Her Hidden Falls Bodyguard Billionaire Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,32
with your family. For …” The words got stuck in the back of her throat. His brothers had put their lives on the line to protect her. “For putting them all in danger.”
For a brief moment, he hesitated. “I understand.”
Her eyelids fluttered. She didn’t want to say the next part, but she had to. “Most of all, I’m sorry for hurting you. For leading you on.”
He let out a puff of air and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. “Listen, I understand now why you did what you did.”
Her heart thrummed inside of her chest.
“But … thank you.”
Their gazes held, and for the first time in a long, long time, Zoey felt a bit better.
“Maybe we can start over.”
She was surprised to hear him say that. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can be friends.”
A ray of hope shone down on her, but she pushed it away. She hadn’t fully decided if she would run or not. Or if she could really trust anyone. She thought of the information on that chip. How exactly would she barter for her life with a mafia family?
“What?” Sean must have seen her inner turmoil.
“Nothing.” He knew her too well.
He frowned, then leaned back, letting out a light laugh. “Listen, I know this isn’t ideal. Believe me, it’s not ideal for me, either. I can understand why you don’t want to testify and then have to go back into WITSEC, but I’ll tell you this—I will do everything I can to make sure you’re safe.”
She believed him. “I know, but forgive me if I don’t believe in a system that didn’t work for me before.”
“What’s the alternative? I mean, I know you can run, but do you want to be on the run forever?”
She thought of how she hadn’t left Hidden Falls a year ago when she should have. “Of course not.” She gave him a weak smile. “But I do find it preferable to a cemetery.”
He winced. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. You can count on me.”
She knew he would try. That had to be something, right? This man and his faith had always mystified her.
“Okay, now I know you’re thinking something.”
She wagged a finger at him and adopted a smarmy tone, similar to the one his brother Beau always used when Sean said something like that to him. “Hey now, don’t go accusing me of that.”
Sean looked startled, and then he laughed. The laugh was so familiar and so innocent—it belonged to Sean she used to know.
She’d missed that laugh. “Got you.”
“You did.” His smile widened. “If I was back home, I would quote poetry to Beau just to tick him off.”
“Oh yeah? What would you quote?” She’d always found his love of poetry a bit romantic.
His mouth opened like he would tell her, but then he pressed his lips together. “Well, we’re not at home.”
“So you can’t quote poetry?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I don’t feel moved to do so.”
For a little while, they didn’t speak to each other, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.
Unrest filled Zoey as she thought about her history with Sean. “Listen, I do need to tell you that I am grateful for you.”
“For what?”
“For the last three years. You were my friend.”
“That’s all?”
She didn’t know what to say.
He waved a hand in dismissal. “Forget I asked that.”
She met his gaze. It felt stupid to deny that she was attracted to him. Just thinking about kissing him earlier did all kinds of funny things to her mind. “Maybe we could have been more, if things had been different.”
The tension ratcheted up between them. All she wanted to do was kiss this man again, which surprised her.
She let out a long breath and put her hand to her head. “Sheesh.”
“What’s wrong?”
She put her hand down. “Nothing.”
“No, there is something going in in that head of yours, and don’t be quoting Beau to me.”
Her heart raced. She didn’t want to tell him what she’d been thinking, but simultaneously, she wondered if she would ever have another chance to tell him the truth. “I’m attracted to you, Sean.”
He froze.
“Things would have been different between us if they could have been.” There, it’d been said. She shifted in her chair and wished she wasn’t blushing.
A smile played at his lips.
“What?” she asked, hating that she felt so defensive.
“Doesn’t it feel good to finally tell me the truth?”
She let out a light laugh and grinned at him.
“I always knew that you liked me as more than a