With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

Zoey stayed standing by the closed front door as I headed for the hallway. I glanced back at her to find her looking around uneasily like a stranger in a strange place. Heart going out to her because she seemed so uncertain, I cleared my throat.

“So, this is the front room. The kitchen is down the hallway here.” When I turned back and started walking, I heard her hurry after me. “There’s a bathroom here, and then another one at the other end of the hall. And Cora has a personal bath.” I kept walking, tipping my head toward various doorways. “That one is your room. The next is the office and storage, and across from it is Cora’s.”

At Cora’s room, I backed in, using my shoulder to nudge her door open. Then I dipped to flip on the light switch with my elbow. Cora didn’t even stir as I tucked her into bed. I usually put her on top of the bedding first, then made her comfortable before I pulled the sheets out from under her and covered her up. Thinking nothing of it, I slid off her high heels, unbuckling the delicate tiny straps first. Then I worked my way up and began to unbutton the top clasp to her skirt’s zipper when a gasp came from the doorway.

I looked up to find a wide-eyed Zoey in the doorway, gaping at me as if I was trying to take advantage of the passed-out drunk chick on the bed.

My face heated as I jerked my hands away from Cora’s skirt. “I was just...” I cleared my throat and jammed my fingers into my pockets. “I-I’ll let you see to her comfort from there.” I glanced one last time at Cora, restraining myself from the need to strip her down to her panties. She hated to sleep in clothes, and I hated knowing she was going to wake up feeling suffocated.

But a pair of appalled, wide green eyes compelled me to step away from her. Zoey scurried out of the doorway as I approached. In the hallway, I paused and ripped a hand out of my pocket to rub it uneasily across the back of my head. “Do you, uh, do you have everything you need for the night?”

I have no idea what I was really asking, but it felt wrong to leave her here like this in a place that was foreign to her without making sure she was okay.

She nodded and glanced into Cora’s room. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Oh. Yeah.” I grinned sheepishly as I turned back to study Cora. “Sure. She’ll sleep for the rest of the night, and probably late into the morning. Usually water, ibuprofen, and a little breakfast makes her feel best after she wakes up.”

Instead of looking reassured, Zoey shook her head and frowned. “But she shouldn’t be drinking that much. It’s not—”

When she broke off directly and squinted at me as if picking apart my brain and seeing what I was thinking, I tipped my head to the side, wondering what she would’ve said if she’d finished that sentence.

“It’s not what?”

Zoey straightened her back and drew in a breath. “Nothing.” Her eyes were filled with concern as she glanced in at Cora, though.

I felt as if I was being left out of a secret, but I was usually paranoid about people thinking the worst of me and keeping things from me, so I pushed my qualms aside.

Neither of us spoke for a good thirty seconds, so I blew out a breath. “I’m gonna...yeah.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder and motioned down the hall toward the exit. “I’m going to go then.”

“Okay,” she said and nodded once more. She was big on nodding. Not so much on talking. But then, I was exactly the same.

I stepped in reverse away from her as I sent her a small smile. With a little farewell wave, I said, “Welcome to Ellamore. It was nice to meet you.”

“Thank you. You too.” She averted her gaze as color flooded her cheeks.

At first, I empathized. There was nothing I hated more than blushing, which I did more than I wanted to. It was one of those horrifyingly embarrassing reactions that came when you were caught thinking or doing something you knew you shouldn’t and making matters worse by letting everyone else around you know it.

But then it struck me that she was thinking something she knew she shouldn’t be. All I’d said was that it was nice to meet her. I don’t think even Ten could’ve found a way to turn that into a dirty thought, which meant...her body had just responded in a way she hadn’t wanted it to.

Whew. My sympathy turned to relief, glad she was also feeling the unwanted attraction between us. It’d been awful thinking I was experiencing it all one-sided. But to know it was shared was a relief. Except...wait.

Unease finally struck. Oh, no. This was not good. Poor, innocent Cora was lying mere feet away while her boyfriend and best friend were experiencing vibes for each other? How wrong was that? I needed to get out of here...like five minutes ago.

“’Night,” I mumbled, stumbling around so I could haul butt for the door.

I hardly ever felt instant attraction to women. I’d grown crushes on girls over the years after getting to know them or watching them for a while, but Cora had been the first to give me an instant punch in the gut the first moment I’d seen her. It didn’t seem possible that her best friend would be able to draw the same exact reaction from me.

While I drove home, my fifteen-year-old truck trying to rattle apart around me, I realized one awful fact. As much as I’d been hoping to connect with someone who’d shared a similar past, I wasn’t going to be able to make friends with Zoey Blakeland after all. I was going to have to keep my distance from her instead.

Though it was late when I pulled into town the night before, I was up with the sun, unable to stay asleep, unable to calm my nerves.

But I’d done it. I’d really done it. I had escaped the home of Ernest K. Blakeland, bank president of North Heritage National and co-founder of the Ridgeway Gold Country Club.

If I was lucky, he’d never find me. If I was marginally fortunate, he wouldn’t discover my location until I’d done what I’d come to do. And if God hated me, he’d be downstairs right now demanding to know Cora’s room number.

But I wasn’t going to think about that possibility. I had plans, and I was going to see them through, no matter what he did.

Cora needed me.