“You never cooked for me.”
She shrugged again. “It didn’t fit the ambitious, hardworking-businesswoman-by-day, sex-siren-by-night image you wanted to believe.”
“You mean that you wanted me to believe.”
“Don’t blame me for your unrealistic fantasies. Do you think women like that really exist other than in porn movies?”
He tossed the rest of the muffin in the sink. His gaze was as hard as onyx. “You faked it well. You could make millions on the Internet when you get out.”
She flushed, ignoring the jab at prison—and at porn. Of course he missed the point. “That wasn’t what I was faking.”
No one could fake that kind of passion. But just thinking about what they’d had—what they’d shared—made her feel like crying. The cold, professional way he’d touched her earlier had been horrible. It reminded her of all that she’d lost.
Her cheeks still heated when she thought of the humiliating way her body had responded. He was patting her down like a prisoner, but she was so desperate for his touch that her body had jumped into full sex mode.
She’d gotten Scott back, but he wasn’t her Scott. He was essentially a stranger. A stranger who didn’t smile, joke, or look at her lovingly. A stranger with ice-cold eyes and an unyielding, granite-hard expression. A stranger who hated her.
Ironically, it wasn’t until she’d seen the hatred that she realized how much he must have cared for her. Scott was so good at hiding his emotions—at keeping his thoughts to himself—that she’d never been sure.
Their eyes held for one long heartbeat. She thought he wanted to say something, but he let the subject go.
She was too exhausted to try to press. It was clear he wasn’t going to believe anything she said. She knew it would be like this, but it still hurt.
She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow with him sitting in the chair opposite her bed, watching her like a hawk. A giant hawk who filled the whole room with his presence.
Scott’s size had been something she’d had to get used to. She didn’t like overwhelming men, and he certainly fit the bill—big-time. He was six feet three inches of solid muscle. Broad shoulders, washboard stomach, powerful arms. Basically the type of physically imposing guy she avoided.
But rather than threaten her there was something about his size and strength that made her feel safe and protected. He’d become her rock in a world that had been turned upside down by Mick. A world that had become dark, tumultuous, and scary. Scott was something solid and steady to hold on to. When they were together it felt as if nothing could harm her. Lying on his chest andwrapped in his arms, she could forget Mick and the nightmare her life had become.
And after months of running, having him here watching over her—even in these horrible circumstances—allowed her to relax enough to sleep solidly for the first time since Jennifer had been killed.
She’d let him wake her up twice before putting her plan into action. She was counting on the glass of water he had next to him to do its job.
After he’d woken her up the second time, she didn’t go back to sleep. She only pretended to while she waited. And waited. While trying to ignore the pressure in her head that seemed to be getting worse.
She’d almost given up hope. Had he changed biorhythms in three months and gone earlier while she’d been sleeping? He always got up to go to the bathroom when the sun came up.
It was just after dawn when her patience and faking-asleep abilities were rewarded. He quietly stood from the chair and slipped out of the room into the hallway. She waited until the light went on in the bathroom to make her move.
If she’d ever held out any hope that she could turn to him, she didn’t anymore. From the first moment she’d seen his face, she’d known that leaving was her only option. Any feelings he’d once had for her were gone. She’d betrayed him, and he wasn’t going to forgive, forget, or even try to understand. He didn’t even want to hear her explanation—or that she loved him.
None of which surprised her. It was why she hadn’t gone to him for help in the first place. She knew him too well. Scott held himself and those around him to a very strict code. It was one of the things that made him such a good leader, and one of the reasons she loved him so much. His moral compass only went in one direction. Hewouldn’t understand her betrayal no matter how well motivated. To Scott, honor and integrity would always win out over treachery.
Doing the right thing always seemed so easy for him. Scott pushed himself and those around him to be their best, like the old army “be all you can be” slogan. Rules, honor, personal integrity, discipline, loyalty... as long as you adhered to those principles you were fine, but he had no use for people who didn’t. For proof of that, all she needed to do was think about his biological father.
Ironically, Natalie had been thinking about confiding in Scott until he told her about his fathers—both the man who’d raised him and the man he’d refused to meet even though he was dying of cancer. Scott was intractable on the subject, no matter how much prodding from her or his sister, Kate, whom he’d confided in her about. He had no use for cheaters, and he would never forgive the man who’d cuckolded the man whom he admired above all others.
As overjoyed and relieved as Natalie was to learn that Scott was alive—and having some of her prayers answered—his finding her had put everything she’d done to protect her family in jeopardy. She couldn’t let him take her in. If anyone learned that she was alive, they would come after her again, or worse, punish her by going after her family.
Her love for him had to take a backseat. She had to get away and disappear—this time for good. Staying here and taking her chances with him was not an option. Not when the stakes were so high. Natalie wasn’t going to gamble with her parents’ and sister’s lives, and the only way to keep them safe was for her to stay dead.
Scott wasn’t going to let her do that. Her pregnancy may have made him hesitate, but he believed in the system. He’d take her in and assume he could protect them. But she couldn’t take that chance. Not with her life. Not with their child’s life. And not with her family’s lives.
A tear slipped passed the reins she held on her emotions, and she hastily wiped it away. The raw ache in her chest was not so easily dismissed. It ripped her heart out to leave him, but what other choice did she have? If she’d felt alone before, it was nothing to how she felt now. The worst part was that she couldn’t blame him. He had every right to turn away from her. They were never going to be a happy family, no matter how much she dreamed about it.
Scott hadn’t closed the bedroom or bathroom doors completely so she knew she would have to be silent and quick. Fighting a moment of dizziness and a blast of pain, she slid from the bed. She didn’t bother to put on shoes and went straight for the window, which was partially open due to the heat.
She lifted it a few more inches to slip outside onto the porch roof. She hoped Scott would think she’d gone down the stairs and out the front door.
