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“I rang the doorbell, but then I heard your voice back here. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I walk over to her and any worry I might have about what she could have overheard vanishes when I notice the dark bruise on her cheekbone. It’s only been two days since I saw her. “What happened to your face?”
She gives me an easy, entirely fake smile and glances to the side. “It’s nothing. I—”
“Lie to me and I’m going to ask you to leave.”
She blanches, her mouth pressing into a flat line. “What if I don’t want to tell you?”
“Why don’t you want to tell me?” I’m already vibrating with rage, because there’s only one reason I can think of. “Are you embarrassed?”
She looks away again. “I brought a wife for Barley. She’s a sweet goat, but we haven’t been able to get her adopted. Her name’s Begonia.”
“The only other reason you might not want to tell me is because someone did this to you. Who hurt you?”
She narrows her eyes, and I don’t miss her wince of pain. The rage and the need to rip apart whoever did this to her surprises me with its intensity.
“I just came here to bring you a goat as a peace offering.” She lifts Begonia toward me, as though I’ll be so easily. “We don’t need to talk about anything else.”
“So you aren’t here to convince me to help you with your treasure hunt?”
She bites her lower lip and takes a step back. “This was a bad idea. I’m gonna go.”
I take the goat from her arms before Begonia leaps out of them and set her in Barley’s enclosure. Barley races right over to Begonia and sniffs her before prancing around joyfully.
Begonia is more reserved, but she follows Barley when he climbs up onto his play structure.
“It’s love at first sight.” Honey places a hand over her heart and sighs. “I had a good feeling about Begonia, but this is even better than I’d hoped.”
I turn to her. “What. Happened?”
She wraps her arms around her middle and tilts her head back to look at the blue, cloudless sky. When she lowers her chin, there’s a new determination in her eyes. Even the one that’s swollen and dark. “If I tell you, you’ll help me with the treasure hunt?”
“Yes.” I have no other choice. Seeing this woman hurt is ripping me apart. I won’t send her into the woods alone to get scared, or worse. “I also want to see the map and the rhyme—”
“Riddle.”
“Riddle. I want you to be honest with me about everything.”
She chews on her lip, and I can’t resist reaching out and pulling it from between her teeth with my thumb. I’m not prepared for how soft her lip is or how vulnerable she looks as she stares into my eyes.
Is she feeling it too? This jolt of connection between us? My thumb buzzes like a live wire and all I can think about is kissing her until neither of us can breathe. My cock strains against my shorts at the thought.
“Mac.” Her voice is breathy, and my false name on her lips is a reminder that I’m lying to her.
I don’t want to remember that. I want to get lost in this fantasy where I’m a regular guy and I can love a woman like Honey the way she deserves to be loved.
Maybe I should tell her the truth, but I can’t stand the idea of her looking at me differently.
I take a step back.
Distance.
I just need to keep distance between us. And Honey doesn’t need to know who I really am. She just needs me to help her find a treasure.
I’m the one taking all the risk here.
“Tell me who hurt you.”
