“I am so sorry,” Reagan whispered.
“It’s okay,” I assured them. Itwasn’t, but I’d never been very good in the face of useless platitudes. I knew they meant well, but this thing that had happened to me was a very insular experience. I’d worked hard to overcome it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still cling to me. “After that, I couldn’t bear to be touched. All Lane wanted to do was help, to hold me and comfort me, and I just couldn’t deal. So I pushed him away.”
“Explains so much,” Aspen murmured. “There’s always been that weird tension between you two. For a long time, I really thought you hated each other. But when I heard about his shooting, some things started making more sense.”
“I was out of my mind,” I admitted. “I have no idea how he’s still alive.”
“Crew said you were incredible. Completely in control.”
“Then I’m a good actress,” I said, choking on a laugh, “because inside I wasscreaming.”
“Lane doesn’t just let people into his personal space,” Aspen said. “You probably know that better than anyone. But he didn’t bat an eye at you staying with him after your break-in. Why do you think that is?”
“He feels bad for me?”
Aspen swatted at me. “Don’t be crazy. Youknowit’s a lot more than that.”
Could she be right? Could Lane want more?
Could Lane want the same things I did?
I had a lot to think about, so Aspen, Reagan, and I decided to rejoin the party. They walked ahead of me into the barn, but a voice calling my name pulled me up short in the entrance.
Addie.
“Hey, Sutton. Got a sec?”
“Sure.” I had a bad feeling I knew exactly what the topic of this conversation would be, and in that moment, I would rather have been anywhere else.
She shifted her position, angled us so her back was to the barn, and started speaking.
“I know you’re staying with Lane, and I’m sorry about your house, but I hope you’re not getting any ideas.”
I raised a brow. “Ideas about…?”
She gave me a patronizing smile. “You and him.”
“What kind of ideas would those be, exactly? He’s doing me a favor.”
I didn’t owe this woman anything, and I wasn’t about to engage in a pissing contest with her over Lane. She wasn’t entitled toanythingfrom me.
“And don’t you forget it. Lane and I are meant for each other.”
An unattractive snort left me. “If you say so.”
Addie took a step closer until we were toe to toe. This close to her, it was difficult to ignore the similarities between us. Long brown hair, pale skin, roughly the same height, though I noted she had maybe an inch on me. Both of us were athletically built thanks to the physical demands of our jobs. But where my eyes were amber, hers were a blue so dark they almost looked purple in the fading light of the day.
“Stay away from him, Sutton. You won’t like what happens if you don’t.”
Before I could mount a retort, an arm slung across my shoulders and tugged me back a step.
“Ladies,” Trey said, affecting that laissez-faire attitude he’d long ago perfected. “Problem?”
I forgot, sometimes, that he’d spent nearly a decade in the Secret Service, protecting a former president. That he was as adept as Lane or Aspen, or hell, the twins, who had both been Army Rangers, at reading a room and assessing any potential threats.
I’d never been more grateful to see him in my life.
“Not at all,” Addie said sweetly. “Just girl talk.”
