Page 16 of How To Tempt A Bodyguard

"Couldn’t tell me this before?"

"I couldn’t have you refuse." She pushed the purse towards him. "Take it."

He did. Weighed it in his hand. Heavy. Gold. More than he'd make in six months.

"Why Scotland?"

"Because that's where the evidence needs to go. There's a man there who can act on it. A magistrate. Someone beyond the reach of…" She stopped. "Someone I can trust."

"And the ones chasing you? They know where you're headed?"

"They know I'm running north. They don't know exactly where."

"And you lied to the one man hired to protect you."

Her chin lifted. "I protected the mission."

"Your mission. Not mine."

"It's your mission now." She gestured at the purse. "That's the first half. Same again when we arrive. Are you taking the job or not?"

Matthew looked at the gold in his hand. Looked at her.

Every instinct told him to walk away.

But the money was real. And something else nagged at him. The way she'd handled the crash yesterday, the way she'd disguised herself without hesitation, how she fell asleep as if she was secure at home. This wasn't a woman playing at danger. This was a woman who'd lived with it long enough to develop habits.

"I pick the routes," he said. "I decide where we stop. If I say we move, we move."

"Agreed."

"And no more surprises. Anything relevant, you tell me."

She hesitated. He saw her weigh the cost of honesty against the risk of his walking away.

"I'll tell you what you need to know," she said. "When you need to know it."

"Not good enough."

"It's what I can offer."

Not trust. Not partnership. Just a transaction. His protection for her coin, with secrets on both sides.

It should have been enough. It wasn’t.

But watching her stand there, chin lifted, eyes wary, one hand still resting on that trunk like she'd die before letting it go.

He had the unsettling feeling that this was going to be different.

"Fine," he said.

She exhaled, shoulders softening. Relief, quickly hidden.

"We should go," she said. "The carriage is waiting."

"I’ll settle the bill."

"I'll supervise the trunks being loaded."