And he kissed her to seal the deal.
Epilogue
Kylie Reed sobbed in relief as her headlights illuminated the Welcome to Honeybrook sign in front of her.
She’d made it.
After almost four days of solid driving, she was across the other side of the country where no one would think to look for her.
She’d told no one about Chelsea’s new venture on the west coast and she wasn’t close enough friends with Chelsea that anyone would guess she would come here.
She just hoped Chelsea’s invitation to stay a while wasn’t a throwaway comment.
Kylie pulled off on the side of the main road outside a lolly shop and took a moment to breathe and wipe her eyes.She flicked on the overhead light and checked her appearance in the mirror.
Dark bags under her eyes.Her short black hair lay flat against her head, instead of its usual spiky array and her mud brown eyes looked lifeless.
She winced.Yeah, she looked haggard, but that could be explained if she said she’d pushed through to make town tonight.
Chelsea didn’t need to know she’d barely slept in four days.
She shuddered and pushed the memory of what had driven her here away.There’d be time to deal with it later.
She skulled the last of the now cold coffee she’d picked up at her final fuel stop and swallowed hard.
She’d be safe here.
Checking the empty street for vehicles, she pulled back onto the road and followed her sat nav off the main road, through a winding street to a double-storey house with a massive garden.
Black remnants of a fire spread over a Japanese pagoda that looked as if it was about to fall down.
Kylie frowned.
What had happened?
She parked behind a hire car and a black four-wheel drive and slowly got out.Perhaps she should have called to say she was coming.Chelsea might already have visitors.
There were a few lights on inside the house, bleeding out the side of the blinds, but the sound of music drew her attention to the large barn.Behind it was the glow of fire and she followed the path through the dark garden to where people gathered around a large bonfire.
She kept back, using the barn as a shield while she scanned the faces.Five incredibly fit-looking men sat on a couple of logs, chatting and drinking beer.
She blinked to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating the hotness and her gaze fell on Chelsea who had her arm around one of the men.
Then she noticed two more women who were chatting with her.
It looked like a cosy get-together, one she probably shouldn’t crash.She could find a caravan park nearby or maybe a rest stop where she could sleep for the night in her campervan.Then she could call Chelsea in the morning and warn her she was coming.
Kylie turned to go and hit a solid wall.She stumbled back a step as a hand gripped her arm firmly.She shrieked as fear pierced her.
They’d found her.
“Who the hell are you?”The angry tone was deep and harsh like moonshine.
She struggled to pull away, unable to find words as the man dragged her towards the fire.
Towards safety, not away from it.
That point dulled the fear and she gasped to find her voice as she stumbled into the light.The five men were on their feet instantly.
