From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,65

do whatever damage he wanted without any of them being the wiser.

Finn had been concerned that Casey might be a target from the moment he’d realized she hadn’t sent the reunion invitations—and that some of the staff seemed to have some animosity toward her. He’d never met her grandmother, but he knew she would have wanted him to keep Casey safe.

At the same time, he found himself getting in deeper and deeper with her. That almost kiss had only made him realize just how deep. Hell, he’d half fallen in love with her from what her grandmother had written about her over those years when they’d been together in this hotel.

Once he’d met her... He thought of her standing at the open shower holding that gun on him. He chuckled to himself. It was simple. The woman had enchanted him because of the stories he’d heard about her. Once he’d met her, he’d been smitten. He’d never once thought she could have murdered Megan. Even now, knowing that she was holding back something, he still didn’t.

He’d been hiding out for months, using Megan as an excuse not to take that next challenge after he’d sold his business. He’d lost both parents, lost his drive. He’d dropped out of life. Then Casey Crenshaw had walked into his shower.

Finn had felt the chemistry and suspected she had, too, even as she was threatening to have him arrested for trespassing. She’d made him want to join the human race again. Making an offer on the hotel had forced him to come out of hiding. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the media found out. He wasn’t looking forward to the headlines again, but he could handle it.

But now he could feel the clock ticking. The reunion would be over after tomorrow. Casey might be planning to leave as soon as she’d packed up her grandmother’s things. That was one of the reasons he’d called her from the store. He felt alive when he was with her. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with her.

He’d also really been craving cookie-dough ice cream.

He was just glad it had gotten her out of her room. Now, if she would just tell him what it was she was hiding.

At a sound, he turned, a smile instantly coming to his face at just the sight of her in the doorway. “Two scoops,” he said as he finished filling their bowls.

“I know who left the note that got us to Megan’s old room,” she said as she watched him. He turned to look back at her. “Jason. I recognized his handwriting from a grocery list he made.” Finn swore. “Who knows why? He was probably just trying to stir things up. He seems to be enjoying this reunion a little too much.”

“He’s jealous.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“You haven’t seen the way he looks at you?”

She shook her head. “You are so wrong.”

Finn looked as if he wanted to argue the point but let it drop as he handed her a bowl of ice cream. “Want to sit in here or out in the main hall?”

“Here is good,” she said, glancing around the large industrial kitchen before moving to one of the chairs at the staff table.

“This is where I ate all my meals,” she said as he took a seat at the corner of the table near her.

“You didn’t eat in the dining room with your grandmother?”

She shook her head. “Not a chance. It was hard enough with the rest of the staff when I ate with them. They were always careful about what they said around me for fear I’d tell Gram on them. They knew right away that I wasn’t one of them. And yet I was. I complained once early on to her about one of the staff and found out quickly enough that it wasn’t allowed. She used to say getting along with the crew was the best experience I could ask for. She was right. It’s helped me with managing a large hotel. I use a lot of her methods to deal with my staff.”

“I was in the same situation working with my father in his landscaping business,” Finn said between bites. “I quickly learned not to be the son of the boss. It’s a good way to get your butt kicked.” He laughed. “Also, it keeps you humble to know that, when push comes to shove, you’ll be let go before one of your father’s valuable employees. Nothing