But her eyes were the same. They always said what her words didn’t—and right now, they said she was scared.
“Rowan?” He nearly whispered the name.
She froze, appearing just as shocked as he felt. “Wes?”
For a second, the two of them stared at each other.
Time folded in on itself. Suddenly, he was back under the stadium lights, with his helmet tucked under his arm, scanning the sidelines until he found her in the stands. Rowan was there, front row at every game. Then weeks later she’d pulled him into the front row of whatever play she was starring in.
But this woman wasn’t exactly that same girl he’d once loved.
Something else filled her gaze right now, something sharp and fearful.
He took another step closer, trying to reconcile what he was seeing with what he remembered. “What are you doing here?”
“I—” She glanced over her shoulder, back toward the road she’d come from, and she shuddered. “It’s a long story. But I need to go. I . . . I can’t stay here.”
Wes followed her gaze, noting the gravel drive.
His instincts sharpened. Something had happened to spook her like this. “What’s wrong?”
She touched her ear the way she always did when she was nervous. “Nothing. I just took a wrong turn, and?—”
This wasn’t nothing. He knew her well enough to read that. “Rowan . . .”
Something flickered in her expression. “Yes?”
“Did something happen back there?” he asked.
A beat passed. Then she finally nodded with resignation. “I took a wrong turn and ended up on someone’s property. The man there . . . he just made me . . . he made meuneasy.”
Wes’s jaw tightened. “Did he touch you?”
“No.” The answer came fast. “He just . . . wouldn’t let me leave right away.”
Wouldn’t let me leave.
Wes glanced past her at the long stretch of road. He didn’t like the sound of that. In a different life, he might have gone to pay the man a visit. He might have had a stern talk with him.
His attention returned to Rowan instead. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her response came fast. “I’m just tired and not thinking clearly.”
He held her gaze a second longer.
He should let it go. The truth was, Rowan and whatever was happening in her life wasn’t his business—and it hadn’t been for many years.
Not since the day he’d visited her in LA to declare his love and ask her to return home, only for her to reject him. His throat tightened at the memory.
She’d made it clear that their worlds were too different, that they would never work together.
And she’d probably been right. Because he wasn’t going to move to Hollywood, and Rowan had built her life and future there. LA wasn’t his scene—and it never would be.
“What are you doing out here?” His voice came out softer this time.
She blew out a breath. “I’m actually headed to Refuge Cove.”
His eyes widened. “No way. Me too.”
