Page 32 of Dangerous Secret

“Harlow? It’s really you?”

“Yeah. Hi. Long time, huh?” Lena had married and moved to Savannah, her husband’s hometown, so there hadn’t been any chance of running into her around town. That had been five years ago, and they’d kept in touch with weekly phone calls until Anthony managed to isolate her from her friends. Why had she let that happen?

“Too long. The last time I tried to call you, it said your phone was disconnected.”

Because Anthony had terminated that phone’s account and given her a new one with a new number. To keep peace with him, she hadn’t given any of her friends that number. Never again, she vowed for what had to be the hundredth time.

“I’m sorry,” she said. There was too much to explain for a phone conversation, but there was one thing she wanted Lena to know. “So, I’m divorced.”

“Good. I never liked Anthony. I know he’s the reason we lost touch. Damn, I’ve missed you, girl.”

“Same. So much. I wish you weren’t so far away. I’d love to have one of our girl nights.” Girl nights for them had been wine, popcorn and staying up late talking and watching romantic movies.

“I have an idea. J.D. has to go to Boston next week for a few days. Why don’t I come see you then?”

“Really? That would be so awesome.”

“How about I get there Tuesday and stay until Thursday. J.D. comes home Friday morning and I’ll need to pick him up at the airport.”

“Perfect.”

“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see Tyler. Gosh, he was only a few months old the last time I saw him.”

“He’s the cutest little boy now. You have my number. It’s the one I called you on. I’ll text you my address.” She’d wait until Lena was here to explain about Tyler.

She disconnected and smiled. A feeling that had been missing from her life grew inside her. It was happiness. She was becoming herself again. She’d reconnected with her best friend. A sexy man, one she liked a lot, had kissed her, and she hoped he would do it again.

That happiness dulled an hour later when Grayson called to tell her that Anthony’s man had placed a tracker on her car. The conversation was brief, and he made no mention of when he would see her again. She’d ended her earliercall to Lena with a tremendous surge of happiness. This time it was with disappointment.

He’d kissed her twice now, and last night’s kiss was amazing, but maybe not so special for him? She replayed it in her mind, every detail, every sensation. The way his lips felt against hers, the way his hands held her so gently yet so firmly. The way he pressed his body against hers, the taste of him, the heat of him, the spicy scent of him. Never had she been kissed as if nothing else mattered but her, as if the man kissing her was consumed by her and only her.

As much as she wanted more, she needed to focus on getting her son back, and when she did, 100 percent of her time would be on Tyler. She hadn’t seen him for months, didn’t know what his state of mind would be. Had Anthony turned him against her? She suspected so, and her heart ached at the thought that her little boy would hate her.

Before she sank into a deep depression and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her, and crying from the bone-deep hurt of missing her son, Harlow decided she had to get out of the apartment. Do something. Maybe she’d take a ride to the beach and walk in the sand. She’d liked strolling through the shallow water that day with Grayson. It had been calming, and she needed calm.

She changed into a new pair of white shorts and a pink T-shirt. A quick check in the mirror brought a smile to her face. She sure looked a lot different from her last walk on the beach. “Much better,” she told her reflection.

Because there was a tracker on her car, she’d take her phone, let Anthony think she didn’t know he was spying on her. She had a right to go wherever she wanted, and she wanted her toes in the sand and her feet in the water.

An hour later, as she drove down Ocean Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach, looking for a place to park, she passedGrayson’s home. She hadn’t intentionally found her way to his house, but when she saw him walking up the stairs to his front door, she shrugged. Why not? This was the new her…or was it the old her coming back to life? Whichever it was, she was here, he was there, and there wasn’t any reason to sneak around. With another shrug, she pulled into his driveway.

He turned and a smile ticked up his lips as she came to a stop. With that smile, her concern that he wouldn’t welcome her vanished. She shut down the engine, and as she stepped out, he jogged back down the stairs.

“I didn’t set out to land on your doorstep,” she said when he stopped in front of her. The dark sunglasses hid his eyes, and the lowered bill of his ball cap shadowed his face as he looked down at her.

He reached up and removed the glasses. “Yet here you are.” He gave her another heart-dropping smile before his gaze focused behind her. “You weren’t followed?”

Where the devil was her brain? It had been an impulsive decision to stop at his house, a wrong one. Rattled, she backed away from him. “I wasn’t thinking. I need to go.” If she’d brought Anthony’s attention to him, she’d never forgive herself.

“Public parking is four blocks down on your right. Go there, then walk back here along the beach.”

“I should just go home.”

“No, do what I said. It’ll be all right.”

She was furious with herself. Sure, she was aware of the trackers on her car and phone, but she’d… Well, she just hadn’t thought. Her bad, but never again. She was well aware of what Anthony was capable of. She needed to be smarter than him, and from this moment on, she would be.

Grayson wrapped his fingers around her elbow. “Get inyour car and go to the public parking, and then walk this way.” He opened her car door. “Go.”

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