Blaring sirens filled my ears. The sound was so loud, I shot out of bed and immediately scrambled for my phone on the nightstand, wincing as the light illuminated the dark room. Fumbling to dial 9-1-1, I rushed to my walk-in closet and closed myself in.

“What is your emergency?” the dispatcher answered.

“My alarm system just went off,” I whispered.

My heart was thundering in my chest and I was having trouble breathing. Going from a dead sleep to instantly awake, and terrified, was wreaking havoc on my body.

“What’s your name?”

“Emmeline Austin,” I said.

“Hold on. Let me get a patrol car dispatched.” His voice was in the background but I couldn’t make out his words.

A beeping rang in my ears and I pulled my phone away to see I had another incoming call. Most likely it was my security company. Their protocol was to try and reach me first and then notify the police if I didn’t answer.

Not long after the beeping stopped, the dispatcher came on the line. “Ms. Austin, I’ve got your security company on the other line. Are you in a safe location?” he asked.

“I’m hiding in my closet.”

“Good. Stay there. The patrol car is on its way and should be there soon. I’ll let the officer know where you are hiding. Don’t leave the closet. When the deputy gets there, he’ll come to you. His name is Sam Eklund.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Hold on while I let your security company go,” he said. I was glad he didn’t hang up on me. It made me feel like I wasn’t totally alone during one of the scariest moments of my life.

The adrenaline coursing through my blood was making my body shake. I wrapped my free arm around my knees to keep them from knocking together while my mind started racing, thinking of all the possibilities for my alarm going off.

Was someone trying to break into my house? What if the intruder was making his way to my bedroom?

Huddled in the corner, I closed my eyes and focused on listening. If I could hear my intruder before he reached the closet, maybe I could at least tell the dispatcher before something bad happened to me. The blasting alarm, the dispatcher’s typing and labored breathing were all I heard.

Every passing minute felt like an hour. Any minute now, I imagined that a dark figure would throw open my closet door and find my hiding place. I mentally started preparing myself to fight. Maybe if I put up enough of a struggle, I could delay my attacker long enough that the sheriff’s deputy would arrive in time to save me.

When footsteps sounded in my bedroom, I held my breath and stared through the darkness toward the door, hoping that on the other side was a police officer and not my intruder.

“Ms. Austin? This is Deputy Sam Eklund.” Two short knocks came on the closet door.

Sagging further to the floor, I blew out the breath I’d been holding. “He’s here,” I whispered and hung up on the dispatcher.

“I’m coming out,” I said, picking myself up off the floor. The light from my bedroom was blinding after having been in the pitch-black closet.

“Can you get that alarm off?” Sam asked, yelling over the sirens.

Nodding, I disarmed it using the app on my phone.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“Not really,” I said. “What’s going on? Did someone try and break in?”

“No one is here but the sensor on your basement door tripped. I’m going to call in an update to the station. How about you get dressed and come downstairs? Give me a chance to look around more closely.”

When I realized just how sparse my attire was, I wrapped my arms around my chest to try and cover up my nightwear.

I had on a thin-strapped maroon silk camisole and matching shorts. With all of the excitement, one of the straps had slipped off my shoulder and I was centimeters away from flashing Sam one of my breasts.

“Okay. I’ll be right there,” I said, turning back to my closet. I pulled on a floor-length robe lined with faux fur. My mother and I had each gotten one from the spa in Lake Como. It had been an extravagant purchase, but as I slid my arms into the plush cream garment, I didn’t regret a single penny.

My feet carried me quickly down the hall, but when a familiar voice called out, I started jogging to the stairs.

“Emmy!” Nick shouted.

“Up here!”

Nick didn’t wait for me in the foyer. The second he saw me hit the top stair, he was racing toward me, taking two steps at a time. He reached me at the top of the staircase and enveloped me with his strong arms. “Are you okay?” he asked the top of my head.

“No,” I whispered.

“I’ve got you.”

I let my body relax and fall into his. The smell from his flannel shirt was a mixture of Nick and laundry soap. I breathed it in deeply, savoring the safety and warmth of Nick’s embrace.

“Nick,” Sam called from below us. “Better come see this.”

Grabbing my hand, Nick led me down the stairs and into a tan leather chair in the living room. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He rounded the kitchen corner and disappeared into the small hallway at the back of the house. If the alarm had been tripped by the sensor leading to the basement, then whoever broke into my house did so through the garage and then tried to come inside from the interior staircase.

As the minutes passed, my eyes wandered back and forth over the windowed walls. Was my intruder lurking outside watching me? The thought gave me chills. I hated being alone up here, feeling exposed and vulnerable. Where were Nick and Sam? What was taking them so long?

Footsteps on the marble kitchen floor captured my attention. Nick came directly to me as Sam walked to the foyer and pulled out his phone.

“Did you find something?” I asked, standing from my seat.

“Yeah,” Nick said. “We’re going to call Jess over. Hang tight. We’ll run through it all with you once he gets here.”

“The waiting is wrecking me, Nick.”

His large hand wrapped around the nape of my neck as he leaned his forehead down to mine. “I’m sorry, Emmy. But it will be better if we talk when Jess gets here. That way we only have to do this once.”

“Okay,” I whispered. Nick’s warmth and gentle voice soothed my nerves. “I’m going to make myself a cup of tea.”

“I’ll do it,” he offered.

“I need to do something other than sit and worry. Keep me company?”

As my Keurig brewed, I hopped up to sit on a counter. “How did you know to come?” It was almost two o’clock in the morning. He had probably been dead asleep.

“Heard the call come through dispatch.”

“Oh. Were you awake?” I asked, confused why he’d be monitoring 9-1-1 calls on a Tuesday night.

“Nope. I have a scanner by my bed. When I don’t have a volunteer on call, I monitor dispatch from home.”

“Right,” I muttered. I sipped my hot tea, hoping it would calm my nerves, but it wasn’t helping. “I’m freaking out.”

Nick crossed the kitchen and pulled me off the counter, into his arms. “I’m freaking out too. Worst ten minutes of my life, driving here not knowing what I’d find.”

“I’m okay,” I said, hoping the words would comfort us both.

“I never realized how Jess must have felt when Gigi was taken,” he said. “Not until tonight. I don’t know how he managed to keep his shit when he came home and she was gone. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.”

“I’m okay,” I repeated.

Headlights flickering outside caught our attention and we broke out of our bubble to rush to the door. Five minutes later, Jess and Sam had finished examining the back hallway again and we were all sitting in the living room.

“Thanks for being patient, Emmeline. Sorry for making you wait. But we wanted to go through this once. That way we all get the same story,” Jess said.

I nodded.

“Someone did get into the garage,” Jess said.

Tears pooled in my eyes and I sucked in a jagged breath.

A part of me had hoped this was all just a false alarm. That my state-of-the-art security system had just malfunctioned and tomorrow we would all laugh about how we had overreacted. Instead, the reality was that a stranger had invaded my home.

“They managed to get past your alarm sensor on the garage’s side door. Must not have been expecting the one at the top of the stairs. From what we can tell, as soon as the alarm sounded, the trespasser took off,” Jess said.

“I dusted for prints on both doors,” Sam said. “Didn’t find a thing. Means the burglar wiped both doors clean.”

“So what do we do? How can we catch him?” I asked.

“I’ll come back tomorrow and look around the property in the daylight,” Sam said. “Might find some tracks or clues outside that can help. But for tonight, we’ve done all we can.”

“Do you think he’ll come back?”

“Not likely. But no one would blame you if you didn’t stay here tonight. I could call the motel, get a room for you,” Jess offered.

“I’m staying,” Nick said.

“Figured as much,” Jess said.

I relaxed a bit into Nick’s side, the tension in my shoulders lessening, knowing that I wouldn’t be alone tonight.

“Can you give us a quick rundown of your security system, Emmeline?” Sam asked.

“Sure. I had a company from Bozeman come over and install it. They said it was their best system. The front and garage doors have panels for me to arm and disarm the system. I can do it from my phone too. They put sensors on all of the sliding glass doors to the balconies. If the system is armed, I can’t open any of them. I have motion sensors in the living room, dining room and kitchen. But I haven’t been setting them when I’m at home.”

“At night when you go to bed, start setting the motion sensors. I don’t care if we get some false alarms at the station. Rather you have them on at night,” Jess said.

I nodded.

“Any ideas who might want to break in? Any enemies?” Jess asked.

“No. I don’t know that many people in Prescott yet. Certainly no one I would consider an enemy.”

“What about outside of Prescott? Anyone from the city?” he asked.

“No one I can think of.”

“What about potential stalkers? Anyone seem overly interested in you? It’d be someone that you’d know. Could be a frequent visitor to the school. Or coworker that you’ve run into by ‘accident’ more than two or three times.”

“No one here comes to mind. Though, about a year ago, I did have a situation in New York. I started noticing a guy from one of my NYU classes around me a lot. He’d be at my favorite coffee shop or at a restaurant where I was eating lunch. I didn’t think much of it until he started showing up to charity galas that Logan and I were attending. He was giving me a creepy vibe so Logan and my father both insisted I have a bodyguard with me at school and during the day. Shortly after that, I stopped seeing the guy anymore. And then one day he quit coming to our class.”

“Did you request a restraining order?” Sam asked.

“No. Since he stopped following me, I didn’t think it was necessary.”

“What’s his name?” Jess asked.

“I don’t know. At class or when I’d see him around, he never spoke to me. He was just always a little too close and was constantly watching me. That’s what freaked me out.”

“Who is Logan?” Sam asked.

“My ex-boyfriend. We broke up before Thanksgiving.”

“Any chance he isn’t taking the breakup so well and would come here to scare you?” Jess asked.

“No. Absolutely not. He’s in the city and would never do such a thing.”

“You mind if we contact him? Rule it out?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t but understand if you must.”

“It’s not the ex, Brick,” Nick said. “Guy isn’t the type. You’d be wasting your time.”

“Okay. We’ll see what we can find tomorrow and go from there. Let you two try and get some rest,” Jess said, standing up from the couch. “We’ll be in touch.”

Nick escorted Sam and Jess to the door as I started turning lights off in the living room and kitchen. We walked upstairs together and I stopped outside the door to the guest bedroom.

“There should be an extra toothbrush in the bathroom. And there are extra blankets and pillows in the closet if you need them.”

“I’m not staying in there, Emmy,” he said.

“You can have the couch but the bed in here is far more comfortable.”

“I’m sleeping with you.”

“No. This is the guest bedroom, Nick. And you are a guest.” If he thought he could use tonight’s ordeal as a way to get into my bed, he was mistaken.

“I’m not a guest. I’m your husband.”

“A husband that sleeps in the guest bedroom.” He closed the distance between us in a flash and before I could step back, his mouth was slamming down on mine. The intensity of his kiss completely took me off guard. My knees wobbled and I clutched his flannel shirt.

His tongue tangled with mine as his beard tickled the sensitive skin on my face. Though he was only touching my mouth, it felt like sparks were going to start shooting out of my fingers and toes at any minute.

Breaking our kiss, he whispered against my lips. “I’m not leaving you alone until we find out who broke in tonight. Scared me to fucking death to hear that call come in. I need you close. And that means I’m going to sleep in your bed.”

Nick’s kiss, along with his gentle pleading, broke my resolve. If he hadn’t been here for me tonight, I don’t know what I would have done. Because he was staying with me, I felt safe sleeping in my own bed. If sleeping next to me tonight would help some of his fears, I could give him that.

“Just for tonight,” I said and walked to my bedroom.

My room sat at the back of the house above the kitchen. The two exterior walls were made entirely of glass and a balcony wrapped around the corner of the room.

With the open view of the forest, my bedroom was styled to match. Dark walls. A deep green duvet. Espresso wood furniture. It felt like a cave.

Without saying a word, I shrugged off my robe and climbed into bed, facing away from Nick. I listened to the rustle of his clothes and the thud of his boots as they hit the floor. With every dropping article, my heart beat faster.

What was I thinking a minute ago? I couldn’t sleep next to him. I was crazy for agreeing to this.

When his weight hit the mattress, I stopped breathing.

Thankfully, my bed was wide, and even if I moved a bit in my sleep, it would be unlikely that we would touch. I just hoped that Nick would respect the imaginary boundary line between us.

No such luck.

As soon as his body sank into the memory foam, he shifted and reached for me. His strong forearm wrapped around my middle and he hauled me into the center of the bed. His arms locked around me as he buried his face in my hair.

“Sleep, Emmy,” he said, sliding one of his large legs between mine.

The hair on his chest pressed against the bare skin of my back and his heart beat against my spine. No way in hell was I sleeping.

Plus, I hated spooning. Whenever Logan had tried to curl into my back, I would always twist so that I was facing him.

Nick had ruined spooning for me in Vegas. The memory assaulted my mind. I remembered falling asleep in his arms, thinking that if this was how I went to bed for the next fifty years, I’d die a happy woman.

I couldn’t do this.

I couldn’t lay here with him like this. The familiarity of our position created an overwhelming ache in my chest. All I could do was close my eyes and try to breathe through the pain. I desperately wanted to escape Nick’s embrace but didn’t have the energy for another discussion.

So instead I waited. And waited.

Finally, when his body relaxed into sleep, I slipped out of bed and silently crept downstairs.

Sinking into a living room couch, I could breathe again. But when the air filled my lungs, the emotions I’d been holding in came pouring out. My body curled into a tight ball as sobs rocked my chest.

It wasn’t just tonight’s events causing my meltdown. It was a buildup from months and months of stress and anxiety. Moving across the country to start a new job. Finding Nick after years of searching. All the memories and heartache that came with seeing him again and ending my relationship with Logan.

It was too much.

So I did my best to cry quietly, hoping I could get control again before morning.

“Let it all out, my sweet Emmy,” Nick whispered as his arms circled me, pulling me into his lap.

I didn’t fight him off or try to stifle my tears. I burrowed completely into his bare chest and let him hold me. When I’d finally cried myself dry, I raised my chin and stared into his vibrant hazel eyes.

His hand moved to my jaw and his thumb stroked my cheek, wiping away the wetness.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“You don’t have to apologize, Emmy. Ever. This is all on me.”

“No. It’s not just you,” I said. “This has been building for a while now.”

“You wouldn’t be crying if I’d stayed in the first place.”

I didn’t have a response to that. What could I say?

Yes, you’re right? We could have had nine wonderful years together? We could have been blissfully happy and in love? You threw it all away because you were too much of a coward to talk to me about your fears?

“I don’t know if I can ever get past it, Nick.”

His forehead dropped to mine. “What can I do?”

The answer was simple. “Stay.”

“I’ll never leave you again,” he promised. Maybe if he said it enough, I’d start to believe it was true. “Does this mean you’re going to give us a chance?”

I nodded.

His arms squeezed me tight and he sighed against my temple.

Relief washed through me too. Admitting to him how I was feeling and agreeing to give us a chance allowed me to give up the fight. I hadn’t realized how much energy I had been using to keep up my guard.

Exhaustion settled into my body. It was only a Monday night, or Tuesday morning now. I had no idea how I was going to make it through my day tomorrow.

“We need to get some sleep. We’ve both got work tomorrow,” Nick murmured.

I nodded but otherwise didn’t move. All my energy was gone.

Nick knew it too, because I didn’t have to summon the power to move. He lifted us both off the couch and carried me upstairs to bed.

When he’d situated me in his arms, my back to his chest, he took a few deep breaths against my hair.

“Good night, Wife,” he whispered.

My heart swelled at his endearment. I managed to swallow the lump at the back of my throat. “Good night, Nick.”