Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Sloane did have a migraine, but once Gage left and she’d laid down for a bit with some meds, it lessened. After tossing and turning, she gave up and decided a walk would go far to boost her dopamine levels.
She donned her sneakers, grabbed her phone, and picked her favorite music, leaving the sound low so she didn’t disturb anyone but also didn’t have headphones on, leaving her vulnerable and unable to hear. Women couldn’t be too careful these days.
Phone tucked in her pocket, she headed out, glad she didn’t have to also carry a key tucked somewhere due to the code on the house lock.
She headed east toward the water even though Gage’s townhouse was too far to make that walk doable. She supposed it was walkable to get to the canal and marina, but that wasn’t her destination.
This walk was about clearing her head and figuring out what she was going to do. Go. Or stay? Continue working for Gage and Cole—or try to find something else so her boss wasn’t also her…friend? Roommate? Boyfriend?
Those waters were so muddied that she was getting stuck in the muck at the bottom of her thoughts.
She’d made it a few blocks and had to repeatedly remind herself to take deep breaths when the pressure in her chest built up.
Go or stay. Go or stay.
Stay or go?
She liked Gage. She loved kissing him. Loved the comfort she felt in his arms. The way he tended to look out for her, checking in on her throughout the day and chatting over the phone as though just trying to get to know her. Loved their competitiveness when it came to games or…pies.
He was sweet and sexy, and darned if that wasn’t just a heady combination that made her want to break her rules and—
A shiver slid down her spine, and her entire body instinctively tensed, but she kept her same pace, not letting on that she knew someone watched her.
The urge to run was fierce, but she reminded herself that Carolina Cove was full of curious, small-town people who liked to people watch as a pastime. It didn’t mean the feeling was more than that.
Someone on a porch or deck somewhere after their Thanksgiving meal relaxing as the world—she—went by.
The problem was, she trusted her gut, and right now, her gut told her the feeling was more. And the tears that filled her eyes and threatened to overflow took all her choices away as she turned to scan her surroundings and spotted the low-slung gray Audi R8 a block behind her.
Fancy cars were nothing unusual on the island. But this one was all too familiar. Noah.
Since she’d acknowledged him, the powerful engine growled as Noah gave it some gas and closed the distance between them.
She looked around, searching for escape routes where he wouldn’t be able to follow.
Neighbors’ yards would have to work because the road and sidewalk left her too vulnerable and accessible.
She swallowed hard and stepped back from the sidewalk and curb, moving quickly into the yard beside a driveway that had a large truck and a Jeep Wrangler parked toward the end, meaning Noah couldn’t pull in or get too close to her without getting out.
Then…she waited. Because the last thing she wanted to do was run back to Gage’s and have Noah follow, even though the odds were, he already knew exactly where she stayed.
Noah slowed at the end of the driveway and sat there, waiting for her to approach the car. Yeah, not happening.
He rolled the window down and shot her an impatient, tired stare.
“Get in, kiddo.”
She shook her head.
“You can’t keep this up. And you know why. All you’re doing is making things worse.”
“It’s my life. I can do what I want.”
“You know that’s not true. Now get in and let’s be done with this craziness.”
“It’s my life, Noah. Mine.”
“It’s our life as Harringtons.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know exactly how this works.”
“I want nothing to do with that life.”
“Get in, and we’ll talk about it.”
“I said no.”
“Doesn’t work like that, Sloane.” He narrowed his gaze. “How long have you been sleeping with your boss?”
She flinched. “Leave him out of this.”
“Come with me, and I will.”
“I told you I’m not going anywhere with—”
“Something wrong out here?” a deep male voice called out from behind her.
She whirled around and found a tall, broad and rugged looking forty-something man jogging down the last few steps of his home. He had that salt-and-pepper, silver-fox thing going on in the best way, though given he had more pepper than salt, she’d guess he’d prematurely grayed.
“You okay, miss?” the man asked Sloane before shifting his attention over to Noah.
“How are you doing today?” Noah called out, still in the car. He lifted his hand in a wave and smiled, looking every bit the polished businessman their father required. “Sorry about the disturbance. My sister is having a moment, and I came to offer her a ride home. Holidays, you know?”
Having a moment?
A huff left her as Sloane bristled, feeling very much like a porcupine about to throw quills. “I don’t want a ride. You can go.”
She felt more than saw the older man move closer to her and with a quick glance up, she took in his bulky muscles. He was no couch potato. And the closer he got, the bigger he seemed, putting Noah’s leaner gym muscles to shame.
“You heard her. She doesn’t want a ride, so you can move on.”
“Sloane.”
Noah infused every ounce of frustration, impatience, and threat into her name despite the low, fake-calm way he said it. She shook her head and didn’t budge, though her pulse galloped, and every breath seemed harder to take in than the one before it.
She watched the way Noah’s gaze shifted to the homeowner, who now stood with his arms crossed over his chest, pecs and biceps bulging against the confines of his form-fitting T-shirt. Noah could probably hold his own with a normal man, but this guy? “Leave, Noah. We have nothing to discuss.”
Noah bit out a curse and shook his head at her as he shoved the car into gear.
“This isn’t over.”
“It is for now,” the man beside her said with a growl. “Now leave before I call my cop friends and tell them I just heard you threaten her.”
Sloane couldn’t stop the trembling taking over her body, an internal earthquake ten-plus in magnitude. She felt frozen, hands fisted at her sides. Cold.
She should’ve stayed home. Inside. Safe.
Home? Her mind argued. Safe?
She had neither. A home or safety. Not as long as her father and brothers held all the cards.
She shook her head at herself. She should’ve left town already. Left town as planned. If she had, she might not have been too far ahead of Noah’s arrival, but she still would have been a step ahead at least.
“Tonight, Sloane. The bar at the Lachlan Hotel. 6 p.m. Otherwise I’m on your doorstep.”
Tires squealed as Noah drove away, but it wasn’t until he was out of sight that she felt comfortable enough to take a normal breath.
“Was that guy really your brother?” the stranger asked.
A high-pitched laugh left her before she could squelch it. “Unfortunately, yes. We are…estranged.”
“Sounds complicated.”
She turned to face him and forced herself to meet his gaze. “It is. Thanks for the assist to get rid of my brother, though. I appreciate it.”
He didn’t lower his crossed arms, but he did cant his head to one side and give her a once-over. Not in a creepy way but an assessing one. “You probably shouldn’t walk on alone. He could double back.”
She swallowed hard, knowing the odds of Noah remaining nearby were extraordinarily high but given his order to meet him later, maybe not.
He might lurk. Or he might bide his time and wait until tonight, knowing the implied threat against Gage was one she wouldn’t be able to ignore.
How far would he be willing to go this time, though?
Undoubtedly he’s learned a few tricks from his clients, she mused. “I’ll be fine. I’m…staying with my friend a few blocks away.”
“Gage Blackwell.”
She blinked in surprise, earning a smile from the rugged stranger. The large man visibly lowered his guard.
“I know Gage and his brothers well. I saw you helping them during the hurricane. Hudson’s on my crew.”
Hudson. The younger brother she hadn’t yet met but had heard so much about.
“I also see you drive by every morning.”
“This place really is a fishbowl,” she said, quoting Gage.
The quip left the grumpy-looking man smirking, the wrinkles lining the corners of his eyes, and his mouth crinkling up in the process.
And while her interest was definitely elsewhere in the form of one tall, dark and handsome Blackwell brother, she could certainly see this man’s appeal if she went for the whole age-gap thing.
“Let me give you a ride back to Gage’s. Make sure your brother doesn’t bother you again.”
She shook her head automatically. It was one thing to stand outside and have a conversation, quite another to get in a vehicle with a stranger. “I’ll be fine.”
“If it’s getting in a car with me, we can take the golf cart. Would that be better?”
Considering it would be easier to jump out, scream for help or—whatever—maybe?
He held out a hand. “Gabriel Wolfe. Everyone calls me Wolfe.”
Since he’d undoubtedly heard Noah call her by name and he knew the Blackwell brothers, she couldn’t give a different name as she might have done in the past. “Sloane Walker.” She’d never claim the name Harrington again.
“Sloane, call me old-fashioned, but I’d really rather you didn’t walk home alone after what I just saw, and I have a Thanksgiving dinner to get to at the firehouse so…
Will you do me a favor and let me drive you so I don’t burn the potatoes worrying about you?
It’s that, or I call Alec and have him tell Gage you’re here and need a ride. ”
“I don’t want Gage to leave his family dinner.”
Gabriel Wolfe waited silently, his thick, dark eyebrows pulled low as he gave her time to come to terms with the inevitable.
“Fine. You can drive me, but—would you mind not mentioning this to Gage or his brothers?”