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“Open the app and make sure it works,” she said.
“Good idea.” That was his motto. Check and double check.
He grabbed his phone and unlocked it. Opened the app, which he’d put on his home screen. Held up the phone so she could see the app had located the ring very close to the phone.
“Walk to the end of the hall and go into the conference room. See if the ring still shows up.”
“Good idea, since your life could depend on the reliability of this ring. We both need to make sure it works perfectly.”
He stood up. This wasn’t a theoretical exercise for Zoe. Davies was out there somewhere, determined to take her. And if this was her last defense again him, it had to be perfect.
He nodded and stood up. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
He hurried to the door and exited Zoe’s office. Stopped at Janet’s desk. “Please don’t let anyone into Zoe’s office until I come back in a couple of minutes. Okay?”
“No one gets in,” she assured him.
“Thanks, Janet.” With one last look over his shoulder at Zoe’s office, where she was now unguarded and vulnerable, he strode down the hall to the conference room he’d used last week to examine the food Davies had send her. He opened the app and saw the red circle that was Zoe at the other end of the building. Exactly where she was supposed to be.
Spence took a deep breath and slid his phone back into his pocket. They could play with the ring more when they got home, so Zoe could see for herself how closely it was able to track her.
Huh. It wasn’t his home. It was Zoe’s home. But he’d gotten used to calling it that.
Only because he was staying there. That’s why he called it home.
But he was afraid it was a lot more complicated than that. He was afraid his subconscious considered Zoe his home.
And that was a problem.
* * *
When Spence returned to her office and reported that the app located her very precisely, she nodded. She hadn’t really thought that it wouldn’t work perfectly. She knew her sister, knew the streak of perfectionism that ran through her blood, because Zoe had that same need for perfection.
No, she’d sent Spence away because seeing that ring on her finger had rattled her. Hit her emotionally in a way she hadn’t been prepared for.
It was a fitness tracking ring that had been modified to work as a GPS device. She knew that. But the act of sliding the ring on her finger, the symbolism of that, had unleashed an avalanche of emotions inside her. She didn’t want Spence watching her while she struggled to rein them in. Subdue them and bury them beneath layers of carefully constructed walls.
There was no ring from Spence in her future. No nothing from Spence in her future. And did she really want to marry Spence?
She didn’t want to marry anyone. That level of intimacy would be terrifying.
And rings and futures were already off the table. If everything went smoothly at the conference this weekend, Ethan would be in custody and Spence would go back to Montana.
She could make a case for him remaining in Seattle while the police decided what to do with Ethan, but Spence would probably point out that he could be back in Seattle in a few hours if, for some reason, the police released Ethan.
He was probably counting the days until he could return to his real life. Get away from the sticky spider web of emotions that ensnared both of them.
She was counting the days, too, but not in the same way. She was counting the hours she’d have left with Spence before he had to leave.
Her office door clicked open and Spence walked in. She loved the way he moved, confidence in every line of his body. Strength and power surrounded him like a shimmery aura.
They were strong in different ways, but they complemented each other perfectly. No wonder he was freaked out.
Honestly? She was a little freaked out, too.
“How did it work?” she managed to say.
“Worked perfectly.” He dropped into his chair at the table. “We’ll check it out when we get ho… back to your place tonight.” He smiled. “We can play hide and go seek so you’re assured that the ring works.”
