Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
I had no idea if this was true, but I hoped presenting her with this was enough to get her to agree, and the look on her face showed how tempting that idea was. The possibility that what she’d been wasn’t completely gone. Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath and her gaze dropped to the hands I had on her.
“No. I want to stay here.”
Her soft voice made it unclear if she meant in this country, or right where she was now, in my hold. An odd, prickly sensation traveled up my body, warning me not to ask what I was about to.
“Why?” I gently grasped her chin and tilted it up, forcing her to look at me.
“Because I don’t know if I could be that far away from you.”
Hearing that made everything easier and so much harder. It was the exact same fear I had but couldn’t bring myself to say.
Too soon.
Too fast.
“And I’m not going to leave if my sister’s in danger,” she added. Her expression shifted to one of determination. “How quickly do you think he would come after me if I surfaced? How long would I have?”
When I first learned it was Frey, I’d thought about this option. We could draw him out into the open using her as bait, but it was incredibly dangerous. It wasn’t worth the risk of losing her, now more than ever.
“I don’t know, and we’re not going to find out.” I put emphasis on it because I was just as much a part of this as she was now.
“I’m tired of him being in control. Everything we do is a reaction.” I knew what she really meant, how she felt helpless.
“No,” I snapped. “No,” I repeated, calmer.
“You’ll know he’s coming. It’s like I’d be bringing him right to you.”
“Goddamnit, no.”
“Why not?”
“Because!” I yelled it like I was a child. She stared at me, a pissed-off expression which told me that wasn’t a reason. I tried again, my voice reverting to a quieter, albeit shakier one. “Because I’m not ready.”
“Ready?”
I couldn’t find a way to express what I meant. I tried to put it together in my head but found only a jumble of words there and no coherent sentences . . . save one. Something I’d never said to anyone outside of family in my lifetime.
“I’m not ready,” I repeated, more for my benefit than hers. “We’ll know more when I call tomorrow.”
“Then I don’t see the point in having this conversation now.”
“Please, Laurel. I’m trying to keep you alive. I’m not trying to make you mad or send you away. I hope you know that.”
Her face didn’t change. “I’m fine.”
But my instincts issued a warning. When a woman said fine, she really meant anything but that.
31
LAUREL
There wasn’t anywhere to go, but I broke free from Jason’s grasp and went into the kitchen, pulling a glass down from a cabinet and filling it with water. He’d told me I might be able to resume performing overseas, and I’d all but shrugged my dream off, like it was nothing and not everything.
Everything.
He’d said that was what had changed between us, but he didn’t know the half of it. The three words itched under my skin, mocking me.
Stop it. It was way too soon to be in love.
The waiting was miserable agony, and when the sun fell below the horizon, I tried to distract myself by cooking dinner. At least I had control over that.
Shawn secluded himself in his home office until dinner was ready, and I was aware Jason had gone in there for a long discussion at one point. I’d heard the German between the Dunns from behind the door, and I’d had to fight back the desire to throw it open and demand English whenever I heard Jason’s nickname for me.
He drank beer with dinner while Shawn sipped on wine and pried into my back story with skilled efficiency. Was he checking to see if I was worthy of his brother? I didn’t mind his examination because it gave me a chance to turn the same questions back around on him and learn everything I could about the brothers.
Even though their relationship was strained, it was obvious they cared very much about each other.
When dinner was finished, Jason pulled a second beer from the fridge then nodded to me.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re going to let the CEO of Osterhägen Beverage do our dishes.”
Shawn frowned. “I’m letting you stay at my house, and you’ve got me sleeping in the guest bedroom. I am not cleaning up after you.”
That was fair.
I stood, gathered plates, and carried them to the sink, only for him to push back from the table and wave me off.
“Go,” he said lightly. “You made dinner, and I can handle loading a dishwasher. Auf Wiedersehen.”