Page 155 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

She rested her cheek against his. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Blane.”

They sat like that for a few moments. It would have been easy to get lost in the feel of her, but he really needed to know what had happened.

She sat up straighter as though she sensed the change in him and let out a short sigh. “Sorry. I shouldn’t keep your security brain waiting, should I?”

He huffed out a laugh.

“Well, it turns out that the mystery man from the lane has a reason to be wandering around in the field near the shepherd’s hut.”

Blane scowled. “There’s no damn reason anyone should—”

She raised her eyebrows and rested her hand in the middle of his chest. “I’ll explain.”

He pressed his lips together, knowing damn well he should keep a lid on it and let her.

“Katerina told me this morning who he is. His name is Nikos, and he’s the son of the people who used to own the house. Well, his brother Stavros was the seller I bought from, but their parents owned this place before him.” She looked back up at the house.

“Doesn’t matter who it used to belong to, Bea. It’s yours now.” He bit down on his lip. “Sorry. Go on.”

“I know, but that’s the thing. Apparently, their parents left the house and the land that came with it to Stavros, and the rest of the land—a much larger piece, from what Katerina told me, and of course, the other half of the field”—she rolled her eyes—“to Nikos. And Nikos never thought any of it should have been sold. Especially…” She pointed toward the field. “You know the shepherd’s hut?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, apparently it used to be the family home. Nikos was born there.”

Blane frowned. “So? My parents sold the house I was born in. When I was a kid, I didn’t go harassing the new owners.”

“I know, Blane. I know, but…” She sighed. “I feel awful.”

“Don’t. You have no reason to. It’s not your fault.”

“I know it isn’t. But anyway, back to the part that will hopefully stop you worrying. Katerina really believes he isn’t dangerous. She said he’s a little shy.”

Blane scowled. “Shy is no reason to go wandering around someone else’s field, even if your family used to own it. And it sure as hell isn’t a reason to come walking around in your courtyard at night.”

“No, I know, but…” She shrugged. “I’m only telling you what Katerina told me, and I’m telling you how I feel about it.”

He nodded slowly. The only part that really mattered was how Bea felt about it. “And how does Katerina know all this?”

“Apparently the whole village knows.”

“Jesus.”

“I know, I know. But now at least I know as well. Who he is, and that he’s not some random murderer.”

His arm tightened around her at that. “Yeah. That’s something, I guess. But what do we do from—” He caught himself as soon as he said it. “What do you plan to do?”

She smiled and sent a shiver down his spine when she traced her fingers over the back of his neck. “Well, since he’s already filed the land dispute with the lawyers, Katerina is going to talk to him and see if we can set up a meeting with the lawyers present. Honestly, Blane, I wish he’d just talked to me in the first place.”

“Why? What difference would it have made?” He didn’t like the way she stared out toward the shepherd’s hut for a few moments before answering.

“I really don’t know yet. But I think it might have helped.”

When she turned back to him, she was wearing that bright smile—the one that told him she wanted to stay away from the difficult stuff for now. As much as he wanted to dig further, to understand what the hell was going on—and, if he were honest, to go hunt down this Nikos and deal with him himself—he smiled back and waited to see where she wanted to go.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “And anyway, I have a question for you as well.”

“Fire away.”