Naughty Stranger (Dangerous Love 1)

She appeared to fight with herself. Not wanting to admit the truth. “No,” she eventually choked out.

Boone did the one thing that he didn’t have when his world turned upside down. He showed her that she wasn’t alone. “We’re going to find out who did this and why, and I’ll be here right beside you as we do it.”

He didn’t know if it’s what he said or how he said it, but suddenly his chest lightened as she gripped his shirt and sobbed against his chest.

When he drove up to the crash, his world had been spun on his axis.

With her in his arms, everything aligned.

Chapter 10

Peyton melted into the strength of Boone’s hold. She needed nothing else but him. Boone. His name kept repeating in her mind over and over again. Boone. That’s who she thought of when she believed her car was going to crash into the semi and she might die. She hadn’t thought of her parents. Or Adam. Boone had been the only one on her mind.

And with that realization, the remaining guilt about moving no longer mattered. Boone was there. With her.

Silence had once been the enemy, because the silence was when her mind went to dark places. Against Boone, the silence wasn’t as daunting anymore, but the truth ripped her heart out anyway. “I don’t understand any of this,” she said, trying to get a grip on her new reality. “I’ve never had an enemy in my life. Why would someone be trying to hurt me? Because of the shop? Because of this house? Because I sell lingerie?” None of it made any sense.

“We’re going to figure all this out.” Boone pressed his lips against her forehead, a comforting touch she desperately needed. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

The strength in his voice made her believe him. She snorted a ragged laugh. “I have no plans on letting anything happen to me either.”

He smiled against her forehead. “Now that I believe.”

Peyton shut her eyes, reeling in the safety he presented. In a world that seemed to tumble away, Boone stayed. Steady. Strong. She’d been scared, so fearful of taking that step forward without Adam, but she lived when Adam didn’t. And her heart now reached for Boone, for the warmth right in front of her, instead of the love she missed.

Boone drew in a big long breath, lifting his chest before he moved away. “Wine?” he asked, brushing his hand across her cheek.

“A big glass, please.” She forced a smile, not letting this break her. Nothing had broken her yet.

While he left to fetch her drink, she moved to the couch, sitting down and resting her chin on her drawn-up knees. Outside the window, the sun had vanished at some point, the dark sky showing only the shadows of trees. The half-moon glistened against the lake off in the distance.

When Boone returned, he carried a full glass of wine in one hand, along with a glass of scotch on the rocks. He gave her a soft smile. “Full enough?”

“It’s perfect,” she said, accepting the glass of wine. “And I can always go back for seconds.”

“You’re not the only one,” he said heavily, taking a seat next to her. He took a slow sip of his drink before turning to face her.

Peyton had seen many things in Boone’s eyes. Lust. Happiness. Amusement. Tension. But the pained way he stared at her was new and had her reaching for his hand without even thinking about it.

His fingers twined with hers, holding tight. He polished off the rest of his drink in a single shot and then addressed he

r. “I’ve told you that the reason my marriage failed had to do with my brother-in-law.”

She nodded, feeling his tension coming off him in waves.

He kept his gaze on his empty glass. “What I didn’t tell you was that my ex-wife, Chelsea, was the reason why.”

Peyton stared at him, slightly confused. She thought that Boone’s ex-wife couldn’t forgive Boone for sending her brother to jail or something like that. “Sorry, what do you mean, the reason why?”

Boone finally glanced her way, his eyes haunted, far away from there. “One night, I assisted a rookie who was dealing with a belligerent drunk. I’d been off duty at the time and happened to be outside where the drunk was being arrested for a DUI. The guy ended up being a doctor. He was talking about a cancer drug that was about to take off after getting FDA approval. I told my wife, because my grandfather died of prostate cancer, and I was wishing we’d had the drug to save his life.”

Peyton knew she wasn’t going to like what Boone said next.

“Chelsea’s brother was a stockbroker on Wall Street,” Boone continued. “He’d been worried about his job, having a rough go of it, so she told him about the drug.” He paused, his jaw muscles working. “She cost me my career with the NYPD.”

Peyton’s heart reached for him. “God, Boone. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine being betrayed like that.”

He barely reacted, obviously keeping his emotions locked down. “Neither Chelsea nor her brother, Scott, could have known that Scott was already under investigation by the FBI.” Boone drew in a long, deep breath. Peyton didn’t have to ask what that did to him back then. She could see the heaviness all over his face. “But regardless, they had to have known that it would lead back to me.”