Falling for the Billionaire's Daughter - Lori Ryan Page 0,41

around.

He waited until she was past him in the dim light and then stepped from the shadows.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Jane.”

The woman stopped and turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Excuse me?”

Turner studied her, stepping closer.

She took a step back, panic starting to fill her eyes.

And another step. Dammit, he needed to grab her.

But something was off.

She took one more step and the light from one of the lampposts spilled over her and he saw her clearly.

It wasn’t her. Fuck! It wasn’t her.

He smiled, stopping. “Sorry. Wrong person.”

He turned and moved away from the girl quickly, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself.

Hopefully she wouldn’t report him. If he got lucky, she’d assume he had been playing a joke on someone he knew and mistook her for that person.

It wasn’t like he’d had a weapon or threatened her or anything.

He needed to get his ass to New Jersey and see if his PI’s lead panned out. He was so damned tired of chasing these women. So damned tired of waiting for the chance to get his wife back where she belonged. To teach her that she can’t ever get away.

Chapter 28

Dread pooled in Joy’s stomach and chest. Should she go to her mom this time instead of a new place? But dammit, she’d just purposefully led Turner here. If she went straight to her mom now, she’d lead him right to her?

But if he already knew she was there, Joy needed to get to her.

She covered her mouth, tears starting to form in her eyes as she paced. She was so tired. So damned drained and tired of trying to fight this battle alone. It was too much.

A knock on her door froze her to the floor.

“Joy, it’s Kaeden. Open up.”

Damn it. She closed her eyes. She should have been out of here already. She should be gone.

“Joy, I know you’re in there. I saw you when I was coming across the field and I know something’s wrong. I saw the way you were running. Open up and talk to me.”

Damn. Damn. Damn. She brushed at her cheeks and took a deep breath. This was fine. She would simply deliver the line about a family emergency to his face instead of in a note and then be on her way.

She opened the door and plowed into her story without giving him time to say another word. “I’m sorry Kaeden. I can’t talk now. I have a family emergency. I need to catch a flight out of here in an hour.”

He raised a brow. “The nearest airport is 70 miles away so I don’t think you’re going to make it.”

She didn’t answer him. She had become a very adept liar in the last two years but him catching her like this had flustered her beyond words. She’d been so concerned with giving him a timeframe that wouldn’t allow her time to talk to him that she’d forgotten that the airport was so far away.

She went to her bag and continued throwing things into it.

He stepped into the room and stood behind her. Too close. So close she could feel the heat coming off him and wanted nothing more than to sink into his arms and let him tell her everything would be alright. That he would help her in this. That she didn’t have to keep carrying the weight of her mother’s safety on her own.

“Joy, tell me what’s going on.” His words were soft and low, but forceful just the same.

She shook her head, zipping up her bag.

He went to her drawers and started to pull them open. They were empty.

“You’re taking everything,” he said.

She nodded. “I don’t know when I can make it back.”

The words nearly broke her. She could see the sun beginning to break through the windows, soft and muted the way it was at first daybreak. Evelyn would be waking up now. If Joy didn’t leave, she was going to have to face more than just Kaeden, and looking into his eyes and saying goodbye was going to be hard enough.

Why did he have to come? Why did he have to push her like this?

He came and put his hands on her arms, his chest pressed to her back, strong and tempting.

“Talk to me. Tell me how I can help.”

She did the only thing she could. She pulled away and lashed out. “You can help by getting out of my way so I can leave. I need to get out of here.”

She grabbed