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The sudden darkness didn’t throw her into a panic. She was too busy attempting to recover from that kiss. “Wow, I’ve never had a kiss so explosive it blew the power.”

She expected Weston to make his own joke, but he had frozen and was looking down at his phone. “We’ve got trouble. We need to get out of the house.”

She stared at him. Maybe he was making a joke and she just wasn’t getting it. But the way he slid her off the counter and dragged her to the other side of the kitchen did not seem like much of a joke.

He opened a lower drawer and pulled out a gun.

“How did that get there?” she asked. And, even more importantly, why had he known it was there?

He put a finger over her lips. “Quiet. They’re coming in through the back.”

She stared at him with wide eyes. “What? Who’s coming through the back? What are you talking about? How do you know?”

How could he possibly know?

“I set up perimeter sensors on my first day, just in case.” He pulled out his phone and showed her where they’d been tripped, coming in from the west side of the property.

She blinked at him in the dimness, still trying to wrap her head around what was going on. “How would you know to do that? Did my father tell you to do it?”

He pulled her into the living room to the corner by the small couch, putting a hand on her head to keep her low. “It’s my job and I take it seriously.” His voice was more gruff than normal. “Your dad said you’re skittish about security, so I didn’t tell you about the sensors. Let’s discuss this after we’re out of danger.”

They heard a creak toward the back of the house. She let out a little gasp. “So what do we do now? Should we run?”

Weston looked at his phone again. “There seems to be two of them. I need to take them down while they’re not expecting it.”

Take them down? Everything about him screamed warrior—his tone, his stance, his focus.

The opposite of the friendly gardener she’d been working with all week.

“You know how to do that?” she whispered.

“Your father would’ve never hired me as protective detail if I didn’t.” He pressed the gun into her hand. “Safety is off, if anyone comes in here who’s not me, shoot.”

He was gone before she could respond.

She blinked against the darkness.

Protective detail. Not the friendly gardener at all. He’d tricked her. Her stomach roiled in anger and pain. He’d lied to her, using their past to make her compliant.

The sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh followed by a moan dragged her out of her own head. She jerked, swallowing a little sob, as a gun went off not far outside the house.

Her head spun in that direction. Oh God, was Weston okay? She had no idea what he was like as a bodyguard. Either way, no matter how angry she was, she didn’t want him hurt.

What should she do? Should she try to help him? What if he’d just been shot?

The darkness was pressing in on her, much more frightening now that she was alone. She couldn’t afford to let the fear swallow her. She pushed away from the corner where Weston had stashed her and started moving along the wall. She needed to get outside and see if she could help.

She made it into the kitchen, barely able to hear anything over the sound of her own jagged breathing, when a hand wrapped around her mouth from behind. Terror pooled in her gut.

But a moment later she heard a whisper in her ear.

“It’s me.”

Weston.

She sagged in his arms. He released her mouth and she spun to look at him. “Are you okay? I heard a gun.”

“There are two unsubs out there.”

“Unsubs?” She didn’t even know what language he was speaking.

“Unknown subjects. Bad guys. I wounded one of them and they both took off. But we have to get out of here, they will bring back reinforcements.”

“How do you know?” she asked, handing him back the gun he’d given her.

“It’s what I would do.”

It was what he would do.

She didn’t really know him at all, did she?

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Hang on. Let me grab my camera. It’s right here on the counter.”

She wasn’t leaving without it. She wrapped the strap of her camera bag across one shoulder and grabbed her film camera and purse too. She didn’t know if they’d get any of her other belongings here back, so she was bringing as much as she could with her.

They were out the door a few seconds later. He led her away from where her car was parked. She wanted to ask exactly where they were going, but he motioned for her to keep quiet. They moved silently through the bushes near the edge of the lake then ended up on a side road where he had a car hidden under some shrubbery.

“You are certainly prepared,” she said.

He gave her a one-shouldered shrug. “It’s my job to be prepared.”

“Wasn’t there anything in your cabin that you wanted to get?”

He shook his head as they got into the car. “No, there was nothing in there I wasn’t prepared to walk away from in an instant. I try to be that way for any job.”

Any job. This had all been a job for him.

He began driving without the headlights on and she sat in the passenger seat, arms wrapped around her middle. Everything she thought she’d known for the past few days was coming unraveled. The Weston she’d enjoyed so much spending time with didn’t actually exist.

He reached over and she thought, for just a second, he might be trying to comfort her. She needed it. She didn’t understand and she was upset, but she needed his touch.

Instead his hand slid past her as he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out some sort of satellite phone. She recognized it from when she did shoots where the team was totally remote. The phones were expensive and could make calls from anywhere in the world, cell signal or not.

She knew who he was calling before he even started talking.

“Leo, we’ve just had a kidnapping attempt on Kayleigh.”

She could hear her father yelling, although she couldn’t make out the exact words.

“She’s secure. We’re headed back to San Antonio.” Another pause. “They didn’t expect that I had set up sensors, so I caught them unaware. I wounded one, but there was at least one more. I’m sure they’ll be coming back with reinforcements, so we got out. We’ll regroup at your house and figure out a plan from there.”

Her dad said something else and then Weston disconnected the call.

“Are you okay?” He glanced at her briefly before looking back at the road. She wasn’t sure how he could see, driving without his headlights on, but he was doing a remarkable job.

Was she okay? She didn’t even bother to answer. He didn’t seem to notice her lack of response. He just kept looking to make sure they weren’t being followed.

It wasn’t until they were out on the highway that he finally turned on the lights and seemed to relax a bit.

“We’re all right. If they weren’t following us by now, there’s no way they’ll find us on the highway.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything.

“Hey, are you okay?” Now he reached over and grabbed her hand. “You don’t need to be afraid. We’re safe now.”

She looked down at his big, strong, capable hand holding hers and slid her hand away from him. She was too conflicted to touch him right now.

“I’m not afraid.” That at least was true. “I’m mad.”

“Why?”

Why? She shook her head. “You know, I expected lies from my father. He’s never made it a secret that he will tell me all sorts of lies as long as it justifies protecting me. But I expected something different from you. I don’t know why. I don’t really know you at all.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“You told me you were the gardener.”

“I never said that.” His thick brows were furrowed. “I told you I worked for your father, but I never said that I was the gardener.”

“I thought you were the groundskeeper, like Henry. Obviously, you’re much more than that.”

He was quiet for a long minute. “I thought you knew. I truly did. San Antonio Security, the company I formed with my brothers, specializes in personal protection. Leo contacted and hired me because he thought you might be more comfortable if you had a guard who you had a kinship with.”

“And all the plant stuff?” she asked.

He shook his head slowly. “I wasn’t trying to fool you. Leo told me I was welcome to do any landscaping. That’s what I love to do, and I thought you liked doing it with me.”

She stared out the window for a couple of miles. She had liked doing it with him. She had enjoyed spending time with him more than anything else she could remember in years, but she couldn’t help but feel betrayed. One more person who had tricked her. She’d opened herself up to him not really knowing who or what he was.

The rest of the drive back to San Antonio was made in silence. At some point, two more cars met up and flanked them. She knew immediately that was Leo sending out reinforcements when she saw Jasper driving one. Sure enough, the satellite phone rang.

She couldn’t hear what was being said, but it didn’t take much to guess.

“No, Jasper, she’s fine where she is. She doesn’t need to get into your car. We’ll see you at the house.” Weston hung up, cutting Jasper off midsentence.

His words made her more angry. “I see you’re making decisions for me just like Dad. Nice.” She knew she was being childish, but she couldn’t help it.

He looked over at her calmly. “Would you prefer to ride with Jasper? We can stop and you can get into his vehicle. It’s probably armor fortified, so it would actually be safer.”

“No, I don’t want to ride with Jasper, but it should be my choice.”

He only nodded, which made her even more upset. But the problem was she wasn’t really angry. She was hurt . That was worse.

As soon as they pulled up in front of her father’s house, she was out of the car. She removed her camera equipment and looked back at Weston.

“Your services are no longer needed. I’ll make sure Dad pays you for the time you spent with me.”

She slammed the door and walked away.