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He moved even closer, the back of his knuckle tracing along her jawline. “Are you sure?”
She nodded again, then caught the look in his eye. A spark of something sweet and exhilarating burst where the pain had been, and it took everything in her wheelhouse not to physically react to it.
It wasn’t clear at first. In fact, she’d struggled with this feeling for a while now, but now she knew without a doubt what it meant.
She’d fallen for him.
Eloise had allowed the last wall of defense to fall that she had erected around herself. She’d given him the one thing she held most dear when she’d finally brought him here. She’d given him her heart.
21
Shane
When he came into work on Monday, Shane was still reeling from everything that had happened over the weekend.
From finding out that Marc had secretly been spending time with Eloise to having her take him to her special hideaway, his whole soul felt like it had been stuck in a snow globe and shaken viciously. Parts of him were floating up while others floated down. He couldn’t find his bearings, and all he could do was try to make sense of what was most important.
And that was Eloise.
He’d already told her he loved her. Now he just had to protect her from Madeline. His cousin had been quiet for far too long, and now he needed to go on the offensive. Marc seemed to think that Madeline was up to something horrendous. The problem was that Marc wouldn’t expound on his concerns, so how could Shane trust him or his motives?
Stacks of paperwork were piling up on Shane’s desk, a testament to where his head had been since Madeline had shown up. He stared at the pile with disgust. He needed to find a way to get her to leave. Marc appeared to be more benign, so Shane would set his focus on the bigger threat.
“Hello, cousin.” Madeline swept into his office without knocking.
Speak of the devil.
Shane watched her float through the room until she ended up at his side. She pushed aside a stack of files that ended up tipping over and perched on the edge of the desk. Madeline traced a manicured fingernail along the mahogany wood before her eyes flitted to meet his. “I’m so glad I caught you.”
He didn’t dare speak first. He needed as much information as he could get from her without her realizing it. Hopefully she would give him the information he needed to get her to leave.
Madeline pouted, tilting her head as her gaze swept over him. “Oh, you don’t look so good. Has work been hard lately?”
“You could say that,” he muttered through clenched teeth.
“Well, I’ve got a proposition for you.”
“No.”
“But you haven’t heard what I’m going to say.”
“The answer is still no, Madeline. I don’t want anything from you.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not accurate. Idowant something from you. I want you to leave Copper Creek and my friends in peace.”
He didn’t think it was possible, but she puckered her lip out even further. “Oh, you should really play nice, Shane. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
Shane knew exactly what she was capable of; that was the problem. “What do you want, Madeline?”
She examined her fingernails, putting on that act she always did when she wanted to pretend she wasn’t interested in the conversation. But he knew better. “Like I said, I have a proposition. I came across some interesting information and I thought it might interest you.”
He scowled at her. “You’re not going to blackmail me.”
“Who said anything about blackmailingyou?”
The blood in his veins went cold and his heart slowed. He couldn’t catch his breath no matter how much he tried. His mind immediately went to Eloise. Had Madeline found out something about the woman he loved? She was completely capable of threatening others to get what she wanted. And Eloise was his kryptonite.
Shane swallowed hard as he attempted to keep his expression cool. But the look on Madeline’s face was enough to tell him he’d failed.
“Ah. See? I’ve caught your attention.” She stopped examining her fingers and stared at him fully. “Now, before I tell you what I have found, I want you to think really hard about what would happen if certain people discovered secrets in this small town. It’s not like where we lived. This place is so close. Everyone has their nose in everyone else’s business. It’s disgusting, really.”
