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“Oh, my.” She put a hand to her mouth. “No wonder you and Clint …”
“Hated each other? Yeah. I made a fool of myself trying to fight Clint. He wisely just kept me from hurting myself.”
“Is that why you moved up here?”
“Part of it.” His gaze closed and his expression hardened. “I don’t think she recognized you. I have no idea what Clint will do with her. He could restrain her for trespassing, but that won’t hold. If he tells her not to say she saw a woman up here with me, will she get more suspicious and shout it to the world because she’s jealous? If she puts it together, what will she do?” He shrugged and looked even more tired. “At least she willingly drove away. Get some rest. I’ll get my weapons ready and keep watch on the sensors and cameras.”
“You can’t go without sleep,” she protested.
He smirked. “I can and I will. Get some rest.” He turned back toward the stairs.
“I am leaving in the morning,” she said to his back. Cade was tough and could fight, but he had no clue what he was up against. Quaid did. Before, she could see that the threat of somebody finding out about her being here was low. Now it had all escalated. If this Sheryl connected the pieces, posted on social media …
Cade pivoted back. His green eyes looked wounded, then he shuttered any emotion. “Why?”
“One man fighting against my mother’s cronies if they come? I cannot believe Quaid ever agreed to this arrangement.”
“He agreed because I can take on an army and because … you chose me.” His guard slipped for just a moment. Longing for her and raw pain that she was choosing to leave him.
She wanted to tell him she loved him and that she would protect him from her mother coming here. He would most likely explain he couldn’t love her back, but he could defend her.
It was better for her heart not to get into that battle. It was better for him if she left.
“I’ll let Clint deal with Sheryl tonight,” she said. “In the morning, I’ll go to the Colevilles’ and see what Quaid and his friends can do to relocate me. There is too much risk now that Sheryl has seen me.”
Cade let out a heavy breath, rubbing at his jaw again. “If that’s your choice,” he finally said.
Jacey swallowed. Why did her choice matter so much to him? They’d kissed before her memories returned and he had been the one to stop. Had she been a horrible kisser? Most likely. What did it matter now? She was leaving him to keep him safe.
“It is,” she said.
His green eyes filled with a pain that stunned her. She was choosing to leave him, and it gouged him deeply. She wanted to explain all the reasons. The sacrifice she would make every time to keep him safe. It wasn’t about what she would choose if she could. She’d choose him, but she’d never had a choice, and she didn’t now.
He turned and pumped down the stairs.
Jacey stood there, wanting to chase after him, kiss him, tell him she loved him and that she would come for him if her mother was ever truly detained.
But it wasn’t fair to give him false hope. Just as they’d seen, her mother could and would escape any prison. Jacey would never have a blissful life with Cade, her cowboy.
She slowly returned to the master suite. No sleep would come tonight. By morning, she’d be gone and would have to somehow forget this idyllic time in an idyllic place with an even more idyllic man.
Tears slipped down her face. Maybe she could cry herself to sleep.
Chapter
Eighteen
It was one of the longest nights of Cade’s life. Right up there with some nights in the Army where he’d had to pull all-nighters without knowing if he or his buddies would survive and the night he had almost died, saved three of his friends’ lives, and blew his knee out.
It is.
Jacey’s voice played in his head. She was choosing to leave him, to walk away. He knew she wanted to protect him from her mother and the atrocities she’d seen, but it stung that she didn’t think he could protect her. Even worse that she was choosing to leave him.
He wanted to line up his guns and magazines and extra bullets, but everything except the Colt .45 he always carried were in his master closet. No way was he bursting in on Jacey and seeing that look of resolve in her eyes as she chose to leave him.
Clint called, interrupting his musings. He sounded awful. The fact that Sheryl had come screaming for Cade should’ve been a balm on his own wounded heart. Instead he felt anger that she’d hurt Clint more. Clint said he let her go after she agreed to drive down the canyon but then she stopped at the bottom and screamed all the reasons she’d dumped him. Sheesh. Insult to injury for his friend.
They didn’t think she’d recognized Jacey, but Clint said he would stay up and monitor the feeds as well. Cade appreciated the help. He thought the likelihood of Sheryl connecting the dots and broadcasting it to the world before morning was slim, but he didn’t want to take any chances with Jacey’s safety.
