Page 290 of Hide and Keep

“If it means that much to you,I’llgo get you your car.”

“How is that any better? You can’t get within a hundred yards of the manor!” I shout, my hands airborne and turbulent.

He shrugs. Heshrugs.

“I’m less than a hundred yards away from you right now.”

“I was listed on there, too?”

“Your last name’s Munreaux, isn’t it? I’m not supposed to go near anything with the Munreaux label on it.”

“You shouldn’t have come last night. You put yourself in jeopardy.”

“You put me in jeopardy the moment you approached that cliff.”

“Maybe if you weren’t a stalker—”

“Says the creep who used to sneak into my room to watch me sleep.”

I scoff. “I didn’t watch you sleep.”For long.

“What did you do?”

“I just…” I gesture at him. “…would lie behind you and get my face as close as I could to the space between your shoulders without actually touching you.”

“Because that’s where you felt safest?” he asks, referring to what I told him last night.

“Yes.”

“That’s where you still feel safest?”

“Yes.”

“Then stay here. Let me keep you safe.”

“I won’t even see my father. I’ll be in and out.”

“Even if that were true, theft is a crime, too. If you’re willing to go to jail, so am I.”

My ex-bodyguard is truly infuriating. First the cliff, now this.

He’s constantly putting others before himself. It’s his saving grace and his biggest detriment. That’s why he hasn’t left Sea Haven yet.

I never thought I’d agree with my father on anything, ever, but…

Crossing my arms over my chest, I say, “You can’t steal what you already own.”

Crue’s laughter shocks the hell out of me.

“What’s so funny?”

“I saw the registration for the Sapphire. You don’t own it.”

“Yes, I do. My father bought it for me.”

“He bought it for you to drive, but legally, it’s not yours. Your name is only on the insurance.”

I spin to hide the newest onslaught of tears. How can one person cry so much in a twenty-four-hour period?

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