Page 33 of Bear’s True Mate

13

ROSE

My heart kickstarted inside my chest, and I nearly dropped my mug of tea.

Did he just say what I thought he had? Had I heard him right?

“What? How do you know?” I asked, my voice sounding as shaky as I felt.

Nolan ran a hand through his hair and dropped his gaze to the floor. “Delilah from the cafe told me there was a man asking around this morning about you. He had a picture of you on his phone he was showing everyone.”

Evan.

It had to be him.

My stomach bottomed out, and I had to set my tea down. I placed it on the coffee table and then shifted to sit on the couch, my legs not feeling strong enough to hold me up anymore.

“There’s more,” Nolan said, and dread powered through me. “Delilah saw him talking with a guy named Darren. They made a deal.”

“A deal about what?”

“Evan paid Darren some cash for the address of where you were staying.”

The room tilted.

“How did he know where I was staying?” I asked, even though I thought I already knew the answer.

“It’s a small town. People talk.”

“Right.”

He was here.

Evan was in Driftwood Cove. He’d found the town, found someone willing to point him in the right direction of me, and now he knew exactly where I was.

Nolan crouched in front of me, his face level with mine.

“Nothing’s going to happen to you. He’s not going to touch you again,” he said, his gaze never wavering from mine. “You hear me?”

I nodded, but the nod was automatic. My body was doing the things it was supposed to do while my brain screamed that Evan could show up any moment.

“I can stay,” Nolan said. “Blow off the last few jobs I have today. Be right here.”

The word yes was right there. Every terrified part of me wanted to say it, but I didn’t.

“I’ll be okay,” I heard myself say instead.

He didn’t believe me. I could see it in the way his jaw tensed and the way his eyes moved across my face like he was checking for any indication I hadn’t said what I meant to.

“Lock the door behind me,” he said, standing. “And if he reaches out again or shows up, you come get me. I mean it. Come get me.”

“I will.”

“Promise me, Rose.”

“I promise.”

He looked at me for another long second. Then he went to the door, opening it. Before he stepped outside, he turned back to look at me again, and the expression on his face was so protective and filled with worry that it made my chest ache.