She looked down at her feet and moved closer to Sherlock. “What would I do without you?”
Gabe’s frown deepened. “You’d be working in your cottage, not worried about a stalker.”
Natalie tilted her head to one side. She stepped toward him, raised her hand and gently cupped his jaw. “But then I wouldn’t have met you or Sherlock.”
Gabe’s heart pounded. There was so much he wanted to say, but he couldn’t find the words. Since Michelle had died, he’d locked his heart away, too scared to let anyone close. Natalie had changed him in ways that even he didn’t understand.
Her hand left his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. We’d better see where Caleb has gone.”
Gabe reached for her hand. “It’s not what you think. I’m—”
“Found it!” Caleb’s voice cut through the emotion clogging Gabe’s throat.
Without waiting for him, Natalie rushed along the trail, her backpack bouncing against her jacket.
Gabe touched his jaw and tried to remember why a relationship between them wouldn’t work. But all he could think about was the softness of Natalie’s skin and the way his heart was pounding.
Sherlock appeared from farther up the trail.
Gabe adjusted his backpack and kept walking. Regardless of what Natalie thought about him, they were here for a reason. And for now, that reason had absolutely nothing to do with happily ever after.
