“It is my fault. I thought I loved him, and as we got closer to the wedding, I began to question myself. Something just seemed off. I didn’t say anything to anyone because I thought I was just getting cold feet, and my parents loved him. Everyone loved him. Honestly, I felt a little bound by everyone else’s feelings and the idea of getting married. Then, when he dumped me. I was angry. Why, I’m not sure, because he gave me the out that I wanted. What a blessing being dumped turned out to be. As a trained observer, you must think I’m stupid for falling for a guy like Jonathan and not seeing his true colors.”
Cap shifted from foot to foot and crossed his thick arms over his chest. His facial muscles tightened, and a blood vessel swelled on his right temple and ticked. Too much reaction for a story that wasn’t his.
What had she said that put him on the defensive? Her cheeks warmed. She’d revealed too much of her personal information to this man she hardly knew. She should have realized that when she was doing it. Somehow, the words kept pouring out of her mouth as if they were old friends, which they were not and probably never would be. They were two very different people. She shot her gaze around the room. Two different people with very different likes.
“I’m sorry for dumping all this on you. I shouldn’t have. And I’m very sorry you got involved in this mess. I should have just gone home with Morgan and Hailey.”
“No! You shouldn’t think that. I don’t think you are stupid at all. People like him know how to manipulate others. It’s not right, but they don’t care.”
His quick and firm response startled her.
“And going home wouldn’t be a good idea. I suspect you’ll hear from the drug dealers, and we’ll need to deal with them. You can’t do it alone. It’s too dangerous.”
“Here you left that stressful job, and I dragged you right back into it.”
“No worries. I miss it sometimes. The work.”
“I bet you were good at it.”
The tension in his body seemed to dissolve, and his mouth lifted into a smile.
“I’ll show you to your room,” he said as he gestured for her to follow him. Letting her know he was finished with this conversation.
He led her down a narrow hall and stopped at the first door on the left.
“Here’s the bathroom.”
He took a couple of steps and entered the room on the right.
“You can stay in here.”
The room held a queen-sized log bed covered in a quilt with a bear picture on it. Shams in perfect place with a couple of matching throw pillows. The curtains matched the quilt. A tall chest of drawers was on the opposite wall from the bed. The walls were bare except for a large rectangular mirror with a wood frame.
“Looks nice. Thank you.”
“Down the hall to the left is an office, and my bedroom is the door at the end of the hall.”
She nodded.
“So, you’ll be okay?” he asked.
Would she? She didn’t feel okay, but the circumstances were what they were, and she knew Cap’s home was probably the safest place she could be right now.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.”
A spark flashed in his irises. Was that a blush that rose on his cheeks? He hesitated as if there was something else he wanted to say, but then thought better of it.
He spun and left the room.
* * *
Cap’s face burned. For chrissake, he was a sucker for a woman in distress. It wouldn’t be so bad, but the beat-down look in Emma’s gaze practically caused him to pull her into his arms and assure her everything would be okay. Unfortunately, the men they were dealing with could make that assurance a full-blown lie. He was on edge and probably wouldn’t sleep a wink between the danger and the mere fact she was in the room next to him. She had awakened a set of feelings he no longer felt capable of. Not since his own engagement imploded five years earlier. His ex and best friend’s betrayal had carved permanent hurt and awareness into him to the point he vowed to trust no one on that level again, except for family.
He recalled Emma’s comment about being a trained observer. The context nearly made him laugh. Some trained observer he was. Love made fools of everyone.
He stripped down to his boxers and slipped between the sheets of his large bed; the coolness of them was refreshing, but even with his body as exhausted as it felt, his mind buzzed, preventing him from sleep.
