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chapter twenty-two
Sasha slowed to a walk near the dog park and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted exactly who Bella was speaking with.
Donovan.
When Anna called her in a panic saying Bella had left school and she couldn’t get a hold of her, and she and Zak couldn’t leave the meeting they were in, Sasha had handed off all of her afternoon appointments and jumped in the car to search for the girl. And when she’d pulled into the high school parking lot and saw Bella in the park, talking to a hulking shadow of a man, her heart had nose-dived into her stomach. She’d grabbed her pepper spray from her glovebox and bolted down the path with every intention of going Auntie Bear on the perv.
But it was just Donovan.
Thank God.
As she drew closer, she caught the tail-end of their conversation, and her heart melted. He was such a good man. He didn’t see it because he’d never been given the chance to see his worth. The local gossips didn’t see it because they didn’t want to—it was more fun to gossip about the town’s bad boy. And the media only saw a big, tattooed man with hard eyes and a troubled past.
But she saw his heart, and it was pure gold.
And she loved him for it.
God, she’d been so stupid these last few days for silently freaking out about his confession of love and pulling away from him. She should’ve talked to him and aired her concerns so they could work through them like adults. She’d blame it on the fact she was new to this whole relationship thing. She’d spent so much of her adult life laser-focused on school and then on her job that she’d never had more than a casual fling before him.
She’d have to make it up to him.
She quickly tapped out a text letting Anna know Bella was safe, then opened the gate to the dog park and stepped inside. Spirit dropped her beloved ball and raced over, her tail waving like a happy flag.
Sasha bent to give her a full-body scratch. “Hi, girl. I’m happy to see you, too.”
Both Donovan and Bella looked over at her.
Bella made a face. “Mom sent you?”
“You scared her.”
“I wasn’t running away or anything like that.” At Donovan’s gentle nudge, the girl rolled her eyes and scooped up her backpack. “I guess… I just need to talk to her. Can you take me to her?”
“Pretty sure Anna would kill me if I didn’t.” Sasha held open the gate to let Bella out, then added, “Go up to my car. I’ll be there in a second.”
Neither she nor Donovan spoke again until Bella was too far away to hear.
“Hi,” he said softly.
“Hi,” she said back.
A hint of a smile curved the edge of his lips as he nodded to the can of bear spray in her hand. “That’s some heavy-duty firepower.”
“Oh. Yeah, well…” Heat rushed into her cheeks, and she tucked the can into the pocket of her scrubs. “I thought you were a pervert.”
His eyes twinkled. “Only for you, angel.”
She exhaled a laugh and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Thank you for those things you said to Bella. She needed to hear it from someone impartial.”
He pulled her in tight to him. “She reminds me so much of Darcy. I kept thinking if I didn’t hear her out, we’d be finding her body in the woods somewhere, and that would ruin Zak.”
She pulled away enough to cradle his stubbled cheeks in her hands. “You’re a good man, Donovan Scott. A good friend.”
He leaned into her touch. “Jesus, Sasha. I’ve missed you.”
“I know.” She stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on the lips. “And that’s my fault. I was all up in my head and pulling away, and that’s not what I want for us. We should talk about everything.” She glanced toward Bella’s retreating form, then back at him. “Right now, I have to take her to Zak and Anna. They were in arbitration with Monarch’s CEO when the school called. It sounds like the company is no longer interested in the land and is trying to get them to drop the counter-suits they’d filed. It’s weird they’d suddenly lose interest, right? If anything, you’d think they’d be more interested after the fire because they don’t have to clear as many trees for the resort.”
“Unless they were after the lumber.” Donovan’s lip curled. “Fucking Mark Salas. He’s probably cooking up some other slimeball scheme to get what he wants.”
