Page 37 of Running to You

“Private places.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Her heart was thumping, her hands shaking. She stood on unsteady legs, itching to bolt from the room. Afraid of…

What?

Sam wouldn’t hurt her. She squeezed her hands into fists and took a deep breath. Then another. “I didn’t know you read the Bible.”

“Yeah, well…” He dropped his arms. “Why are you here?”

She didn’t think he’d appreciate the real answer—she’d been curious and nosy. And anyway, he could guess those.

She was trying to come up with a suitable response when her gaze snagged on a photograph. She crossed to it and lifted it from the end table.

Mountains in the background. A white railing in the foreground. And a woman, hand shielding her eyes, staring at the view.

The photo’d been taken from the side. A snapshot. Of her.

She ran her fingertips over the cool glass, imagining him standing behind her. Watching her take in the vista. Snapping a photo without telling her.

They’d been at the Mount Washington Hotel for a wedding. It was early in their relationship, and he’d come as her date. He hadn’t known a soul, but he’d charmed everybody that day, just like he always did.

Charming. Hiding his true self.

She set the photograph down, unsure what to make of it. Wanting to scour the room for pictures of other women.

But he was watching her. If anything, he looked even more angry than before. “What do you want?” No charm in his tone this morning.

“Why do you hide the best parts of yourself?”

His Adam’s apple worked. “I keep my private life private.”

“You entertain a lot?”

His gaze hit the floor, the back wall. “Sometimes.”

“Strangers? Business associates?”

“I have a right to privacy.”

“You shouldn’t need privacy in your own home. This is the one place you should be able to be yourself.”

“And yet here you are, in my private room.”

She ignored the dig. “This is what you’ve always done. Put up barriers, walls to keep people out. You let people just so close, but never let them see the real you.”

“You don’t know me, Eliza.”

“You haven’t changed a bit. Charming, easy on the eyes.”

That lifted his brows, but she wasn’t finished.

“But don’t let anybody get too close. Don’t let anybody in.”

“I let you in.”

“Did you?” The words were a challenge, revealing nothing of her fear.

Had he, really? Had he finally let her in, and she’d left him?