Her Hidden Falls Bodyguard Billionaire Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,35
so long, haven’t you?”
The way he asked the question, with such compassion, struck a chord inside of her. She wanted to cry. She started walking toward the beach house again, quicker this time. “Don’t do that to me, Sean.”
“Do what? I was simply making an observation.” He caught up. “I bet it’s been hard. I’m sorry you had to do that all alone.”
She could feel his sincerity. She kept walking but met his gaze. “Maybe you could forgive me for not telling you.”
He nodded. “Maybe I could.”
It felt like they were having a moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt free. Someone knew all about her sordid past, and he was still willing to be her friend.
They arrived at the beach house. “I’ll make you a promise, too,” she said as they walked inside.
He shut the door behind him and then faced her. “Okay.”
“I won’t run again. I …” Her heart raced. “I don’t want to be on the run my entire life. I want to do the right thing. I want to be the kind of person that my mother would be proud of. I think she would want me to testify and help put Rafael away. Even if it’s not the easy thing to do.”
Sean took her hands. “Zoey, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you since you mentioned how lonely you were before.”
“Okay?”
“I do pray for you. Every day. I have for a long time, and I even prayed for you when I left for the FBI.”
The breath left her lungs. “Why?”
“Because I could sense you were lonely and needed help. And maybe I prayed for you selfishly.” He flashed her a grin. “Maybe I prayed that God would help you be mine.”
“You did?” Warmth blossomed from her chest and through her whole body.
A smile played at his lips. “But the truth is, it doesn’t matter what I prayed for. My point is that you can pray and God will be there for you. If my mother taught me anything, it was that God is the one you turn to when times are the hardest.”
A chill rushed through her; she knew what Sean was saying was true. “Thank you.”
For a moment, they just stood like that, staring into each other’s eyes.
That same feeling of happiness and freedom surged through her. “Want to swim?”
He frowned at her and pointed to the clock on the oven. “It’s almost eleven.”
“Come on, friend.” She pushed his shoulder as she strolled past him. “Let’s have fun!”
Chapter 18
The next day, Sean awoke with a start and shot to his feet, gun in hand. But unlike the past two days, he no longer worried that Zoey would slip through the cracks.
He put the gun down and went to the bathroom, splashing his face with water. He couldn’t stop the grin that crept onto his face. Swimming in the pool had been a blast. They’d done cannonballs and pushed each other and raced. It had been like a dream.
The big thing that had been keeping Zoey out of his grasp, the thing he couldn’t ever get a handle on … it was gone. There were no more secrets.
He brushed his teeth and frowned. Even though he said he wanted to be friends, he might want more than that. Impossibly, his attraction to Zoey had grown even stronger.
All he wanted to do was touch the woman in some capacity. Last night, he’d been able to tease and she’d teased him back. He’d grabbed her and splashed her and they’d both laughed, and then they’d taken another swim in the ocean. Dang if it wasn’t hot to see her in that bikini, walking out of the ocean with the moonlight behind her.
He tried to push it all out of his mind, but he couldn’t. He loved her. There it was. He’d loved her in Hidden Falls as Angela Orion, but now, knowing her in this deeper way, in the way that made all the confusing things vanish … it made him love her even more.
He finished brushing his teeth and pulled on his workout clothes. He had to get a run in. The sound of a door opening and closing made him dash for the gun and then out his door. To his utter surprise and astonishment, it was Zoey walking into the kitchen all sweaty, hands on top of her head, breathing hard.
She grinned and walked past him. “Hey, sleepyhead. I’ve already got in three miles.”
He was stupefied. “You woke up