Page 5 of K-9 Prime Target

“You enjoy the work then. I’m glad.”

“I love the work. And the people I work with.” She brightened. “And I have a dog. A golden retriever, Sky. She’s a trained avalanche rescue dog.” She hesitated, then added, “Do you still have Angel?”

“I do. She’s with me on this trip. You’ll see her tomorrow.” The twenty-pound terrier mix was a deceptively cute gray and white fluff ball who, if she hadn’t literally saved his life, had definitely rescued him from despair.

“I can’t wait to see her again.”

They gave their orders—scampi for him, chicken for her, along with a bottle of pinot grigio.

Drink in hand, Liam leaned back in his chair. “I followed the news after I left Lake Placid. I saw they had arrested your stalker. Why did you disappear after that?” She had stopped answering his texts and calls, quit the ski team and, from what he had been able to discover, cut contact with most of the people she knew. He had been in turns baffled, hurt and angry. But most of all, he had been worried about her.

She looked down, into her wineglass, her lashes lacy against her pale skin. “I panicked. I was terrified.”

“I read that he attacked you.”

“Yes.” She set the wineglass aside. She swallowed, her throat convulsing. He resisted the urge to tell her she didn’t have to give him details. That was up to her to decide. “He stabbed me, but I got away. But even after they arrested him all I wanted was to keep running.” Her eyes met his, shiny with unshed tears. “I didn’t want to be me anymore, to have that life.”

“Or anything to do with that life. Including me.” His throat tightened around the words, but he made himself say them. It had taken a long time for him to accept that truth.

“I’m sorry.” She leaned forward and laid her hand on his. “I wasn’t in any shape to be with someone. I had to work on finding my way back to something like normal.”

Her touch burned him. He wanted to lean into that warmth, but she withdrew her hand, sat back and sipped more wine. “You didn’t deserve to be treated that way. I don’t blame you if you hate me now.”

“I tried to hate you for a while, but I did a lousy job of it.”

She looked away, blinking hard. The server arrived with their plates, and he waited until they were alone again before he said, “I followed the case in the papers. And I kept track of you as best I could. Regardless of what happened, I couldn’t not care about you. Even though you ignored all my attempts to get in touch.”

“I’m sorry. When I finally came out of my fog of fear, I was so ashamed…”

“It’s all right. We won’t mention it again. How are you, really?”

“Before today, I would have said I was doing great. I got some good professional help, eventually, and started to put my life back together. I love my job. I have Sky. And I have a house here—the first home I’ve had since I was a little girl. I love it.”

“But today?”

She shook her head and poked at her meal. “I saw those banners in town and all I could think of was that Nicholson would see them. He would find me. I haven’t had a panic attack like that in a long time. It took me by surprise.”

Aaron Nicholson. Her stalker. “Isn’t he in prison?”

She shook her head. “He was released last month.”

His stomach tightened at this unexpected news. “Has he tried to make contact?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t exactly been hiding. After all, you found me. But I thought if I left ski racing, if I wasn’t in the spotlight so much…”

“You left modeling, too.”

“Leaving that was easy. I was never really comfortable as a model. It was just something to do when I wasn’t skiing.”

“Now you’re worried this marketing campaign will bring you to his attention again. Is he here in Colorado?”

“I don’t know. He was in prison in New York, where the attack occurred, and I heard he had moved in with his mother, in Utah. That’s practically next door.”

“You need to tell Doug and Marlena. Resort security should have Nicholson’s picture and information, along with local law enforcement. I’m sure part of his parole was a stipulation that he stay away from you.”

“You’re right. I should have told them before, but I really wanted to keep all of that in the past.” She sighed. “I’ll make sure they have the information tomorrow.” She cut a bite of chicken and chewed. They ate in silence for a moment, then she said, “You’re kind enough not to point out that for someone who wanted to stay out of the spotlight, I chose the wrong job—representing a whole resort.”

“I’m not going to judge you.”