by Taylor Hart
Nick saw the house coming into view, illuminated by yard lights. It was on a couple of acres, so they would have complete privacy.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered, putting a hand to her mouth. “That’s huge.”
Nick slowed and swiped a card in front of the digital security detector. As the gate unlocked and swung back, he pulled into the driveway. “Yeah. It’s flashy. Luke likes flashy.”
They got to the garage and Nick got out to put in the code, which opened the door. He drove the Jeep inside and shut it off, turning to her. “Home sweet home.”
She looked at him doubtfully.
Gingerly, he took her hand. “Since we’re engaged, we could just pretend it’s a real vacation.”
“I don’t think we need the ‘cover’ of engaged, do you? No one knows us here.”
He kind of liked the cover, though. “Can’t be too careful. Let’s just keep it so we don’t have to come up with a story every time we talk to people.”
Looking hesitant, she shrugged.
“What? I’m not good enough to be your fiancé?”
She held his eyes for a second, then rolled hers. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
From her previous comments about herself, she had complicated issues going on. He played it cool. “Well, too bad, guess people will just have to think I’m marrying up.”
She shook her head. “Whatever.”
“Don’t worry. You just have to put up with me for a couple of days, right?” He could tell she was kind of nervous.
“Are you sure it’s safe? I mean …”
“I don’t think there is any possible way your ex could find you here, but I’ll tell you what. Let’s get you settled, then I’ll do a perimeter check.” Nick went to the back of the Jeep and grabbed both his pack and hers.
“I can carry mine.”
He shook his head. “One thing both my parents drilled into me and my brothers was how to treat a lady.”
“But this isn’t …”
He put his hand up. “I would do it even if you were my grandma, so let’s go.”
They climbed up the steps and walked into the house. Nick flipped on the lights, and he was again impressed with the home. There were huge windows that opened up the whole kitchen and living room area.
“Wow.” She drifted into the kitchen and looked out the windows. “It’s kind of like Frank’s view on steroids.”
It was pretty dark, but the moon was out and there was a soft hue over the mountains in the distance. The ranchland here was like being back home. “It’s nice. But you know what I think both of us need?”
“What?”
“Food and a soak in the hot tub.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “We need that?”
“Hey, I’m sore from building schools all week. I could use it.” Sure, he soaked in Luke’s hot tub whenever he wanted, but things had changed since Luke and Savannah had married. He didn’t like to impose on the newlyweds. Plus, installing his own hot tub would happen soon enough.
She shrugged. “That would actually be great, but I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“Oh.” Shoot, he hadn’t thought of that. He never cared if he had a suit or not, because he’d just soak in his underwear if he had to. He frowned and looked at her small bag. Luke didn’t have this house stocked like he had stocked the other one when he was a bachelor, with a billion swimsuits for beautiful women. “Would you be able to use a pair of shorts and T-shirt? I was thinking we could go get you some clothes tomorrow anyway.”
Her eyes darted around.
“No one knows we’re here. You don’t have to worry.”
She let out a breath. “Okay.”
“Great.” Nick beamed. This didn’t feel like protection work at all, which was a bonus. “Let me show you around, and then we’ll soak.”
“I’ll call Frank and let him know we’re okay,” she said.
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 8
Ava stood in the bedroom where she was staying, decorated in a red and white theme with pictures set in elegant silver frames. The bedroom had a black king-size four-poster bed and a separate sitting area, not to mention the huge bathroom. How had this suddenly become her life? Hiding from her ex in a mansion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? It made her feel like she was in a movie.
Not that she was a stranger to wealth. Part of the reason she’d been sucked into Hal’s trap was his wealth. She wasn’t proud of that fact, but when they were dating, it was nice to view the future of her life as being able to have things, do things. Her gut soured. There had never really been a time to enjoy the comforts of life with Hal.
Trying to clear her head, she went to the window and saw the cultivated garden on the grounds. She saw a small house a little ways back from the property, where the caretakers lived. Nick said it was an older couple who Luke had told not to worry about the house for the next week.
It felt surreal. Her thoughts went to her small, lonely apartment next to the hospital. Her life had been so lonely since she’d divorced Hal. She hadn’t felt like she could invite anyone into this chaotic life. It’d consumed her.
And here … She grasped her shaky hands together, commanding them to be still, and sucked in a breath. A beginning. Yes. Even though she knew it was only five days, being somewhere Hal couldn’t get to her gave her immense relief.
She reminded herself that there would be no way Hal would know where she was. He might have figured out Park City, but there would be no way he could have figured out a jet and a million-dollar mansion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
No way. At least, she was pretty sure.
She unbraided her hair, then reached into her bag and took out a T-shirt and some shorts. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Getting into a hot tub, even with shorts and a T-shirt on, felt somewhat intimate to her. Especially with this man, who she was starting to really like.
As a friend. That’s all it could be, even if it could be that, right? There was no way she could start a relationship at this point and bring someone into her nightmare.
Although Nick had kind of brought himself into it, hadn’t he? No, strike that—he was doing it for Frank.
She found herself smiling, thinking about the comfortable way Nick approached life. Sure, he was always watching—he was a cop. But she could tell there was a goodness to him, and he liked to tease and joke. It was nice to be around someone like that.
Then she thought of the mysterious case. She wanted to know the details more than she probably should. After all, it would only be five days. Get through the anniversary, then get her old life back.
Then again, her old life suddenly didn’t seem so appealing.
Ten minutes later she opened the sliding glass door and moved out into the night air. Even though it was summer, it was definitely cooler in Jackson than it had been in Georgia.
Her eyes were drawn to Nick in the hot tub as he flashed her a grin. “Got pizza. It’s from a great place. And the suds are nice.”
Tentatively, she moved toward the hot tub. Nick didn’t have a shirt on and she tried not to look at him, but he was tan and built. Very built. She’d known he was fit and everything even with his shirt on, but now …
“That’s all right, you can ogle me.”
She choked on an embarrassed laugh and held to the rail as she slipped into the steaming water. It unnerved her how handsome he was. Taking it slowly, she descended.
Nick grinned, his chocolate-brown eyes happy, his hair slicked back with water. Man, he looked like a male model. Her heart pitter-pattered, like it was a first date. Which it wasn’t, she reminded herself, plus she wasn’t his type. She sighed. What was his type?
He reached into the pizza box and offered her a slice.
She had settled a ways away from him and had to stand to get the pizza. “Thank you.” Sitting back, she took a bite. And he was right. It was heavenly. She tried not to look at him and his good abs.
“Good, huh?”
/> She smiled and chewed. Pepperoni. It was her favorite.
Nick picked up a bottle of water and held it out to her. “You know you could scoot a tiny bit closer. Then we wouldn’t have to talk so loud.”
Taking a chance, she came closer to him and sat, leaving some water between them. After a couple of bites, she relaxed and set the piece down on a napkin to take a drink.
Nick was staring at her. Trying not to stare back, she let herself drop down into the water.
“Should we talk?” Nick asked.
“About what?”
He swallowed, and she wondered if he was a bit nervous, too. “I don’t know, we could get to know each other.”
“Why?” Part of her was serious, and maybe part of her was afraid.
He scoffed. “Well, never mind then.”
After a few moments, she said “So what do you like about being a cop?”
“Ah, ah, ah—this is beginning to seem like you are asking get-to-know-you questions.”
“Okay, you’re right. This is your vacation you’re taking; I can be cordial. We can get to know each other as friends.” She let out a derisive laugh. “I always need those. In fact, you could be my only one at the moment.”
“Hey, that’s what fiancés are for.”
“You really want to go with the fiancé cover?”
He measured her with his eyes. “Yeah, I do. It’s uncomplicated. It makes things easy to explain.”
“You didn’t seem to think so yesterday.” She said the words before she could stop herself. She hadn’t been offended when he hadn’t wanted to be her fiancé, but looking back …
Nick grunted. “You’re right. But I think it’s a good idea now. I have a fiancée.” He said the last word with a French accent, then lifted an eyebrow when she smiled. “Oh, there it is again.”
Trying to deflect the attention, she asked the question she’d been wondering about. “Well, if I’m your fiancée, maybe you could enlighten me about this case that ticks you off every time Frank brings it up.”
Every part of him tensed, and she could tell he was forcing himself to relax.
“That bad?” She put the rest of her pizza down and leaned back into the water.
His jaw tightened, and he turned away from her, taking a sip of water.
It was strange to see him shut down. Obviously, he’d been through his own trauma. “Okay, let’s talk about something else. What do you like about being a cop? I mean, besides the fact you get to help people.”
Inhaling deeply, he managed a dopey grin. “Ya know, I think the best thing about being a cop is getting to carry a gun.”
She nodded, content to open up to him. “I actually started carrying a gun in my purse this past year.” Saying it led her to remembering why, and she grew somber.
“Nope, you shouldn’t talk about that. This should be a vacation from your ex stalker problem,” he insisted.
“But that’s why we’re sitting here in the hot tub, isn’t it? Because of him?”
“Too bad.” He waved a hand in the air in dismissal. “We’re not talking about him.”
She smiled. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
They fell into a more companionable silence.
“How was Frank when you spoke to him earlier?” Nick asked.
“Good,” she said, taking a bite and chewing. There wasn’t much to report.
“Good.”
Quietly, she asked, “How did your mom die?”
He chugged the rest of his water, then collapsed the bottle noisily between his hands, throwing it onto the side of the hot tub. “You’re determined to talk about sad stuff, huh?”
“Guess so.”
“Cancer. Two-year struggle with breast cancer.” His eyes shifted to the bubbles, and he swatted them back and forth. “We were tight. I mean, my brothers tease me I was the mama’s boy, but I was. Plus, I was young. Twelve. Just kind of becoming a man. I was scared when she died.” He looked up at her. “But looking back, I think everything I went through made me stronger. It made me realize that God has a plan for my life.”
“I grew up believing in God,” she said.
“Did you?”
“Yep, Catholic.”
Putting his hand to his chest, he declared, “I think I just fell in love with you.”
That made her smile. She seemed to smile a lot around him. “When my parents died in the car crash, I got closer to God. I confessed. I studied. I felt close to him, but the past few years it’s like God went silent on me.”
Nick’s face sobered.
For the first time in a long, long time, she felt herself actually connecting with someone. “Hal was nondenominational, so we were just married outside. I always wanted be married in the church, ya know? To give my family a foundation. But I just let everything go. Now I just wonder when I let it happen … when I let myself get erased.”
He wagged his finger at her. “No stalker talk.”
Humming in consent, she breathed in the steam and closed her eyes. “I think I could fall asleep in here.”
“I know what you mean.” For a couple of minutes they both just let the water take them away. “Don’t open your eyes,” he eventually said, and she opened them to see him sitting up. “I said don’t.”
She closed them, struggling to contain a smile.
“I want you to think of a happy place. Maybe even as a kid, before life crap got in the way.”
“Is this a visualization exercise?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you my therapist?”
“Definitely not good with stuff like that. Just do it.”
Forcing herself to relax, she thought of being at the Triple K, looking up at the stars with Katie at night, lying on the cool grass. “Am I supposed to tell you?”
“If you want.”
She hesitated.
“C’mon, you want to tell me.” He grabbed her hand.“Trust. Ava, I want you to learn you can trust people again. Trust me.”
His hand felt sure and strong and she wanted to trust this man, but she was scared.
“Now, what would you do if you could do anything? What is your dream?"
Silence.
"Ava?"
“Fly.”
He hesitated.
She turned to him. “That’s impossible, right?”
He let out another soft laugh. “No.”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No,” he said, putting his hand up. “I just … I was thinking you would think of being a ballerina or something. The exercise was to point out how we had dreams once. But flying is good.”
When he smiled, she noticed the scar crinkling at the corner of his eye.
“What?” Nick put his hand where she was looking.
She slid across the hot tub and gently reached up, touching the small scar. “Where did you get that?”
Nick took her hand into his, sending tingles up her arm. “A fight.”
She felt the calluses on his hand and thought of how good he was. To get away from his problems, he’d gone to Ecuador to build houses. “A fight?”
“On a call to one of the bars in town, a guy clocked me with a bottle.”
“Really?” She hadn’t thought about how dangerous his job could be. “Who did you shoot on your last case?”
“What?” He stiffened.
“Sheriff Kantrell said you had to shoot somebody on your last undercover. Who was that?”
Nick stared at her, his smile gone. “We should probably get some sleep—been a long day.”
“Okay.”
They both got out. Nick covered the top and turned off the bubbles.
She waited, wrapping a towel around her, until Nick picked up the other towel and dried his hair. “Well, good night.” At a loss for something else to say, she started toward the house.
“Ava.” He turned to face her. “You’re not the only one who feels broken sometimes.” He shrugged. “I’m dealing with it, but I don’t want
to talk about it.”
His hair and model body gleamed in the moonlight, but she felt so much more for him. She covered her emotion behind a smile. “Hey, you don’t have to explain to me. And … thank you. For everything. I’ll never be able to pay you back.”
Waving a hand into the air, he said, “You can pay me back by letting me and my fiancée have a vacation this week.”
It shouldn’t have made her happy and excited, the way he kept calling her his fiancée, but she wouldn’t lie to herself—she liked it.
Chapter 9
Nick was up early. Even though he’d ended the night early, he hadn’t been able to sleep well, too busy listening for sounds. In the middle of the night, he’d taken his gun and done a perimeter sweep, wondering if they were letting their guard down because they didn’t think Hal would catch them. Then, he had moved to the floor outside of her room, taking a pillow and trying to get some rest. He’d thought it would be okay to sleep in separate rooms, because the threat was low, but something wouldn’t let him sleep.
Nick changed into his workout clothes and pumped out some push-ups in the living room, then went into a series of sit-ups, leg throws, up-downs, and other drills. It wasn’t in his nature to be still. He really needed a run. He would have to go down to the workout room, even though he would really love to go outside.
He heard the door to her room open, and he waited. When she appeared in shorts, tights, and running shoes, he knew he was falling in something with her.
“Would you care if I went for a run? I just need to run.”
Taking the keys off the counter, he headed for the door. “You’re speaking my language.”
Five minutes into the run, he was impressed she could keep pace.
“You’re fast,” he commented as they ran a biking trail next to the house.
She nodded. “Running is the only thing that kept me sane the past couple of years.”
He thought about her life, and curiosity drove him to learn more. “So tell me about Hal.”
“I thought talking about the ex stalker wasn’t allowed. Vacay.” She smiled at him.