Page 4 of Canvas of Lies (Spruce Hill #3)

“This will work,” I said, my voice low in case Kat was awake. “It has to.”

“Then it will.”

Gumby was nothing if not loyal. I appreciated it more than I could say.

Every few minutes, I glanced back to check on Kat, each time wondering why I’d waited so long to make contact. Had I really let her father scare me away, or had my own regrets held me back?

She was the biggest variable in this plan, the only thing I couldn’t be sure of. There was once a time I never would’ve questioned her cooperation—the two of us had understood each other as surely as if we’d been connected by some kind of inner wiring. Partners in crime, us against the world.

Now? She was practically a stranger .

Katherine Willoughby might be predictable as clockwork in some aspects, but her mind worked in mysterious ways. I wouldn’t make any assumptions when it came to her reaction to this situation, especially after the burst of temper back there in the parking lot.

Any chance of the quiet conversation I hoped to have in her office was gone now, so I’d have to make the best of this turn of events.

As a child, Kat was smart—scary smart, able to take apart toys and electronics, then piece them unerringly back together—but she’d lived a charmed life there in the house I’d dubbed “The Castle” so many years ago.

Here in Spruce Hill, the Willoughby family was as close to royalty as anyone could get, even if her father spent more time in the city than in town.

We’d been friends, once. The best of friends.

I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes, allowing my mind to present a slideshow of images from our youth: Kat, at two or three years old, held by a nanny in the huge kitchens at the Willoughby home as my father prepared dinner; at age eight, chasing after me and my friends; at ten, that fateful night under her father’s desk.

Things had changed after that night. Our bond had strengthened even further.

That was where childhood blurred into adolescence in my memories, where things between us shifted. I’d always known she had a harmless crush on me, especially after that day, but as the years passed and my own feelings toward her started to change, the situation became dangerous.

There was no way I would endanger my father’s position with the family.

Mr. Willoughby had always looked at me with a sneering contempt that made it clear my presence was barely tolerated—if not for my father’s absolute refusal to leave me behind in France with my uncle, I would never have ended up a member of the Willoughby household.

The night she tried to kiss me, just after the start of my senior year in high school, when she was a freshman, I knew I needed to force a wedge between us.

Her father hadn’t caught us, thank fuck, but he must’ve seen the way she looked at me—or the way I looked at her, when I thought no one was looking—because he cornered me only days later to issue his first and final warning.

Keeping my distance became necessary, as much for Kat’s protection as my own.

She’d been a cute little girl, with bouncing blonde curls and those blue eyes too big for her elfin features, but she’d blossomed into far more.

Her hair had grown long again since the last time we saw each other.

It was pulled back in a fancy braid today, with curling wisps that had come loose to frame her face.

That blonde shone bright as sunshine when we were children, but over the years, it darkened to a burnished gold.

Those blue eyes were sharper than I remembered, no longer able to hide either the intelligence or the temper underneath her sparkling exterior. She wasn’t the golden child she’d once been, that much was clear. These days, Kat Willoughby was unapologetically herself.

And man, I liked it.

With that worn leather jacket on, she’d looked edgy and hot as fuck when she walked out of her warehouse.

The turquoise tank top underneath made her eyes pop and revealed strong shoulders framing the delicate bones of her collar.

Those fitted black jeans tempted me to run my palms all the way from her hips down to the ankles encased in combat boots with rainbow laces.

Luscious and curvy—she’d gone from a gawky little girl to a full-figured goddess.

I hadn’t anticipated the sizzle of attraction that rocketed through me, which was stupid when I thought about it now. Had there ever been a time when I didn’t want her? Not since we both hit puberty, at least.

Rehashing the past definitely wasn’t part of my plans for the weekend; what good would it do? After this was over, I might never see her again.

When we’d tumbled to the ground outside Kat’s Keepers, my senses had been cloaked in panic, but the memory of her body against mine came rushing back now with perfect clarity.

Those curves, the supple limbs, then of course that spark in her eyes—I gave myself a solid minute to remember, to imagine what could’ve been, and then I shut it down.

I couldn’t afford to slip up now, no matter how Kat tempted me to forget myself.

When Gumby parked outside of the cabin, Kat didn’t stir.

I wondered whether it might be a trap, but she’d always been impatient, full of fire.

If she planned to knock my teeth out, she’d probably have done it already.

I unbuckled and hopped down from the seat of the van, opening the back doors to reach in toward Kat.

I set my hands on her shoulders to give her a gentle shake, hoping to rouse her. When she let out a sharp cry of pain, however, I released her quickly and looked down at my right palm. It was streaked with her blood, a sight that threatened to choke me with a swirl of guilt and regret.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

She blinked up at me, those big blue eyes dazed, then her long lashes swept slowly down as she closed her eyes.

The setting sun behind me cast a golden glow over her, giving her an almost angelic aura.

When she didn’t snap at me, didn’t bother to bite out some sarcastic remark about my carelessness, the guilt settled into a cold, hard knot in my stomach.

“Okay,” I said softly. “It’s okay, let’s get you inside. I’ll take care of everything, I promise.”

Gumby turned in his seat. “Shit, man, you need help?”

“If you could grab her purse and open the door, I’ll take care of the rest. Thanks, Gumby.”

“No problem. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. And good luck with this one. I have a feeling you’re going to need it. ”

I rolled my eyes as he ran to throw open the cabin door.

Though Kat flinched when I lifted her into my arms, she didn’t struggle.

Her body was limp and warm, her dark lashes still against the curve of her cheek.

After I carried her inside, Gumby gave a nod, set her purse on a side table, and closed the door behind him.

A minute later, the van pulled back out along the narrow road in front of the cabin.

I laid Kat on the dining table behind the couch. Under the bright light of a rustic chandelier over the table, it was clear something had sliced through the upper sleeve of her jacket and into the soft flesh beneath it. I muttered a curse under my breath.

“I’m just going to grab the first aid kit and some scissors from the silverware drawer. I’ll have to cut the sleeve off.”

“Like hell you will,” Kat growled, forcing her heavy eyelids upward. “This jacket is worth more than your life, Nicolas Beaumont.”

“There she is,” I murmured.

The rush of relief nearly made me giddy as I reached out to cup her cheek.

I let my thumb brush lightly over her skin, then drew it away before she could turn her head to bite me—she’d done it once years before, an injury which I remembered all too well.

Though she glared, I winked before jogging into the kitchen for supplies to get her cleaned up.

“Let’s get this precious jacket off in one piece, then,” I said when I returned to her side, sliding my arm under her shoulders to help her sit up. “You’re sure your head is okay? ”

“For Christ’s sake, Nico, I said it’s fine and it’s fine. You’re the one giving me a headache.”

I lifted my hands in surrender, but her expression stayed belligerent as she glared back at me.

Slowly, I reached for the jacket, watching her for any sign of pain. Kat closed her eyes on a sigh, but she forced them open again as I carefully tugged her right sleeve off, then made my way around to the left side and paused.

“Just do it,” she hissed.

I winced in sympathy as I peeled the left sleeve down, set the jacket aside, and scrubbed a hand over my jaw. Streaks of red coated her arm, painting the skin from her bicep almost to her wrist, though the gash near her shoulder had stopped bleeding.

Small miracles, I thought, but shit, it looked like a lot of blood. When she swayed slightly, I wrapped my arm around her to ease her back down.

“I never took you for the kidnapping type,” she said weakly, watching my face as I gently bathed her forearm with warm water, working upward toward her elbow.

“I didn’t kidnap you. You agreed to come with me.”

“So do little kids when a stranger offers candy or puppies.” Her tone still lacked its usual ferocity, but the sass hadn’t diminished.

“Why couldn’t you just talk to me?” I replied, lifting my eyes to meet hers.

For a moment, she looked as disoriented as she had when I opened the door of the van. She stared up at me, then I turned my attention back to her arm and soaked a fresh gauze pad with antiseptic.

“You could’ve just picked up the phone,” she ground out between clenched teeth, “instead of bringing along Pokey and his creeper van for the ambiance.”

I choked on a laugh. “His name is Gumby, but I might have to call him Pokey from now until the end of time.”

“Whatever,” Kat grumbled, but she gasped when I swabbed the wound.

“Give it a second, the sting will fade,” I murmured, keeping my voice low and soothing.

It definitely did not soothe her; she looked ready to stab me. I could’ve sworn I heard her teeth grinding together as I smeared ointment along the thin cut before wrapping her upper arm in gauze. When that was done, I surveyed my handiwork.

“At least you don’t need stitches. If I had to guess, I’d say your beloved jacket snagged on a nail from one of the pallets. When was your last tetanus shot?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Nico,” she snapped. “You just took me from my place of business, dragged me out to the middle of who knows where, and tetanus is what you’re worried about? When I get through with you, believe me, tetanus will be the last thing on your mind.”

I sat back to gather up the bloody towels. “I’m worried about you, yes. You’re important to me. Of course your safety concerns me. ”

“You scared the hell out of me, showing up like that,” she said slowly, her eyes narrowed to angry slits. “That’s not enough to concern yourself with?”

“I’m sorry you were scared, but I was trying to be discreet.”

“What the hell is going on?”

Her temper had always pricked at my own like nothing else in the world. I threw the towels aside and leaned down, bracing my arms on either side of her and lowering my face until it was only a few inches from hers.

She lifted her chin in a glorious picture of defiance. There was no way to win this kind of battle with Katherine Willoughby, but it promised to be the fight of a lifetime.

“I’ll explain everything when I’m good and fucking ready. Until then, I guess you can consider yourself my hostage.”