Zach sighed, the sound almost one of defeat. “I understand, Emma. I do. But right now, your protection comes first. I will try to give you more time out with others, though.”
She’d take it. For now.
Sneakers on, she practically ran out the door. The evening air brushed her skin like a benediction.
She breathed it in—salt and flowers, and the green fragrance of tropical plants settling into night. The tension in her shoulders eased fractionally as she walked down the cottage steps, Zach a silent sentinel behind her. Above them, the sky was performing its nightly masterpiece, streaks of coral and amber bleeding into deepening blue.
Beautiful. God, it was beautiful.
She’d almost forgotten.
They strolled in silence toward the beach, their footfalls soft on the crushed shell path. Zach moved half a step ahead, his body angled to put himself between her and… everything, apparently. His eyes scanned, cataloged, assessed. Shadows lengthening under the palms. Birds rustling in the trees.
His hand hovered near his knife.
He was doing his job. This hypervigilance, this warrior’s discipline, was what made him so good at keeping people safe. He had kept his brothers safe, his unit safe through situations she couldn’t imagine.
She hated that part of her still felt safer because of it. Hated that even as angry, frustrated,hurtas she was by how completely he now shut her out—some deep, animal part of her brain relaxed in his presence. Trusted him.
The contradiction made her want to scream.
They reached the beach, where the last rays of sunlight painted the sand gold. Waves whispered against the shore in their eternal rhythm. Under other circumstances, it would have been romantic. The sunset, the beach, the gorgeous man beside her.
Instead, it cut like walking through broken glass.
“Did David figure out the electrical problem?” The words came out stiff, forced—an absurd offering of normalcy given the weight of everything unsaid.
“Working on it.” Zach’s response was clipped, his attention on the tree line.
Emma tried again. “When does he think it’ll be resolved?”
“Soon.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the ground, watching the sand shift beneath her feet. The silence between them was worse than the stilted conversation, heavy with memories of the previous night. With accusations and confessions, with memories of the way he’d touched her like she was precious before walking away like she was poison.
Before they’d both said things they shouldn’t have.
“You can’t avoid me forever,” she said.
Zach’s stride didn’t falter. “I’m not avoiding you. I’m right here.”
Emma pursed her lips and focused on small things: the cry of a distant gull, the rustle of palm fronds, the way the water gleamed like liquid copper under the setting sun. Anything to avoid thinking about the man beside her, about the scent of mahogany and lavender she’d memorized without meaning to. About how his shoulders carried tension like armor, and she wanted to smooth it away even as her hands itched to hit him for being so stubborn.
“You know what I mean. You can’t pretend we’re strangers any longer.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
Ice-cold eyes slanted her way, noting her motion before returning to their endless scanning. “Don’t blow things out of proportion.”
The salt air sat bitter on her tongue as her lungs constricted. “Really? That's your answer? Since I found that note, you've insisted on protecting me yourself, moved me into your own home. Now, after last night, you can't stand to be within ten feet of me! You won't even hold a simple business conversation withme. Is this how it's going to be now? Should I write off ever being able to work with you?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. For a long moment, she thought he wouldn’t respond.
“I can’t be what you need. This is easier,” he said quietly.
His words hit like a punch to her gut. She hunched her shoulders and swallowed hard, her eyes burning with tears she refused to let fall.
“For whom?” She whispered.
He didn’t answer. Didn’t need to. She already knew.
