Page 52 of Cowboy Heat

Micah nods. “She caught me leaving. She said she wouldn’t tell anyone as long as I call her tomorrow to let her know I’m okay.”

I think about that a second.

I don’t want to ask.

I do though. “And Guidry isn’t around, is he?”

Micah immediately looks at Beau.

“It’s okay. You can talk in front of him,” I try. Then, for measure, “He’s a good guy.”

Beau’s expression is open. It eases Micah.

Not a lot, but some.

“No. I don’t know where he is. That’s why I figured it was okay to leave for a bit. Come see you.”

I believe him. I’m touched.

That doesn’t mean I’m okay with the leaving part.

“I’m going to have to tell someone you’re okay—you know that,” I say. “Which means they’ll know you left.”

His face drags down in quiet disappointment. It kills me.

“But I can see about you staying with me tonight,” I add on.

Micah straightens, smile flashing bright. “Really?”

I nod.

“I’ll give Damien a call, and then we can go to my place.”

Beau shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He chooses his next words carefully. “We need to figure out who your visitor was earlier first.”

I open my mouth to argue but can’t find fault in that.

“We can’t stay at Mimi’s,” I say instead.

I’m not about to tell him why. I have my history with Micah, and Mimi has her own with Guidry. Bringing Micah into her home, especially after what happened to me tonight, won’t be good for her.

I don’t want that.

I also don’t want to stay at my house.

What if the masked man had friends? I couldn’t put Micah at risk of them coming to visit in the middle of the night.

I sigh. I’ll have to take him back toLa Lumiere.

He knows it too. He looks crestfallen.

“You two could stay here.”

Micah and I both turn to Beau. He’s not joking.

“We can’t intrude like that,” I try.

Beau laughs. He good-naturally nods to Micah. “This one already did his due diligence with the intruding. Anything extra now isn’t a big deal.” He points to the hallway that leads to the guest bedrooms. “Plus, you know yourself that I have plenty of room for both of you. I’ve also been on a cleaning kick, so everything is relatively fresh. I even scrubbed the tub.”