguard Billionaire Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,26

way to face the man she’d liked for almost three years. The man she’d almost loved, could have loved. Today, she’d awoken with new perspective. None of it had been real. She couldn’t trust anyone.

She wolfed down the food; he hadn’t done a bad job with it. When she tasted the coffee, she paused. He’d made it just how she liked it.

“Sugary enough for you?” he asked, moving so he could stand straight across from her. He put his coffee cup down in the sink.

She met his gaze. His eyes were the gray of a sky that stretched on forever, the kind of sky she would relish when they went riding together at the ranch. “It’s good.” She moved her gaze to her food, not wanting to think about all of those things.

Silence reigned for a bit.

Finally, she couldn’t help it. “How is … everyone?”

“Shaken up.” The look he gave her held enough accusation to create a pit in her stomach, but it didn’t matter.

“Could I …” She hated how vulnerable her voice sounded. “Could I call Charlotte, please?”

Sean didn’t hesitate. “No. Even though we have burner phones, we have to assume that everything is being tracked.” He winced and turned to face the window. “If Rafael’s men have a bug in Charlotte’s phone, then we’d be putting their lives at risk again.”

“How did you call them, then?”

His lips pinched into a straight line. “Ryan made sure his phone wasn’t bugged.”

“Let me call Ryan, then. I’m sure he can get Charlotte for me.”

“No.”

That ticked her off. “You’re just being a jerk for jerk’s sake, then, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “Think whatever you want, but I’m not calling them.”

She had to get out of here, as far away from Sean as she could. “So what are we supposed to do?”

For a few seconds, he didn’t answer her. Then he picked up a paper and shoved it to her across the counter.

She stared at a list of excursions. “Are you serious?”

He tapped the counter. “Guess you got your beach adventure.”

Of course she remembered the bogus lie she’d told him, the last one before he’d left Hidden Falls. He’d offered to go with her on that beach adventure. “Forget you! Let me talk to Charlotte!”

Sean shook his head.

She trembled. “I hate you,” she said, her voice just a whisper.

Without another word, she went to her room, shut the door, and allowed herself to cry. Only tears, no noise. She wouldn’t make a peep. She put her back to the door and slid to the floor. How had she gotten herself and everyone she loved mixed up in this?

She reached for her necklace. “I’m sorry, Brian,” she whispered. “I should have listened to you and trusted no one.”

But she hadn’t really trusted. Sure, she’d stayed longer than she should have, but she’d never told anyone her secret. She sucked in a long, jittery breath. What should she do now? She had to get away from Sean—not just to save herself, but to make sure he didn’t get hurt, either.

Chapter 12

The next morning, Sean stood next to the coffee maker and rubbed the beard that was quickly growing in. It’d been a long day yesterday. She’d refused to come out of her room. At six o’clock, he’d grilled some chicken and made a salad and put it by her door. She’d taken the tray, and after a while, she’d put it back and it was empty. So at least she’d eaten something.

His mind spun. He wished the push-ups and sit-ups had satisfied him, but they hadn’t. He needed release. He yearned to go for a run, but it wasn’t smart to leave. Sure, she said she would testify, but he’d seen the antsy way she tugged at her necklace—a necklace she’d always had, now that he thought about it.

Suddenly, he wondered who the necklace was from. An old boyfriend? He’d read her file over and over and over again. He’d absorbed every detail in it about her past and about how the infamous Rafael Cortez had wanted to date her, but she’d refused. Had there been someone else? There was no mention of a man, but that would make sense. He put his hand on the sink and leaned over, wincing from the headache behind his left eye. That headache was quickly growing the more he thought about Zoey loving someone else.

Had she possibly loved another the whole time she’d been in hiding? But that was none of his concern. This was just a case. He