“I’ve already told you, we both have stuff going on.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“What stuff do you have going on?”
There was no way in hell he was telling her about Monty. Not while she was dealing with so much. “Even your brother warned me not to do anything that would ruin everything.”
Bonnie frowned. “My brother? When did you talk to him?”
“He was waiting for me this morning. He wanted to make sure I was a good guy. That I wasn’t going to screw this up.” And here he was, doing exactly that.
Bonnie’s jaw dropped.Or maybe it completely hit the floor, she wasn’t sure. Because last she checked, she was a thirty-one-year-old woman whodid notneed her protective older brother vetting the guys she was dating…or wanting to date.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Let me walk you out.”
“Actually, I do know what to say. He had no right to talk to you about me. But I’ll deal with him later.” She jumped off the desk and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You, on theother hand, should know that what you and I do is none of his business.”
Something passed over his face. Something that told her Zane didn’t actually care what her brother said.
“But you already know that, don’t you?” she continued. “What are you not telling me?”
His lips sealed shut. He was never going to tell her.
“I’m going to walk you out now, Bonnie.”
That was it. He’d made a decision, and she just got no say in it. “You know what? Don’t. I’m an adult. I have pepper spray in my bag. I don’t need you doing me any favors.”
Zane glanced over his shoulder to the hall at the back of the gym.
Great. He wasn’t even listening to what she was saying anymore.
“I’ll see you later.” She turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm. “Hey, I—”
His hand came over her mouth, his body suddenly pressed to her back. Then his whispered voice was in her ear. “Shh. There’s someone in the gym.”
Her heart stopped, fear wrapping around her chest like clingwrap.
The lights suddenly flicked off—and then she couldn’t breathe. Someone was here. And that someone had plunged the gym into darkness.
Oh, God.
Zane’s mouth lowered to her ear again. “Stay behind me.”
His hand shifted from her mouth to her wrist, and he tugged her toward his bag. She expected him to pull out his phone, maybe use the flashlight function. It had gotten pretty dark outside, which made it even darker in here.
He didn’t take out either of those things.
It took her a second to realize he held a gun.
“Come on,” he whispered.
Hand still in his, they moved toward the back of the gym. When they stepped into the hall, the darkness surrounded them, making it hard to see. She inched closer, the heat of Zane’s back radiating onto her.
Safe. She was safe with Zane. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that.
They passed a few closed doors. At the end of the hall by a back door, Zane stopped at the circuit breaker. He cursed before flicking a switch.
Light flooded the gym, making her blink.
