Keeping Guard

by Sandra Owens

  “I thought I did. It would have made my father happy.”

  Noah grunted at hearing her answer. “Seems like Daddy should be more concerned with his daughter’s happiness than his own.”

  The way he said Daddy sounded derogatory, and her first reaction was to defend her father, but the words wouldn’t come. Tears stung her eyes. Had she convinced herself that she loved Dalton because it would make her father happy? From the time her father had made it known that a match between her and Dalton would please him, she’d gone along with the idea. Dalton had been attentive and charming, and they shared an interest in the brewery. So what if he didn’t make her heart go pitter-patter? They respected each other—or so she’d thought—and that was important in a marriage.

  Noah was right. A father should care about his daughter’s happiness. Sure, he had let her come to work for him, had let her institute her events, had allowed her to brew beer alongside Eddie, and had even let her name some of the beers. Yet, he’d never given her a word of praise when she’d brought in more customers or for any of her accomplishments. Dalton, though, could do no wrong, even though he’d never shown any interest in learning the art of brewing beer, of loving Elk Antler the way she did.

  That had been okay. She’d been learning the business, and one day, she’d have the coveted share of the brewery he’d promised her. Her father had encouraged the match with Dalton, and now she was realizing that she’d fallen in with the plan because it was what her father wanted.

  All her life, she’d tried to please her father. A little girl he’d never wanted had been dumped on him. She could only be thankful he’d kept her, but the fear always lurked that one day he’d get tired of her like her mother had.

  Blessed God above, she’d been a fool her entire life, hadn’t she? She would never have the unconditional love of the man she called a father. Her eyes were finally open, and it was about time. Almost more—and maybe not even almost—she mourned the loss of Elk Antler over knowing she’d ruined her relationship with her father.

  “Where am I taking you?” Noah asked.

  “Um...” She couldn’t go home, not yet. Not until she was strong enough to stand up to both her father and Dalton. She was getting there, but she wasn’t there yet.

  She could go to a friend’s house if she had one of those in Asheville. Her two best friends had been her college roommates, and both lived in other parts of the country. Because of the hours she’d put in at the brewery, she basically didn’t have a life outside of Elk Antler. Her friends here were more like acquaintances, and she couldn’t think of a single one who would welcome her and the problems she’d bring with her.

  That was another thing she’d correct now that her eyes were open. Along with finding a new job, she’d make real friends here. Girlfriends who cared about her. She especially wanted some of those.

  “You don’t have a place to go, do you?”

  “No,” she whispered. “The first place they’ll look for me is home.”

  The last thing Noah needed right now was a tempting woman with problems and no place to go. “You do know that you are an adult and can make your own decisions, right?”

  “You don’t understand.” She turned her face to the window, and he was afraid she was going to cry. “I can go to a hotel.”

  He managed not to sigh. No, he didn’t understand, but he couldn’t just dump her off at a hotel, especially barefoot and only his T-shirt covering her corset. He’d been keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, and the black Mercedes that he’d noted in the parking lot that had to have belonged to her father was several cars behind them. Following that car was the silver one she’d driven to the falls.

  The speed limit on the Parkway was turtle slow, but he’d been pushing it a little. Unfamiliar with the road, he wasn’t sure how well it was policed, and he didn’t want to get stopped.

  “Is the silver Mercedes yours?”

  “No, it’s Dalton’s. I borrowed it.”

  “Borrowed, huh?” He still didn’t get the boyfriend. The man hadn’t said a word to her, and although curious what the deal was, he was already more involved than he had any wish to be.

  “I wasn’t going to keep it, so yeah, borrowed. How do you think they found me?”

  “Does he have OnStar or some kind of app that can locate his car?”

  “Fudge. I never thought of that. Yeah, he does.”

  She went silent again, and he glanced over at her. “You’re going to chew your finger off.”

  “Nervous habit.” She dropped her hand to her lap. “I’m sorry, Noah. I’m sure the last thing you wanted to do was to have to rescue a crazy runaway bride.”

  True that. “Never said you were crazy.” Might have thought it a time or two since coming across her.

  The exit from the Parkway came up, and as soon as he was on the public road, he picked up speed. He wanted to quickly lose the two Mercedes without ending up in a chase. At the first intersection he came to, he turned right, then left at the next one. He wasn’t familiar with the area, wasn’t sure how to find his apartment from where they were, but he’d worry about that once he was sure he’d lost her father and boyfriend.

  After making several more turns and not seeing either car behind them, he pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. He stopped in a space where he could see the road.

  “Why are we stopping? Do you need groceries?”

  “No. Need to put my address in the GPS. Watch the road and tell me if you see your father or boyfriend pass by.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. Not any longer. Why do you have to put your address in the GPS. Don’t you know where you live?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Her finger went back in her mouth. He was sure she had questions about that, but he chose not to enlighten her. The less she knew about him, the better. He’d already shared more than he wanted back at the waterfall.

  “Oh, God,” she muttered. “You’re a runaway bride serial killer traveling the country in search of prey.”

  “Busted.” Damn this girl for making him laugh. He didn’t deserve to laugh, and he especially didn’t deserve to have a beautiful, sexy woman sharing his space.

  “You are kidding right? I mean, I was just joking around.”

  At least she’d stopped trying to gnaw off her finger. “Yes, Peyton, I’m kidding.”

  “I knew that. Would you please tell me where we’re going?”

  He could tell she was starting to get worried, and he had no desire to add to her stress. “My place.”

  “Not sure that’s a good idea.”

  According to the GPS, they were about ten minutes away from his temporary apartment. “Listen, you said you can’t go home, and you can’t go to a hotel. Not dressed like you are. I promise you’re in no danger from me, and we’re just going to go to my place long enough to make a plan. Okay?”

  Hopefully, he could convince her to go home.

  Chapter Four

  “You don’t have much stuff,” Peyton said as she stood in the middle of Noah’s living room, her gaze taking in the bare walls. There were no knickknacks on the coffee and end tables, not a thing that gave her a clue about the man who’d rescued her.

  “Just moved in.”

  Where were the boxes filled with his stuff? The apartment was small, the living room and a tiny kitchen in view, and then a hallway that she assumed led to a bedroom and bathroom.

  A dog barreled into the room, heading straight for Noah. At least, she thought it was a dog, but that was questionable. Ignoring it, Noah took a few steps, which put him in the kitchen. He set the champagne bottles on the counter.

  “Want some water?”

  “Do you have any green tea?” She could really use a cup of calming hot tea.

  He looked at her as if she’d asked for a serving of bird brains. “Do I strike you as s
omeone who drinks green tea?”

  “No, you strike me as someone who drinks the blood of wombats.” When he snorted, she put her hands on her hips. “How am I supposed to know what you drink? You could just say, ‘No, Peyton, I don’t have any green tea.’”

  “No, Peyton, I don’t have any green tea. That better?”

  “Much.” It was obvious he didn’t want her here. It wasn’t like she’d asked him to take her home with him, but she was sorry she’d involved him in her mess all the same.

  He leaned back against the counter. “Yes or no on the water?”

  Finally, she was getting a good look at his chest and abs, the question of whether they were a six-or an eight-pack answered. Lordy! Eight it was. Even with those abs—the likes of which she’d never before had the pleasure of viewing—he wasn’t overbuilt. Yes, he had muscles, but they fit his body perfectly. Yummy was the word that came to mind, and she had a strong urge to lick her lips.

  “Peyton?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Eyes up here.”

  She jerked her gaze up to see him pointing at his face, and heat traveled up her neck and into her cheeks. “Sorry, what?”

  “Two things. Do you want a glass of water? And secondly, don’t look at me like that. It puts ideas in my head.”

  She so wanted to know what those ideas were. For a girl who’d never had a man have ideas when he looked at her, she suddenly felt cheated. Good gosh, she was twenty-six years old. At some point, shouldn’t at least one man have had ideas about her?

  It wasn’t fair. She’d had a boyfriend in college, but he’d been a gamer, more interested in his games than her, and sex with him had been about as exciting as shelling beans. Okay, she was being her silly self, but it was almost true. At least Dalton had been an improvement, but he had never blown her mind. She wanted her mind blown. She wanted a man to have ideas about her.

  Now, Noah? She’d bet her favorite beer recipe that he could curl her toes, and she really, really wanted her toes curled. Seriously, Peyton? She slapped her forehead. What kind of woman fantasized about another man on her wedding day? Okay, a wedding that didn’t happen, wasn’t going to, but still...

  “I can’t decide if I want to know what all is going through your head or not.”

  She focused back on Noah. His arms were crossed over his very, very fine chest. “You really don’t. Why do you have a hummingbird tattoo?” It was on his chest, right over his heart. It didn’t seem like a guy kind of tattoo, but if there was ever a man who could wear a silvery blue hummingbird on his skin and still be manly, it was this one.

  “Just do.”

  Okay, hummingbird tattoos were off limits, which only made her all the more curious what the story was. It wasn’t easy, but she forced herself to keep her gaze on his face. She’d been so busy admiring his abs that she hadn’t noticed how pretty his eyes were. They made her think of the copper color of a rich amber beer.

  The dog sitting at his feet whined. “Go away, dog,” he said.

  She frowned. “That’s not a nice way to treat your dog. What’s his name? Or is it a her?”

  “Not my dog.” He glanced down at it. “It’s a boy. What would you name it?”

  Wow! The man rescued runaway brides and stray dogs? “I don’t know. Lucky because he’s lucky you rescued him?”

  “Didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  She waited for him to explain, but when he didn’t, and the dog whined again, she said, “Maybe he needs to go out.”

  “Guess I better do that before he pees on the floor.” He picked up a leash from the counter, clipped it on the dog’s collar, and then walked out the door.

  Okay then. While he was gone, she went in search of the bathroom. The first door she came to was a bedroom, and she peeked inside. A duffel bag was on the unmade bed, and...nothing else of a personal nature. Did he even live here?

  The man was a mystery, and that made her uncomfortable. But even though she didn’t know why, she sort of trusted him anyway. He’d helped her when he didn’t have to. He hadn’t done anything to make her apprehensive of him, but it would be best to get her act together so she could go back home.

  Who was he? He could be anyone...a drug dealer, a man hiding for some nefarious reason, an undercover cop, or maybe he was in the witness protection program. She shook her head. Her imagination was running away with her.

  She found the bathroom and shrieked when she glanced in the mirror. “Good gravy, Peyton. You look like...” She wasn’t even sure what. Black stripes of mascara ran down her cheeks from when she’d cried. Her eyes were bloodshot, the skin around them puffy, and for goodness’ sake, she still had on her veil. How had she not realized that?

  After removing the veil and washing her face, she borrowed the comb on the counter and worked the tangles out of her hair. What she really wanted was a nice, hot shower, and as tempted as she was to use Noah’s, she thought that was taking his hospitality too far.

  By the time she returned to the living room, Noah was back inside. His gaze swept over her. “Feeling better?”

  “Some. Why didn’t you tell me I had mascara running down my face?”

  “Didn’t notice.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” He sat on the sofa, and she perched on the opposite end. “Thank you again for helping me get away. I’m sure it wasn’t how you planned to spend your day.”

  “Can’t deny that, and you’re welcome.”

  “You’d probably like to send me on my way, so—”

  “Thought you said you couldn’t go home right now.”

  “I guess I was overreacting.” She wasn’t, and as soon as he dropped her off, she’d put on some clothes and then check herself into a hotel. But she couldn’t do that until she got her purse, which was at home with the luggage she’d packed for her honeymoon.

  “Are you sure about that, Peyton?”

  Noah asked himself what he was about. She’d offered him exactly what he wanted...take her home and forget he ever walked down to that waterfall and found himself a runaway bride.

  After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Tell you what. Why don’t you stay here tonight?” Did he really just say that? “Take the time to figure out whatever you need to before having to face your father and DG.” His mouth was carrying on as if his brain had no opinion in this.

  “Who’s DG?”

  “Dumb Groom.” At least that got a grin from her. She’d been silly at the waterfall, and he kind of missed that side of her.

  She frowned as she glanced around. “Stay here?” Her gaze landed back on him. “Are you sure you’re not a murderer?” Her eyes widened as if she hadn’t meant to say that.

  He snorted. “I wondered the same thing about you.”

  “Why would you think I was?”

  “Thought maybe the unfortunate bastard was floating in the pool under your wedding dress.”

  “You really thought that?”

  “Seemed a possibility, considering.”

  “That’s hilarious. It’s amazing you didn’t skedaddle.”

  He should have. “Believe me, doing that had its appeal.”

  She grinned, then a giggle slipped out, and then she fell back on the sofa and laughed with abandon. Although he didn’t know what was so funny, he liked the way she laughed...all out and lusty. It was actually impressive that she could find things that amusing on the day she was supposed to get married and instead ended up almost naked at a waterfall, two bottles of champagne in tow.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to repair things with your fiancé?” He wasn’t sure she’d thought all that had happened through, didn’t want her to wake up in the morning and regret she hadn’t tried. He still didn’t know exactly why she’d run from her wedding, wished he wasn’t curious to know the
reason. Maybe she’d caught her dumb groom kissing the bridesmaid. That would explain her running.

  She waved a hand in the air. “Pfft. DG is so far in my rearview window that I can’t even see his headlights anymore.” Tears popped up in her eyes. “And so is life as I knew it.”

  The woman was giving him whiplash. She went from giggly to teary in zero to sixty. He supposed it was to be expected considering the emotional ups and downs she’d had today. Or this was her normal. He also wished he wasn’t curious about that, too. What was she like when not playing the role of a runaway bride?

  “Want to talk about it?” Brain to mouth...shut the fuck up.

  “This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to talk to death with your bestie, but I don’t have one of those.”

  “If you did, what would she say?” He’d never talked anything to death and wouldn’t know where to start.

  “That DG had only been using me to get what he wanted. Seems my father promised him my shares of the business if he married me. The shares that were supposed to be mine. I heard him telling his best man that a few minutes before I was supposed to walk down the aisle, so I left.” Anger glinted in her eyes. “My father will never forgive me for the stunt I pulled today, so I lost that anyway. Maybe I should have married DG. At least I’d still have a job.”

  “Would that job be worth marrying a man who was using you?”

  “No. Maybe. I don’t know. Elk Antler is...was basically my life, so now I have nothing.”

  “You said at the waterfall that you knew how to brew good beer, and I wondered about that.” A sexy woman who put her all in it when she laughed and who brewed good beer? What wasn’t to love there? Her DG was a fool.

  “Didn’t believe me, did you?”

  “I figured you meant you brewed beer in your kitchen with one of those do-it-yourself kits.”

  She made a huffing noise. “Little do you know. I’m a master brewer.”

  A sexy female master beer brewer? Now there was every man’s fantasy. “From what I understand, this area is known for its microbreweries. Seems like it would be easy to find another job.”