Hot tears pricked the backs of her eyes at the memories.The words,gone too soon,didn’t begin to describe his life.
She refocused as Beau’s laptop sprang to life.He’d said food and coffee could wait, so they’d gone straight to his laptop that had been charging in the butler’s pantry, where there’d been a sea of electronic devices.
“I got something,” Beau said.“Let’s change the settings to lock my phone so no one can access the information.I didn’t have time before.I had to stick and go.”
“Thank you for coming back to find me, by the way.”She realized she hadn’t thanked him before.
“No need.”
She studied him.“You kept your word, and that means a lot to me.”
“I wouldn’t have gone without you,” he said.“I hope you didn’t worry about that in the woods.You had enough going on in that beautiful mind of yours.”
The compliment caused a red-hot heat to climb up her neck.Ivy had always deflected them in the past.Most of the time, they’d been attached to pick-up lines, which made the compliments feel insincere.Beau was different.His words had been spoken with that deep timbre of his.His voice had a way of running over her and through her at the same time, warming her.The man could read the contents of a cereal box and make it sound sexy.
He most definitely had a gift.
Ivy got the impression he didn’t realize how attractive he was or how genuine he came across.Or that his physical presence offered comfort she knew better than to allow.
“I’ll set a boundary around the strip mall so that I’ll be notified if the phone leaves the area.”His fingers danced on the keyboard.
“I’m impressed,” she said.“I should’ve done the same thing to my phone before Clay tossed it out the window.At least I tried to use voice activation to call the cops.It almost worked.”
“I’m guessing that’s when they chucked it out the window.”
“That would be correct.”She stared at the screen.The location he was talking about was an abandoned strip mall.Photos of the mall showed waist-high weeds growing from the cracked concrete of the parking lot.The area looked like it had been deserted for years.A rusted bull stood on top of an equally weather-worn sign that had probably announced the stores at this location at one time.“Looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time.”
Beau nodded.“Someone with computer skills could manipulate this location.They might’ve discovered the phone.They could be trying to throw us off the scent, or we could walk into a trap.”
Ivy issued a sharp sigh.“Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would want my father.You have this…” She waved her hand around.“Or at least part of it.I can see where someone might want to abduct your mother for ransom.”She frowned.“Not that I’m saying that’s okay by any means—it’s not.
“Except there’s been no mention of money, and no one has reached out to me.”
She sat up and rubbed her temples.“You’re right.They must think I know something or my father does, and they wanted to…maybe torture me in front of him to get him to talk.”She couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth as possibilities.“This all sounds like something that would happen on TV, not in real life.”
Beau reached over and took her hand in his.It felt like the most natural thing for him to touch her.The electrical current exploding through her nervous system was a familiar comfort now.Attraction was one of those logic-defying things.So was love, which explained why Ivy had always been so bad at it.
This—whatever was happening between them—was nothing more than trauma bonding.They were literally the only two people in the world who could understand what the other person was going through right now.Ivy’s last relationship had been similar.She’d lost her mother, her brother, and her father in many ways.Her next-door neighbor had been suffering the loss of his wife and child after both had died during the birth.For six months, they’d had a push-pull relationship with highs and lows that had nearly crushed her.Ivy hadn’t experienced anything that intense since she was fifteen and had her first boyfriend.At the time, she hadn’t realized she’d been trying to fill the void left by her losses.Her emotions, as well as her neighbor’s, had been all over the place, shifting between anger and depression.
Seeking love and acceptance from outside, she’d gotten involved with the wrong guy.At the time, he hadn’t appeared to be a risk.He’d been into her.Said he never thought a girl like her would ever talk to him, let alone be his girlfriend.She’d basked in the attention, even though it had been the wrong kind.
Ivy pulled her hand away from Beau’s.There was no need to repeat the same mistake a third time.Relationships that started during or after a recent trauma didn’t work.They were built on a termite-infested foundation, and it was only a matter of time before the pests ate their way through, causing the whole thing to collapse.
Beau cocked an eyebrow, clearly confused at the sudden change in her demeanor.
“I just think it’s best if we don’t rely on each other too heavily right now,” she said to him.“You seem like a great person, but—”
“Save the ‘It’s me and not you’ speech,” he said, his tone sharp.“I was only trying to offer comfort when it seemed like you could use some.”
Had she hurt his feelings?
Of course, she had.That was a stupid question.The man had clearly been trying to be nice, and she’d let her past mistakes color his kind gesture.Would he understand if she explained?
“I’d apologize, but I think it’s good for both of us to be clear about the reason we’re together right now,” she said, trying not to let emotion take the wheel.Her emotions begged her to trust him.Hell, to trust anyone.She’d been burned too many times to fall for that trick again—the one that said she had the slightest clue about who wouldn’t take advantage.Logic told her to protect her heart at all costs because the pain that followed a trauma-bond relationship made you rethink who you were at the most basic level.
Ivy reminded herself to unclench her teeth.She took in a slow breath and then released it.
She didn’t need a complication like that when life had turned around for her father, and they’d been doing so well.
