Page 40 of Mended Fences

I set Elena’s bag on a chair, and she walked to the room’s only window, keeping her back to me.

“Elena,” I said.

She didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of my voice.

“I’m gonna need you to tell me why I’m here, Sweetness.”

Slowly,so fucking slowly, she turned to face me. God, she was fucking stunning. She looked sadder and thinner than the last time I’d seen her, but no less beautiful—even in her scrubs.

Had she come straight here from the hospital in Detroit? It was a six-and-a-half-hour drive. I’d looked it up on one of the days I’d contemplated hopping in my truck and hunting her down.

“Does it bother you that you’re alone in a hotel room with a married woman?”

Well, that answers that question.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether you’rehappilymarried.”

Her eyes bounced between mine.

“Are you happy, Elena?”

She shook her head slowly.

Fuck, this was dumb. What was I getting myself into? Did it even matter? I was so fucking gone for this woman, and I’d hardly spent any time with her. I’d made plenty of dumb decision in the past.What’s one more?

“I’m gonna need you to gimme a little more here. I’m tryin’ not to cross any lines, but fuck…”

She chewed on her bottom lip.

I sucked in a long breath and released it. “I can’t believe you’re here right now.”

My brain must have severed ties with my feet in that moment, because next thing I knew, I was closing the distance between us. She was so close, I could touch her.

But I didn’t.

Still had that brain-to-hand connection, apparently.

“Tell me why you’re here.”

More lip chewing. More bouncing eyes.

If she needed time to sort through her thoughts, she could have it. I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d wait.

Finally, she spoke. “I had a few days off from work and from…” She trailed off but didn’t finish the thought before moving on. “I wanted to be somewhere I felt safe.”

The vulnerability in her eyes nearly brought me to my knees. She wanted to feel safe, so she came here. To Sable Point.

To me? We’d be circling back on why she felt unsafe in the first place, but I needed to know where I fit into all this.

“Was it just a happy accident that we bumped into each other in the lobby?”

She shook her head again. “I was waiting for you to get done with work.”

The breath whooshed out of me.Fuck.