Page 9

Weston sat at his desk, watching the sunrise through the windows of San Antonio Security, thinking about Kayleigh. Thinking about her face when she’d realized he was her bodyguard—how hurt she’d been.

So when she’d gotten out of his car, he hadn’t gone after her. He’d understood her need for space.

Instead, he’d followed Jasper—his smugness almost tangible after seeing Kayleigh storm into the house—to Leo’s office and debriefed them both on the attempted kidnapping. He’d remained cool and professional. Jasper would be taking over and sending some men out to the lake to see if anything could be found.

After reporting, Weston had left. He wasn’t needed as protection detail at the house, Leo hadn’t asked him to stay, and Kayleigh definitely didn’t want him around anymore.

He gripped his coffee cup tighter. He may have remained quiet and professional while talking to Leo, but it had taken effort to push down the fury that had pooled up inside him.

Kayleigh wasn’t the only one Leo had tricked. The man had put his daughter’s safety on the line by not giving Weston all the information needed to protect her. He’d ruined whatever trust Weston had managed to build with her. She was convinced that Weston had lied, and hadn’t even stuck around to try to find out the truth.

Not even after that earth-shattering kiss. She’d decided he wasn’t worth her time anymore. Whatever had been growing between them had been lost.

Before he could think better of it, he smashed his hand into the filing cabinet.

“Whoa, there. What’d that cabinet ever do to you?”

Weston turned to find Chance lounging against the door frame. Clenching his jaw, Weston didn’t even bother to check his hand. He already knew nothing was broken, just a slight ache across the side.

“What are you doing here so early?” It was barely past dawn.

“I could ask the same of you.” Chance tilted his head, eyes roving over Weston’s wrinkled clothes. “Aren’t you supposed to be with—”

“Assignment’s over,” Weston said shortly.

He didn’t want to discuss Leo’s lies. Or the way Kayleigh’s lips felt against his. Or the look on her face when they’d parted ways. He squashed the temptation to hit the filing cabinet again.

“What are you really doing here? We don’t open for another hour.”

Chance shifted his shoulders. “Trying to get some work done before Maci gets in and starts pestering me. Wasn’t expecting to have to referee a fight between you and the filing cabinet.”

When Weston didn’t answer, Chance stepped farther into the room, folding his arms over his chest. “Seriously, Wes, what’s wrong?”

Weston scrubbed a hand down his face. It was in his nature to be silent, but his family had never let that stop them from getting him to open up. “Kidnapping attempt on Kayleigh.”

“Unsuccessful, I assume.”

“Yeah, I got her out, and everything is fine. But there was a...misunderstanding between her and I. Doesn’t sit well with me.”

Because even now he was wondering if she was okay. It had been a hard night for her.

Chance’s head cocked to the side. “You knew her before the assignment. You care about her.”

He narrowed his eyes at his brother. Chance saw too damned much. “Yeah, we knew each other for a summer when we were kids, before Clinton and Sheila, but we hadn’t seen each other in years. She’s a photographer now.”

And yes, he did care about her. More after spending the last few days so closely with her.

Chance’s eyes got wide. “It’s that Kayleigh. You’ve been collecting her work for years.”

Weston winced. He’d made the mistake of leaving the scrapbook he’d created of Kayleigh’s photographs out one day when his brothers were over and they’d seen it. No point denying now. “Yeah, the same.”

“And something happened between the two of you that has you beating up the poor, defenseless filing cabinet? Does she blame you for the kidnapping attempt?”

Weston explained how Leo had played them both and that Kayleigh felt betrayed. Weston couldn’t blame her.

“Ouch.” Chance blew out a breath. “You need to talk to her.”

He sighed, rubbing the sore spot on the side of his hand. “She doesn’t want to see me and I’m not going to force her to.”

“She’s only refusing to speak to you because she thinks you lied to her.”

“It’s not just that...” Weston trailed off, unsure how to voice what he was thinking. Chance waited him out. He was family. He was used to Weston needing a little more time to be able to get his thoughts out vocally. “I’m worried about her.”

Ultimately, it was that simple. He was worried about her safety. What if she decided to run from her security detail and made herself an easy target?

But mostly he was worried about her emotional health—she was fighting demons no one was aware of and he didn’t want her to have to go through that alone anymore.

“Explain it to her, Wes. Tell her the truth.”

“What if she still doesn’t want me as her bodyguard?” Weston asked. “She doesn’t like her father’s men and, after this, she’s not going to let anyone close enough to actually keep her safe.”

“Look, you can either go and explain things to her or you can walk away.”

Chance shrugged when Weston glared at him. He wasn’t walking away from Kayleigh. Not again. He’d only had her back in his life for a few days and he already didn’t want to know what it would look like without her.

Chance grinned. “That’s what I thought. Which means your only option is to make her believe you. Tell her the truth, Wes. She’ll listen.”

Weston let out a long breath. Chance was right and they both knew it. He walked over to his brother and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime.”

Before anything else could be said, the front door chimed and Maci walked in. Both her and Chance’s slight smiles immediately dropped into scowls when they saw each other, forcing Weston to choke back a laugh.

“Good morning, Maci,” Weston said.

“Good morning, Weston. Oh, look, Chance is here too.” She sounded anything but enthused at the sight of her least favorite Patterson brother. “I must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve Chance Patterson before I’ve had my morning coffee.”

“You and me both,” Chance muttered.

Weston wondered who would punch him first if he suggested the two of them get a room. Neither of them seemed ready or able to admit their attraction to each other even though it was definitely there on both sides.

They were still bickering with each other when he walked out the office door. Regardless of Chance’s inability to realize his own feelings about Maci, he was right about Weston’s.

Weston needed to talk to Kayleigh.

“I NEED TO talk to you.” Kayleigh stormed into her father’s office after Weston left.

At Leo’s side, Jasper tensed at her entrance, reaching for his gun and only relaxing when he realized it was her. She didn’t care if her fury was making his job a little harder. He’d already tried to talk to her twice since she’d gotten back with Weston a few hours ago, wanting to know exactly what had happened from her perspective.

“Get out, Jasper,” she snapped, not taking her eyes off her father.

Jasper stiffened and turned to Leo. “Sir—”

“Give us a minute,” Leo said.

Jasper scoffed under his breath and stormed out, shutting the door with something close to a slam.

Kayleigh couldn’t care less.

“Why did you lie to me about Weston?” she snapped.

“I never lied to you about Weston.”

She rolled her eyes so far back in her head she thought they might get stuck there. “You didn’t tell me the truth either. You made me think he was a gardener.”

Leo didn’t flinch or blink. “I did.”

Even though she’d already known it was true, it hurt to hear her father admit he’d manipulated her again.

It hurt worse to know Weston was a part of it. Her chest ached every time she thought of that amazing kiss. Now the memory of it was ruined.

“Things are dangerous right now, Kayleigh,” Leo continued. “They’re only going to get more dangerous and I don’t want you getting hurt in the cross fire.”

The unspoken again made her heartbeat race, but she refused to think about her kidnapping. Fear wouldn’t help her get through to her father; it would only convince him that he’d done the right thing by lying to her.

“I know how you feel about Jasper and the rest of the guards, so I thought Weston would be the best way to keep you protected without making you uncomfortable. Evidently, I was wrong.”

“Don’t do that. This isn’t about Weston’s ability to protect me, it’s about you both lying to me.”

As she said it, she realized it was true. Weston had kept her safe and alive when people had come for her. And even before that, she’d felt safe and comfortable. He’d done a great job, but betraying her trust wasn’t something she could forgive easily.

“I will do what it takes to keep you safe, Kayleigh. Even if that means I don’t always do things you like.” Leo rubbed the space between his brows like he had a headache. “But, for the record, Weston thought you knew.”

Kayleigh stilled, her heart rate picking up again. “What?”

Leo looked at her again and she could see how tired he was. Bone weary. It hurt to see her father like that even when she was upset with him.

“I told Weston that you agreed to having a bodyguard at the lake house,” Leo said. “He went there thinking you already knew he was there to protect you.”

Suddenly the conversation on the boat made more sense. Everything made more sense. “And the gardening?”

Leo shrugged. “He mentioned he still liked plants and I told him to feel free to landscape as he wanted to. I even offered to pay extra for it.”

Kayleigh felt sick. She’d been so consumed with the imagined betrayal that she never gave Weston a chance to explain. She’d let her father’s lies ruin the friendship they’d rekindled.

She’d hurt him.

She had to apologize. But first she had to deal with her father.

She wasn’t going to scream. She wasn’t going to get hysterical. She calmly walked toward his desk. “Dad, I know you’re scared for me and love me, but you can’t keep manipulating me like this. I won’t tolerate it. I’ll see to my own security from now on. Keep your men away from me.”

Without waiting for a response, she walked out of his office. She wasn’t going to stay in her father’s house another minute. Not when she had to find Weston and make things right.

She didn’t want him to be her security, but he worked in the business. He’d be able to find or recommend someone.

If he was even willing to talk to her at all after how she’d behaved. She wouldn’t blame him if he wanted nothing to do with her.

She made her way to the kitchen to grab her purse and her camera where she’d dropped them earlier, only to find Jasper and Gwendolyn already there.

Gwendolyn took one look at Kayleigh’s face and stepped toward her. “What happened?” the older woman asked.

“I’m leaving.” Kayleigh gathered her things.

“Whoa, you can’t leave.” Jasper stiffened. “You were almost kidnapped a few hours ago. It’s barely dawn now.”

“I can leave and I am. Go talk to your boss. Your services are no longer required when it comes to me.”

Jasper stepped forward like he’d grab her, but Gwendolyn held him back with a hand on his arm. “Where are you going?” she asked.

She didn’t want to tell them about her plan to apologize. Jasper would throw a fit and she didn’t want to deal with it. “I can’t stay here. Like I told Dad, I will handle my own security from now on.”

She slid around Jasper, who obviously wasn’t sure whether to stop her or not, and headed out to her car, that her father had sent someone to pick up for her. She put Weston’s office into her GPS and headed out, trying to think of how she was going to fix things between them.

Weston was important to her. He’d been important all those summers ago and she couldn’t deny how important he was becoming to her again, even after just a few days.

She hoped he’d give her a chance.

A glance in the rearview mirror had her groaning at a black SUV a couple vehicles back. Jasper and his team’s specialty. It had been there for a while. She wasn’t surprised Dad still had someone following her.

Thankfully, her exit was next. So she waited until the very last second to take it, knowing the flow of traffic was too heavy for the SUV to follow. Peeking at the GPS, she found she was only a few minutes away from Weston’s office.

She didn’t want an audience for this. Especially not Jasper.

They would have a tracker on her vehicle, so she pulled over into a strip mall parking lot. She was only half a mile away. She’d go the rest on foot.

She found a spot quickly and snatched up her purse and camera bag, not wanting to leave them behind. She switched her phone map to walking and headed around the far side of the strip mall.

She hadn’t even made it two blocks before she saw Jasper on the other side of the street. Damn it, he’d found her. Thankfully, he was looking in the other direction, so she ducked into an alley to avoid his attention.

She did not want to talk to Jasper. She only wanted to talk to Weston.

She was looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t following when something hit her from the opposite direction hard enough to knock her to the ground. The air rushed from her lungs and rough asphalt scraped her arm.

What the hell?

Before she could voice her outrage, a fist crashed into her jaw and everything turned gray.