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CHAPTER ONE

ONE YEAR LATER

“You can’t be serious.” Olivia waited for her producer, Deb Stok, to grin and say, “Just kidding.”

She didn’t.

“This story will be great for your show.” Deb continued to shuffle through some papers on her desk. “Besides,” she looked up at Olivia with a twinkle in her eyes, “do you know how many other women would love the opportunity to work with Tyson Stone for forty days?”

Tyson Stone was the latest fitness guru to take the nation by storm.

The former psychologist had started a fitness frenzy after he released his book Forty Days to a Healthy Life . He had a face for TV, so reporters ate him up. He’d done all the talk show rounds.

That success had led to him launching a line of exercise equipment. Then a line of online exercise videos, followed by a line of protein bars and vitamin waters.

His second book had sealed his place in the exercise and fitness world.

The man was practically an enterprise now and quickly on his way to becoming a household name.

Somehow, his publicist and Deb had connected at a networking event. They’d decided it would be great to have a media personality follow Tyson’s program for forty days.

Then they’d decided Tyson should be personally involved—he’d stay in his home with the participant to ensure they followed the eating and exercise program as instructed.

They’d decided that Olivia would be a perfect fit.

Only they were wrong.

“Deb, I’ve been working in this industry long enough not to be impressed by status.” Olivia had interviewed enough celebrities to realize they were only human like everyone else. Most had their own issues to deal with, only under an unforgiving spotlight.

“Status? Who’s talking about status? I’m talking about his looks.” Deb—whose favorite topic of conversation as of late was menopause—dramatically fanned herself. “Word on the street is that Tyson is single again. If I weren’t so busy, I might give myself this assignment.”

Deb came out of her drama as quickly as she entered it and began shuffling papers again.

Olivia had done many stories in her career with Static Entertainment. Mostly interviews, but she also covered events. Her favorite had always been the features. Stories highlighting the opioid epidemic in Hollywood. Stories exposing the power hungry who trampled anyone who got in their way.

This assignment was a little much—mostly because it lasted forty days.

That also meant forty days without seeing Lyle.

Those twice-weekly therapy sessions helped Olivia keep her sanity.

A year and a couple of months after her abduction and escape, Olivia’s fears still overwhelmed her at times. Sometimes, she had to force herself to leave her house. She could only sleep with a nightlight—two, just in case one failed.

But the nightmares were the worst. Even though The Admirer was dead, it seemed her fear would never go away. On occasion, she felt as if someone was watching her when no one was there. Whenever she saw roses, her blood went cold. And being in the dark? It sent her into a panic.

Olivia had to get through to Deb and make her point.

Walking closer to her boss’s desk, she laid a firm hand over the pile of papers Deb was working on.

Deb raised her eyes in surprise at fun-loving Olivia’s unusual show of aggression.

“I hate exercising,” Olivia articulated slowly and clearly. “I love foods that are bad for me. I’m not the person you want for this story .”

Deb looked at her with a steady gaze, and Olivia really thought her boss was reconsidering.

Then Deb shook her head. “Face it, Olivia, you’re a perfect fit. You’re young and single. You’re not tied down. You don’t even have pets to worry about. It will be good for you to get out of the city, breathe some fresh air, and learn about fitness and nutrition.”

“But—”

“I’m not changing my mind.” Deb turned toward her filing cabinet.

Olivia crossed to the other side of the desk and followed her. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity. I do. But I don’t want to be a liability to this story. I have klutzy tendencies, Deb. Trust me. Me exercising on camera? It won’t be pretty.”

Deb turned and looked her in the eye. “You’re going. End of discussion. Your plane leaves for North Carolina tomorrow at nine a.m. Chandler and Wes are going with you.”

Chandler Cain was a producer, and Wes Marks her cameraman. She knew Wes better than Chandler, but she enjoyed working with both men. They all had a good relationship and had gone out for pizza together many nights after work.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Do Chandler and Wes know they’re going with me?”

“Of course.” Deb practically snorted. “They’ve known since last week. Now, stop procrastinating. Go home, and pack. And before you ask, I waited to tell you so you wouldn’t have time to come up with any valid arguments.”

Olivia swallowed back her rebuttal. Deb knew her too well.

However, once Deb got something in her mind, it was useless to try to talk her out of the idea.

“Well, if I’m going to be tortured with healthy food for weeks on end . . .” Olivia plucked a chocolate bar from the candy dish on Deb’s desk. “I’d better eat this while I still can.”

“Olivia,” Deb called as Olivia turned to leave.

She looked back over her shoulder as she ripped open the wrapper.

“You’ll do great.”

In response, Olivia bit off a huge chunk of the candy bar.

Unfortunately, the small act of defiance only made her feel marginally better.

Maybe getting away from New York would be good for her. She had so many bad memories here. Everywhere she turned, she saw reminders of The Admirer.

But how could she be around someone for forty days without letting them see her PTSD? She tried to keep it carefully hidden. Being around people for only short periods of time allowed her to do that.

But being around people nonstop for forty days?

It was out of her comfort zone. She couldn’t keep up her facade for that long . . . could she?

Like it or not, she was about to find out.

* * *

Tyson Stone glanced at the blueprints on his desk and frowned.

He still had a lot of work to do if he wanted to get the school he was building up and running.

He’d vowed not to allow himself any distractions. But when the opportunity presented itself to have a media personality try his Forty Days to a Healthy Life program, it had seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.

The more publicity his program got, the more sales he received.

That meant he had more money to put into his nonprofit . . . and to fulfill his promise he had made to his dying grandmother.

He’d been so focused on keeping his promise lately that he’d hardly done anything other than work. It was already June, and he really wanted the school to open in just over a year—next September.

Every hour had been taken up with his work lately, despite the fact that his mom often scolded him about his workaholic habits. He preferred to think of it as being driven and focused. He was single and not tied down, so he wasn’t neglecting anyone.

However, if he were honest, he’d admit that his obsession with this project had affected everything.

His social life.

His level of exhaustion.

His relationship with Claire.

The two of them had broken up a few months ago when she gave him the ultimatum: It was her or the school.

Tyson had chosen the school.

That wasn’t to say the decision hadn’t been hard—it had been. Claire was a wonderful woman. But being single was the best way to accomplish what Tyson needed to accomplish right now.

He sighed and glanced at his watch. At any minute, Olivia Montgomery and her crew should be arriving.

He’d seen her clips on TV, and he knew that his life was about to get very interesting.

However, he had his boundaries in place. Even though Olivia and her crew were staying at his house, he wouldn’t let that interfere with his plans. He’d make sure to do the workouts and interviews with her. To fulfill all his obligations.

Then he’d focus the rest of his time on his work.

He couldn’t afford to waste even a moment.

Olivia was certainly interesting. He’d done some quick research on the woman. He knew that she was fun-loving. The kind of woman who drew attention whenever she walked into a room—not just because of her porcelain skin and dark hair, but because of her smile and beguiling personality.

She was the type of person you wanted to have at a party because she brought the fun with her.

But Tyson also knew about her past. Knew about her abduction and escape from a serial killer.

As a former psychologist, he couldn’t even imagine how that trauma had affected her. But on TV, she still seemed bubbly, like she’d bounced back with even more pizazz.

When his publicist had suggested that Tyson work with her on this project, he’d known Olivia would be the right fit. She had the charisma needed to make this story interesting.

For Tyson, his health program was more than just about money. He truly did want to see people transform their lives.

He only prayed that none of his own enemies made this more complicated.

There were people who didn’t want him to build this school. They’d sabotaged his building. Made threats.

He prayed those threats were empty and didn’t escalate.

Hobbes, his assistant, appeared in his office doorway. “Sir, your guests are here.”

Tyson closed the blueprints and nodded. “Thank you.”

Then he braced himself for the next forty days, praying he wouldn’t regret saying yes to this project . . . for more than one reason.