“Who?” her father asked.
“His name is Noah, and he’s—”
“Your boss?”
She cringed against her mother’s sharp question. “Yes.”
“The Marine,” her father added. “How old is he?”
“Thirty-five.”
There was a sharp gasp from her mother.
Okay, this conversation was not going the way it should. “Look, I know I’ve just given you a lot of information. The short version is this: someone has sent a couple of texts telling me to get out of town. The sheriff is aware. I’m staying at Noah’s house, and he has a great security system. Yes, I almost got hurt yesterday, but Noah got me out of the situation without so much as a scratch.”
“Darling.” Her mother was crying, or at least on the verge of it. “Please come home.”
She swallowed hard, closing her eyes. It hurt to say no. But she couldn’t give up this life. “I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t. I’m building a life here. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’mbeing smart, and I have really good guys looking out for me.” She glanced back at her laptop. “I have to go because I’m working, but I’ll call again tomorrow, okay?”
They didn’t sound happy, but finally her parents let her go.
Guilt swirled in her belly. She hated feeling like she was disappointing them. And more than that, her mother was a worrier. They were getting old, and she didn’t want to stress them out.
But she liked the life she was creating here. She couldn’t let some random person scare her away. She felt safe with Noah. Besides, she needed to get to the bottom of what the heck was going on. If she left and the threats stopped, she’d never know.
She looked back at her screen, and if it was possible, she felt evenlessmotivated than she had before the call.
What she needed was one of Mrs. Gerald’s frosted chocolate creams from The Tea House. And maybe pie. Yes, pie was the fixer of all problems.
She snapped the laptop shut.
The second she stepped outside, her eyes scanned the street and her fingers hovered inside her bag, where her can of pepper spray sat. Quickly, she crossed to her car, breathing a sigh of relief when she dropped inside and locked the doors.
Maybe she didn’t have a reason to be scared anymore. Maybe Jesse was questioning Rhett right now, Rhett was confessing to everything, and she was about to get a call that she was safe.
Ha. When did things work out that smoothly? Plus, Rhett didn’t seem the type to just confess to attempted murder or whatever it was he’d done yesterday.
When she reached The Tea House, she’d just climbed out when her phone rang, Noah’s name on the screen.
Her cheeks heated at the sight of his name. At the memory of what they’d done last night. Then this morning, waking up naked in his arms.
How was she supposed to leave him and them and what they were creating?
She wasn’t.
She answered as she crossed the parking lot. “Hey.”
“Hey.” There was a small pause. “You’re outside?”
“I’m about to step inside The Tea House to get a drink and some pie.”
Noah cursed. “You shouldn’t be alone. I could have come with you. I’m just around the corner. I’ll be there in less than a minute.”
“I don’t intend to stay long. I—” She stopped just inside The Tea House.Oh no. “Rhett.” His name was a whisper on her lips. He stood by the counter, but even from behind she recognized him.
“Rhett’sthere?” Noah growled.
Rhett turned, and the second he saw her, his eyes narrowed.
