ZOE WOKE UP early the next morning. She checked on Lilah, who’d slept on the pull-out sofa in the pool house’s living room and was still knocked out. The day before had been busy, so much so she hadn’t put up a fight when Grant offered her and Lilah the pool house for their stay. Instead of waking up Lilah, Zoe showered and dressed then left the pool house to search for coffee in the main house.
The early-morning sun was still rising over the trees on the edge of the expansive lawn. The air was cool with a hint of the heat that would come later that afternoon. Movement on the edge of her periphery caught her attention. Zoe turned in that direction, and her breath stuck in her chest.
Byron jogged toward the house wearing nothing but a pair of red basketball shorts and black running shoes. He spotted her and changed direction to come her way. Sweat glistened on the chiseled muscles of his chest, arms and shoulders. Zoe clenched her teeth. It was either that or watch him with her mouth open and tongue hanging out.
“Hey. You’re up early,” Byron said between deep breaths.
Zoe’s fingers itched to touch his chest. To trace her fingertips across the glistening lines of muscles of his upper body. She shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “Yeah, I’m used to getting up early for work.”
“You used to hate getting up early.” Byron grinned and wiped sweat from his brow. “I always had to drag you out of bed on weekends for our volunteer work.”
Byron would show up early at her dorm room on Saturdays when they’d volunteer, coffee in hand and music playing. He would literally drag her from the bed, shove the coffee in her hand and give her twenty minutes to meet him outside.
His smile sent a funny feeling through her stomach. Zoe licked her dry lips. “You know a lot of things change in fourteen years.”
“I guess they do.”
His gaze flicked over her body quickly before he looked away. Heat flashed through Zoe’s midsection. Some things didn’t change. The undercurrent of attraction between them obviously hadn’t gone away over the years.
“Where are you coming from?” she asked.
“I spent the night here. Decided to get up and jog through some of the trails leading back to the old tobacco fields.”
They’d stayed up late the night before. Elaina had hung out with them and answered all of Lilah’s questions about the family. Mr. Robidoux hadn’t joined them, and Zoe got the feeling Byron’s dad accepted the new situation but didn’t like it. Regardless, she’d had more fun last night than she’d expected. She’d thought Elaina would be standoffish, and while she couldn’t say Elaina was exactly warm, she had been courteous and helpful.
Her gaze lowered to his glistening chest. “I’m glad you stayed over,” she said, her voice a little too husky.
Zoe cleared her throat and jerked her eyes away from his half-naked body toward the main house. She searched her scrambled thoughts for a good reason why she’d said that. The bad reason was getting to see him like this.
“I need to talk to you and didn’t want to do that in front of everyone.”
“What’s up?” Byron shifted his weight to one side with his hands on his hips. The muscles in his arms flowed with the easy movement.
Zoe met his eyes. Maybe if she focused on something other than his body she wouldn’t be so...distracted. He smiled. His full lower lip surrounded by the sexy beard was even more tempting in the early-morning light.
Stop ogling him and get to the point! “I’ve been getting emails,” she blurted out.
“What kind of emails?”
“The kind that call me a lying bitch and say I’m going to pay,” she said quickly.
Byron immediately straightened. His eyes sharpened. “From who?”
She shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t know. I asked someone in my company’s IT department to see what they could find and only traced it to the city the email originated from. I thought it was a prank, but there’s been too many of them coming.”
Byron stepped closer. His focus completely on her. “How many?”
“Four or five.” She twisted her hands together in front of her. They were trembling and that made her want to kick something. No, it made her want to kick whoever sent the emails. She hugged herself to stop the shaking. She was safe. Lilah was safe. That was all that mattered. “I was going to ignore them. I thought they’d go away.”
“When was the last one?” Byron’s voice remained calm. He watched her closely and she could tell he was already thinking of what to do next.
“Earlier this week,” she answered.
He nodded. “Send over the email. I’ll ask Dominic to check things out. Between him and Jeanette I’m sure they’ll figure out what’s going on.”
Jeanette was the private investigator who worked with Dominic. Zoe had met her the year before when Byron originally sought her out. She’d liked Jeanette and believed her when she’d offered to help Zoe in any way she could.
“That’s not all,” she said.
“What else?”
She hoped he understood her concerns and wouldn’t think she was overreacting. She could be pessimistic, but ignoring her instincts when she was younger had only led to her digging a deeper and deeper hole to fall into. “The other day at Lilah’s archery practice one of her coaches mentioned someone called to ask questions about her. They said they were a college recruiter.”
“But you don’t believe that?” he asked hesitantly.
“I might have if there’d been recruiters at her last match. There weren’t any. I understand people may have taken video that could have gotten back to a college recruiter, but it came the same day I got the email. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Byron stepped forward and placed the tips of his fingers on her elbow. “We’ll look into that, too. If you feel something is off, then I trust you.”
Her shoulders relaxed as the weight of holding everything to herself lifted. She’d kept her fears wrapped up inside for so long. Her mom always told her she worried too much. Kendell used to laugh and tell her she was stupid whenever she doubted something. God forbid she ever say “told you so” when her intuition was right. Byron had always trusted her instincts. He’d never mocked her or easily dismissed her.
“Thank you, Byron.”
She wanted to hug him. In college she’d wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight whenever he’d helped her with a project or gave her good news about one of their programs. She leaned slightly forward. His fingertips slid from the side to the back of her elbow as if he wanted to pull her into his embrace.
“I think you should stay in North Carolina. At least until we find out what’s going on.”
She frowned and stepped back. His fingers brushed her skin as his hand fell away. Accepting a room occasionally if she came to Jackson Falls to help with his campaign was one thing. Living there was something completely different. “I can’t stay in North Carolina. We don’t know how long it’ll take to find out what’s going on, if anything.”
“I want you here.” His eyes both determined and pleading.
Zoe’s breath stuttered. A tiny flare of excitement shot through her heart. “What?”
Byron blinked and slid back. He did his nervous nose twitch thing before running a hand over his face. “My family and our resources can better protect you if you’re close.”
The practicality of his words snuffed out her excitement. He still thought she was too helpless to take care of herself. “Lilah’s school is in Greenville. So is my job, and I’m up for a promotion. I’m not giving up my life just to come up here and be taken care of by you.” She wasn’t about to lose her independence again.
He shifted his shoulders. “It’s not me taking care of you,” he said in a rush.
“Then what is it? Why else would you want me here?”
“Because I...” His mouth snapped shut. Byron took several deep breaths and shook his head.
Zoe’s heartbeat stuttered. She stepped closer and leaned her head to the side to catch his eyes. “Why, Byron?” She wasn’t sure what she wanted or expected to hear. She couldn’t leave everything behind and be dependent on Byron. But something inside her desperately wanted to hear a reason other than because he believed she couldn’t take care of herself.
“Because it’ll be good optics,” he said in a voice that sounded too much like his father. “We’ve announced that Lilah is my daughter. If you’re closer, it’ll give us better opportunities for public appearances at various events.”
“Good optics?” The disappointment in her chest was exactly what she needed. A cold, uncomfortable reminder that at the end of the day Byron was all about winning. Always had been, always would be. It was why she’d never believed him when he’d said he wanted to be with her. Byron hadn’t liked Kendell and she’d known his interest in her was mostly about stealing her from Kendell.
“Yes. That and I can keep you both safe.”
Zoe crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t need you to keep me safe,” she shot back. She let anger cover her disappointment. “I promised not to keep anything from you as we moved forward and that’s what I’m doing. I can take care of me and Lilah.”
She moved to go around him toward the house. She needed coffee. Caffeine would clear her head. Maybe then she’d stop expecting more out of this situation. Long fingers wrapped around her forearm.
“Zoe, wait—”
She extended and twisted her arm while simultaneously turning until her hand wrapped around his wrist. Byron froze. Several moments passed as he stared at her wide-eyed. His heavy breaths matched hers. Beneath her fingertips his pulse raced.
Zoe quickly released him and crossed her arms. “Look, I understand. You want to win the election. My old lie has come back and now you’re having to deal with it. I appreciate everything you’re doing, and we’ll do what we can to help you win. But I’m not giving up my life in Greenville. I built it, and Lilah is happy there. Thank you for agreeing to ask Dominic to look into the emails and stuff, but don’t ask me to move here for you.”
Byron continued to study her. Something shifted in his gaze. Concern blended to admiration and finally acceptance. He took a few breaths then nodded. “Will you at least accept the security detail I offered before?”
She wanted to say no, but the sick feeling she had when she’d heard about the phone call to Lilah’s coach along with the emails shut her mouth. She nodded. “I will.”
The corner of his lip lifted. He reached out but stopped right before his fingers would have brushed her chin. “Always a fighter.” His hand dropped away.
Her skin tingled as if he had touched her. A sensation she felt down to her core. Zoe swallowed hard. “I’m used to fighting you and winning.”
“It’s because you’ve got me at a disadvantage.”
She raised a brow. “Oh, really?”
“I have a weak spot when it comes to you, Zoe. Always have. Always will.” His voice sounded bittersweet.
Zoe drew in a breath. Byron had a weak spot for her? She couldn’t believe it. They were old friends, he wanted to help her and he wanted to win the Senate seat. Those were the reasons why he’d agreed to help her. If there were other reasons, if he still cared the way he’d once claimed, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get through this.
“Byron, I...we...”
He nodded toward the house. “Come on. Let’s see what’s for breakfast.” Byron turned and went toward the house without waiting for an answer.