Her Hidden Falls Bodyguard Billionaire Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,29
instincts had told him she wanted to run. He should have known better than to let her out of his sight.
For a long time, they stared at each other.
“Zoey, look. You can’t run. I mean, you told Agent Anderson you would do this, and …”
“I lied,” she said, standing abruptly. “Does that shock you?” Even though she was messed up, she looked beautiful—other than the tears and the accusatory look on her face. She took off toward the security shack roughly a quarter of a mile away. “Leave me alone!”
On instinct, he caught up to her and took her by the shoulders. “Stop.”
She turned and pushed him, but he held on. The momentum sent them tumbling to the ground. They rolled, and he landed on top of her.
“Get off me!” she yelled in his face.
It reminded Sean of wrestling with one of his brothers. He pitched her hands over her head and held them. “No. I’m not going anywhere, and you can’t run from me. Your life is in danger. Don’t you get that?”
She headbutted him.
“Ouch!” It didn’t hurt, not really, but the center of his head smarted. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
Tears continued to pour down her cheeks. “Let me go.”
He held her. “No. You’ll run.”
After a few seconds, she released a breath. “You told me I’m a liar, and you’re right. You’re right. And you know what else you’re right about?”
He rolled off her and sat on the ground. “What?”
“I’m afraid. I’m terrified.” She sat up and squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t testify. I’m terrified that I’ll never get away from the Cortez family, and I’m terrified that the FBI can’t protect me.” She whirled back to face him. “I’m terrified you can’t protect me.”
Sean wished he could reassure her.
“The worst part is, I’m worried all over again that I’m putting you in danger, Sean. And don’t give me the whole spiel about ‘I’m an FBI guy and I was a cop and I know how to handle myself,’” she said with false bravado. “It’s the Cortez family. They’re brutal.”
Every part of him suddenly got it. He sucked in a long breath and shook his head. “I can handle myself.”
“Brian thought he could protect both of us, too.”
Sean hesitated. She was in a complicated position. He still had a hard understanding everything she’d been through. “You really don’t want me hurt, do you?”
She shrugged. “I mean, I want to cause you pain right now, but I don’t want you dead.”
He laughed, and before he knew what happened, he broke protocol. He closed the gap between them and put his hands on her shoulders. “Look, I know you had to lie for pretty good reasons. And I know you were trying to protect all of us.”
“Do you?”
Her vulnerability softened him. “I do. But you have to trust that I want to protect you. That I’m trying.”
She glared at him with tears in her eyes. “I saw my brother gutted on the floor in the living room. Believe me, I’m not going to lose another person I care about.”
It shocked him to hear her say those words. She cared about him.
Abruptly, she stood and began walking toward the gate. “I’m leaving. Please, don’t try to stop me.”
“What? Don’t walk away from me.” When she ignored him, he scrambled to his feet and hurried to catch up to her. “We can’t control if we live or die. All we can do is choose to trust each other.”
Abruptly, she stopped walking. “What does that mean?”
“It means we choose to trust.”
“You can trust me now?”
He took her hand. “I want to.”
She didn’t move, staring at their joined hands.
“Can you trust me?”
Before Zoey had a chance to respond, a siren and flashing lights came toward them. Luckily, it wasn’t the police, just some type of resort security.
Sean grimaced and turned to face the car. How would all this look? What would he say? He squared his shoulders, settling into his role. They were just a billionaire couple having a squabble. No big deal.
The guy in the golf cart stopped and surveyed the car. “I just got a report of reckless driving. It seems someone was on the top of the car and you wrecked. What happened?”
Sean rubbed a hand over his brow, unsure what to say.
“Ha ha.” Suddenly, Zoey was by his side. “Sorry, my hubby and I were just messing around, sir.” She put her hand on Sean’s back and leaned into him. “We get kind of crazy, don’t we,