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“A press pass,” he said, enunciating each word with careful control. “Do you have permission to be taking photos of the scene?”
She seriously wanted to roll her eyes at his show of dominance but held herself in check. “No.”
“Steve, please escort this lady back to her car.”
Startled, she snapped her gaze up to meet his eyes once more. Surely he wasn’t throwing her off the property?
He stepped closer, close enough for her to catch the scent she’d missed all too often, mixed with perspiration from his work despite the cool October air. His fingers—the same ones that had explored her body that long-ago night—caught her chin, tilting it up just a touch more until it was uncomfortable. Then she had no choice but to meet his gaze, despite their height difference. Her heart thumped hard, though she didn’t know if it was from his nearness or fear.
“I suggest you stay away from where you don’t belong.”
As the guard escorted her back to her car, she had only one thought.
Guess he does remember me after all...
* * *
Zach Gatlin stood behind his desk, lost in thought as he stared at the large monitor. Where had she come from? Did he really want to know?
Unfortunately, he did.
As much as he wished he could forget the red-haired beauty he’d taken to bed five years ago, the memory of her eager passion had resurfaced all too often. As had the memory of her love of sunsets and people and nature—her artistic eye had taught him to see the gentler world he’d forgotten in the midst of war.
Then, with no warning, she was gone. He’d consoled himself with the thought that if she hadn’t been willing to say goodbye, she wouldn’t have stayed in the long run anyway. Probably for the better, since Zach’s responsibilities were a heavy load.
Sometimes he wondered if that inner voice lied.
Shaking off the memories, Zach focused on the present. The question was: Did he look into her or not? Running a background check would be all too easy, especially now that he ran his very own security business. The tools were within close reach. Close enough to make his fingers twitch. He could know all he wanted within minutes, every small detail of her life within days.
But was it the right thing to do?
Maybe he should have asked himself that before he threw her off mill property yesterday. He’d had a gut reaction to seeing her there, so close but seemingly oblivious to him. He wished he had controlled himself, but what was done was done. He couldn’t go back.
With his life, he knew that all too well.
Turning away from the computer, he decided to confront this problem head-on rather than hide behind snooping. Security might be his business, but it didn’t have to be his life.
Thirty minutes later, he wondered if he should have taken the easy way out. Figuring out where Sadie was staying had been easy—this was, after all, a small town. Getting past the nosy owner of the B and B? Well, that was an altogether different problem.
“Gladys, I know she’s here, I just need to know what room she’s in.”
“Is she expecting you?”
“Probably.” At least that much was the truth. If Sadie remembered anything at all about him, it should be that he was a man of action.
Gladys leaned against the high desk in the foyer. “Now, why would Black Hills’s newest hero want to see some strange woman who just came into town?”
Lord, this woman wanted a pound of flesh, didn’t she? “I haven’t always lived here, Gladys.”
“So you met her somewhere else?” Was that a gleam of excitement in her eyes? How sad that his life had gone from daily drudgery to full-on gossip mill fodder.
He’d met Sadie right here in Black Hills, but it had seemed like another time and place. “The room number?”
Probably recognizing the obstinate look on his face and realizing she wasn’t getting any gossip from him—outside of his very presence here—Gladys relented. “Room three.”
Back straight, he refused to look over his shoulder to see her watching him as he climbed the stairs. He hesitated before knocking, but luckily there was no one to see it.
The door opened, revealing Sadie. She was just as he remembered her, with smooth, translucent skin, an abundance of fiery red hair and green eyes that appeared guileless. A trap he wasn’t falling for this time.
“Zachary,” she said.
He stalked through the doorway. The suite was more spacious than the tiny hotel room she’d occupied the last time she’d been here. This was open and airy, with a lightly feminine touch. His gaze bounced away from the bed in an alcove and came to rest on the laptop in a low sitting area in front of a fireplace. He made his way forward with measured steps.
“It’s been a while, Sadie,” he finally said.
“Five years,” she murmured.
He paused, giving away the fact that he’d heard her when he would have preferred not to show any reaction at all. He was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he’d often thought about what he would say if he ever saw her again. He’d pictured himself as calm, slightly condescending as he asked her why she’d left without a word, without any explanation.
Nothing in that scenario came close to the amped-up emotions he was experiencing at the moment.
Eager for a distraction, he paused in front of the open laptop. Several pictures shared space on the screen, showcasing the smoldering mill from different angles. He’d never had much time for art, but to his inexperienced eyes, these looked pretty good.
Which for some reason made him even angrier.
“You weren’t authorized to take pictures there.”
“Did you tell that to every bystander in that parking lot with their cell phones in their hands? Or just me?”
He glanced in her direction, mildly surprised by her return salvo. He hadn’t known her to be very confrontational. Not that they’d spent much time arguing, but they had talked—a lot. He wouldn’t have called her a doormat, exactly, but she’d shown a lot more spirit in the last twenty-four hours than he’d seen in the week he’d known her five years ago. A week that had ended in a night he couldn’t forget.
She raised one fine brow. “There were no signs posted. No one said I couldn’t be there...at first.”
He studied the images a bit longer. Damn if she didn’t have him stumped. What exactly had he wanted to accomplish by coming here? To go over the same territory as at the mill? To find out why she had returned? To get information without having to ask any direct questions?
To put himself out there to be hurt again?
Gesturing toward the screen, he asked, “So you came back just for pictures?”
It was as close as he’d let himself get to addressing the elephant in the room. He really wanted to know why she hadn’t come back for him. She was the one woman he’d ever felt he could actually let into his life, have a real relationship with. And she’d walked away without looking back.
“I was in the area and heard about the explosion. I wanted to check it out.”
She looked too calm, acted too casual. And she just happened to be in the area? He shook his head. When had he gotten so suspicious?
“What about you?” she surprised him by asking. “What were you doing there?”
That’s when he realized she wasn’t the only one who had changed in five years. “I’m head of security for the Blackstones—”
She smiled. “Wow. That’s really great. Going from maintenance to head of security is a big jump.”
He knew he shouldn’t, but he said it anyway. “I’m not head of security for the mill. I handle security details for the entire family and all of their interests. I run my own security firm.” Bragging did not come easily to him. Not that he’d ever had much to brag about. But somehow it felt good to rub his success in Sadie’s face.
He wasn’t the same man she’d met then—recently returned from combat in the Middle East, fighting the nightmares while maintaining a strong facade for the women in his family he’d spent a lifetime supporting.
Then one night he’d let her in, and he wished she’d never seen that side of him.
“Until we can get a good look inside and evaluate the damage, the mill is a huge security risk. So the Blackstones have asked me to oversee this initial part of the investigation.”
“I heard it was a bomb.”
He nodded. Yep. A bomb set off by a crazy man.
“Any suspects?”
It was a natural question. Simple curiosity. So why did his muscles tense when she asked?
“Yes, but that information is not being released to the public.”
The words came out in a more formal tone than he would have normally used, but it was all for the best. Keeping their distance meant keeping himself sane. Instead of leaning in to see if her hair smelled the same as it did before.
He did not need to know that.
He eyed the bright waves dancing around her shoulders. He definitely didn’t need to know.
“So it would be better to stay away from there right now.” And away from me, so all these emotions will respond to my control. “Wait until we can guarantee it’s safe.”
“In the parking lot?”
“Right.” He didn’t care if she wasn’t buying it. A man had to do...
Suddenly realizing he’d accomplished nothing but torturing himself during this visit, he stalked back to the door. Unfortunately, she followed, until she was within arm’s reach. He was too far away from the door to escape.
It all flooded back—all the memories he’d struggled to hold at bay since that first moment he’d seen her again at the mill. The way his heart pounded when she laughed. The way her soft voice soothed his nerves as she told him a story. The way his body rose to meet the demands of hers.
So many things he couldn’t force himself to forget.
But he could force himself to walk away this time. “I’ll be seeing you, Sadie,” he said, as casually as he could.
She pulled the door open and smiled. “Definitely.”
Something about her tone, that confident edge, ruffled him, pushed him to throw her off balance. He couldn’t stop himself. He stopped in front of her, bending in low to place his mouth near her ear. He sucked in a deep breath. “So...” he said, letting the word stretch, “aren’t you gonna tell me why you really left?”
Her gasp left him satisfied...for now.
Two (#ulink_b8d0182a-c9f0-561c-a00b-3c9ef2efbf50)
Sadie’s entire body instantly snapped to attention. She might not have moved, but every nerve ending was now awake and focused on the man before her.
She hadn’t thought he’d directly address her leaving. Indeed, he’d seemed to do everything but ask the all-important question: Why? She’d thought she was prepared. Her flippant answer rattled around in her brain for a moment, but she couldn’t force it out.
Instead she stared up into his brooding dark eyes and lost her breath. She’d known she would hurt him, leaving like that. He’d never tell her so, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it were true from his somber gaze.
His body seemed to sway a little closer, and her mouth watered at the thought of his lips on hers once more. Then the trill of her phone broke the moment of silence.
Suddenly he was back to arm’s length, leaving her to wonder if she’d imagined that moment. Wished it into being.
His eyes grew wider, reminding her that her phone was still ringing. She ignored both him and the phone. Her mother called late in the evening, when her duties for the day were done. Only one person would be calling her at this time of day, and she wasn’t about to speak to him in front of Zach.
Her heart pounded. She licked her lips, trying to think of something to say.
Instead of waiting for an answer, Zach gave a quick smirk and then walked out the door without another word. She waited until he was down the stairs and out of sight before pushing the door closed. Then she dissolved against it like melting sugar.
Tears welled, along with the wish that things didn’t have to be this way. She quickly brushed both away. Her life had been one long lesson in dealing with reality, not dreaming of fairy tales.
At least he hadn’t forgotten her.
Forcing herself to her feet, she crossed to the sitting area and picked her phone up off the low table. The very name she expected flashed across the screen. She sucked in a deep, bracing breath, then touched the screen to call him back.
“I’m listening.”
She hated when he answered the phone like that. The part of her that rebelled against what she had to do forced her to hold her words just a minute longer than necessary, garnering some petty satisfaction from making him wait.
“What do you need, Victor?” she asked.
“Ah, Adams. Where were you?”
The impersonal use of her last name grated on her nerves, but she was, after all, simply a servant. “Away from my phone.”
“Don’t get uppity with me, Adams. Just because you’re hundreds of miles away from Texas doesn’t mean you’re off the leash.”
Right. Remind her of the dog she was—that would make her work harder. But it was an apt description—she was a hunting dog. Sent to search for and fetch exactly what her owner wanted.
“I apologize,” she said, hoping he couldn’t tell her teeth were gritted. “But I didn’t think you wanted me to answer the phone and give you an update in front of Zachary.”
“Very good, Adams. I knew I could trust your judgment.”
As if it had been all his idea. If Victor Beddingfield had an original idea ever in his life, she’d be shocked. Of course, this little expedition was his idea—and here she was. But the idea wasn’t original to him. His father had tried it first.
“So you’ve already made contact? Good girl.”
Yep, she was definitely a dog to him. “I have, but he’s not happy about it.”
“You simply have to make him like it. You know how to do that...don’t you?”
She wished to goodness Victor had never found out the truth about her last visit to Black Hills. Not that he cared about her choice to deceive his father, telling him that Zachary couldn’t possibly be the son he sought. The longer Zach had been out of his life, the more of their father’s money Victor could spend. Still, the knowledge had given him a weapon to use against her—but not the biggest one.
“This might take some time.” Although, even if she had all the time in the world, Zach would probably never forgive her—then or now.
