Blake silently watched what she was doing.
For some reason, she was flustered. It probably had something to do with being followed, with worrying about what Anton could do next. Or how much time she was spending with Blake.
She’d tried hard over the last week to keep away from him. But he kept appearing in the office she was using, buying her and Sam fresh muffins or offering to cook her dinner. It was enough to make her run for the nearest hills.
When the soap was the consistency she needed, she turned off the blender and left it on the counter.
Blake moved closer. “What was the purple stuff you used?”
“I added purple clay to the lye mixture. It doesn’t add any extra nutrients, but it makes the soap a lovely color.” She took a container off the open shelves. “This is lavender essential oil. And this,” she took another bottle off the shelf, “is my secret ingredient. I add a small amount of tangerine oil to my soap.”
Blake sniffed. “Smells good.”
Even though she was tired, Elizabeth smiled. “Wait until you try the finished product. You’ll never want to leave your bathroom again.”
His hand pushed a stray lock of hair off her face. “Or I’ll never want to leave you.”
Elizabeth’s heart pounded. Her face flamed hotter than the sun. “You shouldn’t say things like that.” She stepped away from Blake’s hand, away from the longing in his eyes.
“You think I don’t mean it?”
“I know you don’t mean it. You’re just…” There had to be an explanation for why he was acting like he felt something for her. “You’re missing Janelle.”
“Janelle?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Your last girlfriend.”
Blake scowled. “We’ve been through this before. Her name was Chantal and I don’t miss her.”
Elizabeth stirred the essential oils into the soap. “You’re having dating withdrawal symptoms, that’s all.” She slid the molds toward her, pleased that she’d seen Blake’s declaration of love for what it was. She was too old to deal with his overactive hormones.
She rearranged a few of the lavender petals she’d placed inside the molds. When they looked better, she opened a drawer and took out a ladle. Using every scrap of concentration she could muster, she poured the soap into the first mold.
“Elizabeth?”
Blake’s deep voice sent goose bumps along her skin. When he was in this type of mood, it was better to ignore him. She focused on the next mold.
“Why don’t you want to talk about us?”
Her hand shook so much that she had to put down the ladle. Maybe ignoring Blake wasn’t the best thing to do. She took a deep breath and turned toward him. Bad idea. He looked as though he wanted to devour her whole and come back for seconds. “When I was in college, I told you how I felt about you. You told me I was your best friend’s sister and off limits. I also recall you saying that the likelihood of you ever seeing me as more than a friend was zilch.”
“I didn’t use the word ‘zilch’,” Blake muttered.
Elizabeth crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Pardon me for confusing your vocabulary with mine.”
“I was twenty-two years old. All I cared about was…” Blake clamped his mouth shut.
“Wise move.” Elizabeth picked up the ladle. If he came any closer, she’d whack him over the head with it.
“At least I’d smell sweet,” Blake whispered from beside her.
Elizabeth turned around. “Would you keep out of my head?”
“Okay.”
And before she could work out why he was smiling, his lips touched hers. Except their lips didn’t just touch, they collided, headfirst, and sent shock waves crashing through her body.
Kissing Blake was like being strapped to an electric chair and begging for more. He teased and cajoled, nipped and caressed. She was spinning in circles, unsure about why they were kissing and where it would end.
When his mouth trailed a hot path to her neck, she lifted her hands to his chest. “What are you…” Her sigh turned into a moan. “…doing?” Elizabeth’s voice broke, hovering between desperation and denial.
“Do you want me to stop?” Blake growled softly against her skin.
She should push him away, take a deep breath, and forget this ever happened. She should—
He pulled her against him and she sighed. For eighteen years she’d wondered what it would feel like to kiss Blake. Now she knew and she didn’t want it to end.
She ran her fingers through his hair and swallowed the moan that tore from his throat.
“Elizabeth…”
Her hands moved to the bottom of his shirt, yanking the cotton free of his jeans. “I need to touch you.”
Hot, hard, muscles flexed beneath her fingers.
Blake’s breath turned ragged. “We need to slow down or I’m not going to—”
Elizabeth pushed him against the counter, silencing his words with a kiss that told him exactly what she wanted.
Blake froze.
She nipped his jaw. “What’s wrong?”
“I think we’ve spilled something.”
Elizabeth frowned. What was he talking about?
Blake turned and looked behind him.
By the time she realized what had happened, he’d picked up the bottle of lavender oil. Oh, no. “Don’t touch the oil!”
He dropped the bottle onto the counter. “What’s wrong with it?”
Elizabeth rushed across to the sink and grabbed a dishcloth. “It’s a lot more concentrated than what you buy in a store. You’ll smell like a lavender farm.”
Blake sniffed his hands and gagged. “It’s not too bad.”
She almost believed him until she looked into his eyes. They were watering. “It will be worse when you leave my studio.”
He scrubbed his hands under the faucet.
Elizabeth found some gloves and screwed the cap on the bottle. After she’d wiped everything down, she looked at Blake.
“It could be worse.”
He sniffed his fingers and sighed. “How?”
“We could have kept kissing.”
Blake smiled. “Kissing you is much better than smelling like my grandmother’s closet.”
Instead of being annoyed that he’d compared her soap to a closet, she grinned like a love-struck fool. “It can’t be that bad.”
He held out his hands and Elizabeth sniffed. It was every bit as bad as he thought.
By two o’clock the following afternoon, Elizabeth knew what had caused her truck to stop.
Detective Joseph McCormick had driven to Daniel’s office and delivered the news along with her keys. Someone had hacked into her GPS vehicle tracker and remotely disabled the engine.
“That has to be illegal,” Elizabeth spluttered. “I could have been killed.”
“In other circumstances, maybe. It was fortunate that you weren’t traveling any faster.”
“Are you searching for the person who hacked the program?” Sam asked.
“We don’t have the specialist staff in Bozeman to do that. But John Fletcher has asked his IT team to look into it for us.”
Sam frowned. “That’s the team I manage. Did he say who he asked?”
Joseph shook his head. “Not that I’ve been told. It would be better to speak to him.” He glanced at Elizabeth. “It would take a lot of specialist IT knowledge to disable your engine.”
“You don’t think Anton de Bresney could do it?”
Joseph looked at Sam. “Your friend would know more about that than me.”
Sam frowned. “Hacking a GPS system isn’t easy, but Anton didn’t have to do it himself. He could have hired someone to give him remote access.”
Elizabeth sat on the edge of her seat. “Did he need to be close to my truck when he disabled the engine?”
“It depends on how he did it. From what I’ve read of Anton, he would have wanted to be close—just so he could see what happened.”
“You thin
k he was driving behind us?”
“It’s highly likely,” Sam said. “Depending on the program, the closer he was when he disabled the engine, the better chance it would have of working.”
Elizabeth’s stomach twisted into a tight knot. “It’s such a cowardly way of hurting someone.”
“Anton de Bresney doesn’t care who he hurts.” Joseph checked his cell phone, then picked up his hat. “I need to leave. If you have any questions, you can reach me at the police station.”
Elizabeth stood and shook his hand. “Thank you for telling us what’s happening.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
As Joseph left the building, a horn tooted from outside the building.
Sam looked through the front window. “I need to move my truck. Where are we going next?”
“To see Blake.”
“Are you taking your truck?”
Elizabeth picked up her keys. “I am.” If she didn’t drive now, it would be harder next time she needed to go somewhere.
“I’ll stay right behind you. Just stop if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” To take her mind off the nerves jumping around her stomach, Elizabeth thought of all the things she needed to do. Daniel wanted her to call him as soon as she knew what had stopped her truck. But he was meeting some clients and she was reluctant to interrupt him. She didn’t know how he would react or what he would say.
And even though they knew what had made her truck lose power, they still didn’t know who had hacked the program. For all she knew, Anton de Bresney could be back in Cedar Rapids. Someone else could be looking for revenge after a decision had gone against them.
“Elizabeth?” Sam asked. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head to clear away the bad memories. “I’m fine.”
“Are you worried about driving your truck?”
“A little.”
Sam rubbed Elizabeth’s arm. “It’s okay. The police have checked every square inch to make sure it’s safe. They wouldn’t have released the truck if there was something wrong.”
Elizabeth took a deep breath and kept walking. “You’re right. I’m worrying about nothing.” Except it wasn’t nothing. Someone had tried to kill her and he wasn’t going away.
Blake looked through his front window at the two women crossing the road. Elizabeth was wearing the same bright blue hat and coat that she’d worn last night.
He hadn’t seen her at breakfast. Daniel told him she’d gone to the clinic at the crack of dawn to meet Paul. Part of him wondered if she was avoiding him because of what happened in her studio. The other part was worried it hadn’t meant anything to her.
Kissing Elizabeth was the dumbest thing he’d ever done. But as far as kisses went, it had been beyond incredible. Nothing had ever felt so right, or so wrong. If he’d ruined their friendship he’d stay away, give her space to live her own life and not be part of his.
Sam pointed to something above the windows.
Blake assumed she was looking at the sign that had arrived this morning. His contractors were working long hours to finish the remodel. In less than a week, he’d have a fully functioning office. All the latest IT features had been integrated into the layout. They were creating a modern, future-proofed environment for the next decade.
Elizabeth stopped and answered her cell phone.
Before he’d gone to bed last night, he’d tried to convince her to stay home today. She wouldn’t listen. He didn’t know if it was stubborn pride or sheer willpower that made her determined to live a normal life—despite someone trying to hurt her.
The reason Elizabeth never backed down was probably as complicated as she was. It had taken him eighteen years to understand some of the things that drove her. It could take the rest of his life to figure out the rest.
The front door opened and she walked into the building with Sam.
He leaned against the reception counter and studied Elizabeth. Her skin was as pale as a full moon and her eyes were clouded with worry. “What did the police say?”
Elizabeth looked at Sam.
A warning bell sounded in his head. Elizabeth only let another person answer a question when she was too emotional to talk.
Sam cleared her throat. “Someone hacked into the GPS system in Elizabeth’s truck. They accessed the onboard electronics and remotely turned off the power to the engine.”
His gaze snapped back to Elizabeth. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. Sam’s team at Fletcher Security are trying to find the person who did it.”
Blake ran his hands through his hair. “Does anyone know when the hack took place?”
Sam shook her head. “I wish we could pinpoint the time it happened, but at this stage, we can’t. It might not have been Anton.”
Elizabeth bit her bottom lip. “My truck was four years old when I bought it. The GPS tracking software was already installed.”
Sam sniffed the air. “What’s that smell? It’s almost like—”
“Lavender?” Blake asked.
“That’s it. Are you pumping it through the ventilation system? It’s a wonderful way of de-stressing.”
Blake’s face grew hot under Sam’s intense gaze. “I spilled a bottle of lavender oil. Some of it landed on my hands.”
“You don’t seem the type of person who uses—”
“It was mine,” Elizabeth said quickly. “I was showing Blake how I make organic soap.” She looked around the reception area. “This looks different than when I was last here.”
Sam frowned. “You make soap?”
“It’s very therapeutic.” Blake grinned. Despite the danger Elizabeth was in, her ferocious glare made him laugh.
“We didn’t come here to discuss my soap,” Elizabeth growled. “Do you have time to answer a question?”
Blake tried to look serious. “Sure.”
Elizabeth undid her jacket. Blond hair spilled over her shoulders, catching the sunlight and making her look even more beautiful than usual.
She caught him looking at her and a soft blush warmed her cheeks. “I was sent an invitation yesterday, from a foundation. With everything that happened last night, I forgot to mention it. The trustees have invited me to a meeting to discuss the clinic.”
“That sounds promising.” There was no way she would be able to link him to the foundation. He’d sworn Daniel to secrecy and John wouldn’t have mentioned anything.
“I thought so, too. Except I’ve never asked that foundation for money. I didn’t even know they existed.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they know someone who lives in Bozeman. They could have told them about the clinic.”
“But how would they know what I was doing?”
Sometimes Elizabeth’s persistent streak was annoying. Especially when he had something to hide. “Lots of people know about the clinic. Even the mayor would have seen what’s happening.”
Elizabeth didn’t look as though she believed him. That’s what you get when you’ve known someone for eighteen years.
“Have you heard of the Amanda Harrington Foundation?”
And there it was. The question he didn’t want to answer. It was all very well fudging the edges of the truth, but outright lying wasn’t his style. Especially to Elizabeth.
“Daniel mentioned the foundation yesterday.” He crossed his fingers, hoping her brother’s name might divert the conversation to other things.
“You already knew?”
He nodded. He’d have to be careful what he said. “Daniel told me about the invitation. He also said you’ve heard back from the Safer Communities Board. Congratulations on being awarded eight thousand dollars.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Thanks. It was a lot more than I expected. They’re as anxious as I am to make sure we have more emergency accommodation over the holidays. Are you sure you don’t know anything about the Amanda Harrington Foundation? Their head office is in Chicago.”
“I…umm—”
> “Hey, boss. Can you come and…” Stefan Willis, one of his electricians, walked through the door. “Sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” He nodded at Sam and Elizabeth. “Hi.”
Sam reached out and shook Stefan’s hand. “Hi. I’m Sam and this is Elizabeth.”
“Nice to meet you. I can come back later.”
Blake wasn’t wasting a perfectly good diversion. “It’s okay. We’ve nearly finished.” He ignored Elizabeth’s scowl. “Are you going back to Daniel’s office?”
“That’s the plan,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be there until midday. After lunch, Sam and I are meeting Paul at the hardware store. We should be back at Daniel’s office by three o’clock.”
The one thing they had agreed on last night was that Elizabeth would let Blake and Daniel know where she was. “Be careful. Even though the snowplows are working, the roads are still dangerous.”
Elizabeth jammed her woolly hat on her head. “Do you have any other instructions?”
He had a few, but Elizabeth wouldn’t like where his mind had wandered.
She blushed and muttered something under her breath.
He grinned. “I’ll see you tonight. Holly’s coming for dinner.”
Elizabeth’s face lost some of its ‘I want to murder you’ look. “I’ll call Daniel and see if he wants me to bring dessert.”
“Cheesecake?”
Her scowl returned. “Maybe.” She zipped up her jacket and turned to Sam. “Are you ready to leave?”
Sam nodded.
“I’ll see you tonight, Blake. It was nice meeting you, Stefan.”
“Likewise.”
Surrounded by an air of huffy indignation, Elizabeth left his office.
“Wow,” Stefan said. “Who were they?”
Explaining his complicated relationship with Elizabeth would take more time than he had. Sam, on the other hand, was an easy fix. “Sam works for Fletcher Security.”
“Nice.”
Blake’s eyebrows rose. “What did you want me to look at?”
Stefan pulled his gaze away from the window. “The cabling. We have to cut a hole in one of the walls you don’t want us to touch.”
“Let’s take a look.” Blake glanced at Elizabeth as she crossed the road. Burying himself in work should make him forget how good she’d felt in his arms. If that didn’t work, he’d have to find a plan B.
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