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My hands shook as I played back the memory of that stranger walking across the street, and my stomach flipped. Even if it wasn’t him, could I afford to take that chance and put everyone in danger? Lucas, Lena, Grace, everyone at the ranch?

“So teal,” Lucas said, referencing my favorite color. “I haven’t spent much time by the ocean. Do you like it there?”

“Yes,” I breathed. When I was by the ocean, I felt complete. It was hard to explain. The mountains were beautiful, and I could enjoy living in them. But the ocean felt like home. Part of growing up in Florida, I guess.

I tilted my head. “Why the random questions?”

He smiled a little. “Distracting you. Is it working?”

Surprisingly, it was. My hands weren’t shaking anymore, and I did feel warmer. “A bit.”

“Can I take you home, Ev?”

The casual way he said it made something deep in me ache. Home sounded so nice right now, even if it was a guest house. “Yes, thank you.”

I kept looking around as he walked me to his truck, determined to run at any sign of Nathan, but there was nothing. Everything in Garnet Bend seemed almost painfully normal. Like nothing had happened at all.

“What about my car?”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said as he held open the door and helped me up. His touch was gentle but it felt like a brand—heat through my clothes. I told myself that it was because I was still cold.

The rest of my mind knew better.

Lucas didn’t ask me any more questions on the way back to the ranch, but the quiet between us was comfortable. Comforting. Lucas had a steady presence that helped me relax. I was glad that he was driving. If I’d gotten in my own car, I might have driven out of town and not looked back.

I still wasn’t sure that I shouldn’t.

He drove me all the way to my house and jumped out of the truck to help me down. He walked me to the door, alert the whole time. Even on his property, he was looking for any danger.

He stopped when I reached the door and unlocked it. “Evelyn—” The look on his face was a mixture of wanting and anger and something else. It was too much to decipher. It looked like he wanted to say everything and nothing. He took a small step forward into my space, so close that I could almost feel his heat again.

My heart kicked up a rhythm, either panic or something else, but I didn’t move. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t want to.

Lucas started again. “Evelyn, the ranch is secure. We have one of the best security systems there is, and all of us who run Resting Warrior are former SEALs. We take security seriously.” He paused before looking at me again. “You are safe here.”

Emotion hit me. An ache and an itch in my chest that made me look away. He couldn’t know what those words meant to me. What hearing them felt like. But he also didn’t know Nathan. And I doubted I would be safe anywhere. Not anymore.

He moved slowly, pulling out a piece of paper with writing on it. “This is my number. You can call me any time you need to. Day or night. Okay?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Okay.”

Lucas waited until I was inside and the door was locked before he walked away.

Chapter 9

Lucas

The second that Evelyn closed the door behind her, I was moving. Movement was the only way I wouldn’t go insane. The drive to protect and claim was warring with my control, and I was close to losing it. I needed to make sure that what I’d told her was true. That she was safe here.

My truck flew down the road that circled the property. It wasn’t a small loop, but I wasn’t taking any chances. It didn’t matter to me that whatever or whoever had triggered her was in town, Evelyn needed a space where safety was sacred. And I could make that happen.

The fences that surrounded Resting Warrior weren’t normal ranch fences. Those were simple, made of wood or wire, and only intended to keep cattle from wandering off. But that didn’t work around a place run by seven navy SEALs all struggling with trauma.

No, our fences were high and electrified. They were part of the reason the town hadn’t been thrilled about us moving in right away, like I had told Evelyn. To them, the high fences and security meant we were doing things that we shouldn’t. But once we’d explained that we were helping people and animals who needed to feel as safe as possible, they’d been nothing but supportive. That was good.

I needed to tell Evelyn the true purpose of Resting Warrior. I’d been avoiding it because of her first reaction to me suggesting therapy, but today’s events made it clearer than ever that she was meant to be here.

I’d never heard Lena’s voice like that. Panicked and desperate. “It’s Evelyn. Please.” I’d been moving before she finished the first sentence.