Page 73 of Driven to Love

Davey chuckled. He twisted the rope into a basic knot. “This is a slipknot. You want to try?”

“Sure.” For the next ten minutes, he showed her several knots and their uses. Some she’d never heard of.

Nash set a plate in front of her and Davey. “Davey, eat, then go up and pack your bag. Your mom will be here in about twenty minutes.”

She forked up some eggs. They were fluffy and delicious. Who knew the man could cook?

When breakfast was over, Davey carried his dishes to the sink and, with no enthusiasm, left the room.

Addison glanced back to make sure he had cleared the space before she turned and whispered, “Do you really think it’s that dangerous?”

He put the juice back into the fridge before uttering the words that dried her throat, “Yes, I do.”

Part of her really thought he was just being overprotective, but another part, the part that throbbed remembering the person standing at the top of the embankment, shuddered and believed he was right.

“Laney and Marti are going to come hang out with you today,” he said as he turned off the stove.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I don’t need to be babysat like a two-year-old.”

He shook his head. “I’m not worried about something you will do. I’m worried about what someone else will do.”

She rolled her eyes and stopped. The pain throbbed through her forehead. “Seriously, I’m at your house. No one knows I’m here. What makes you think something would happen?”

He crossed to her, kissed her forehead, and looked her squarely in the eyes. “Babe, this is a small town. The whole town knew you were here the moment I pulled into the driveway. Besides, if I really thought you were in danger, I would be staying with you instead of the girls.”

She scoffed at the sexist comment, like they couldn’t take care of themselves, but the comment fled the moment she noticed the gun in the holster at his hip. “What is that for? You don’t think…?”

“I don’t know what I think. But what I know is you have had your car sabotaged, you have had your house vandalized, you have had someone assault you on your own property, and now someone ran you off the road and left you for dead. If you think for one minute I won’t protect what’s mine, you don’t know me very well.”

Addison didn’t know what to say. Her heart throbbed in her chest. She drew in a shaky breath. Could that mean—did he really have feelings for me?

Internally, she rolled her eyes. He had feelings. She knew that, but did he have the big feeling? The L-word feeling? Did she?

The doorbell rang.

“I got it.” Davey thundered down the stairs and opened the door.

“Hey, Beth.” Nash stood behind Addison, his hand on her shoulder.

Beth gave Davey a quick hug, then crossed to Addison. She bent down in front of her, assessing her with her eyes… her hands.

Addison pulled back. What the fuck?

“Are you okay? Nash told me what happened. Car accidents and concussions can be really nasty.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re a nurse. I was this close to landing one on your perfect nose.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Beth smirked, then held up her hands in surrender. “Sorry, I forget about personal space when I go into work mode.”

Yup, it didn’t matter that she was Nash’s ex. They could definitely be friends.

“Thanks for swapping weeks with me, Beth,” Nash said.

“No problem. I was supposed to have a girls’ weekend, but Jillian wrecked her car, so we rescheduled.”

Nash’s jaw ticked. Addison’s attention jumped from him to Beth. “Is she okay?”

Beth shrugged. “I think so. She didn’t tell me a lot about it. All I know is she was driving her old van, and she needed to take some time and wanted to reschedule.”