Page 3 of Valor

“I’ve watched you punch in the code.” He shrugged as if the challenge had been negligible. “How have you been?”

She carefully set the yogurt and blueberries aside so that her hands were free. Owen looked better than the last time she’d seen him. For one thing, he could stand without needing assistance. His color was good, and he appeared to have healed completely from his infected gunshot wound.

Her gaze landed on the gun that he wore in a holster attached to his belt. Seeing the weapon should have alarmed her. Being alone with Owen at all should have alarmed her.

But she wasn’t afraid of him. Although maybe she should have been.

“Why are you here?” She crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself calm. “What do you want? You must know the police are still looking for you.”

“Are they?” The way he answered her questions with another question was annoying. “Seems they’re not the only ones.”

What did that mean? She searched his blue eyes for a hint of... what? His feelings for her? She inwardly scoffed at her foolishness. “Let me guess. You want money or a car.”

He averted his gaze. Her heart sank. Of course, he wasn’t there because he wanted to see her. Or because he’d missed her.

“You want my car?” She threw up her hands, irritated that he’d come to take advantage of the situation. “Fine. Take it. I don’t care. Just get out of here. And fast. Before I decide to send my brother after you.”

“I’m not here for your car.” His low, husky voice sent shivers of awareness dancing along her nerves. What was it about him? Why did she care so much? “I’m here to check on you. To make sure you’re okay.”

“Of course I’m okay.” She did her best to sound nonchalant, despite the way her stomach was twisted into knots. “Why do you care anyway? You should be far away from here, Owen. I figured if you were alive, you’d have skipped out of the state by now. Not smart to stick around.” She waved toward the street outside her home. “You should hit the road. I’ll even give you a head start before I call the police.”

“You won’t call the police.” He took another step toward her. She tried to back up but was pressed against the kitchen counter. “You never once reached for your phone.”

The man was infuriatingly right. Calling the police should have been the first thought that entered her mind. Instead, she’d been hit by a wave of relief over knowing he was alive. That despite escaping in the middle of a blizzard while running a fever from an infection, Owen hadn’t died in the snow.

“You haven’t noticed anyone following you? Hanging out nearby? Watching you?” Owen was in the kitchen now, and within arm’s reach.

“No, of course not.” She winced at how breathless her voice sounded. Then the realization of what he was asking sank in. “What are you saying? Do you think someone might come here looking for you?”

“Yeah, exactly.” He held her gaze. Up close, she could see that he was completely healed from his infected wound. He may have lost some weight over his ordeal, but it appeared as if he’d rebuilt his muscle mass. And his tanned skin indicated he’d spent some time in the sun.

“So you came here to prove them right?” She tipped her chin, doing her best to hide her weakness for him. “Great, thanks for doing that. I hope the bad guys you work with didn’t follow you here.”

“I made sure I wasn’t followed, and yeah, I know it was a risk to come back. I had to make sure you were okay.” He raked his gaze over her, and she felt as if he could see through to her heart. “And maybe I just wanted to see you one last time.”

Her breath caught in her throat. For a long moment, neither of them spoke, but then she reminded herself that Owen was a criminal. He worked with drug dealers. He ruined innocent people’s lives.

She refused to be so messed up as to be attracted to a guy like him. He might be drop-dead gorgeous on the outside, but what sort of man could he be on the inside to do something as heinous as selling drugs? She gathered every ounce of her inner strength and narrowed her gaze. “Goodbye, Owen. Have a nice life until the police catch up with you.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. The first since she’d known him. “You’re cute when you’re mad, Em. Very cute.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed away from the counter. Enough was enough. She wasn’t going to be like those pathetic women on reality TV shows who get involved with criminals doing jail time. “And you’re still a low-life scumbag buying and selling drugs.”

Irrationally, a flash of hurt darkened his blue eyes. But it quickly vanished, making her wonder if she’d imagined it or had only seen what she wanted to see.

He gave her a small nod and turned toward the back door. It had a keycode pad installed, just like the front. As he opened the door and stepped outside, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking him to stay.

He didn’t look back at her as he closed the door behind him. A full minute passed before she thought about what he’d said about calling the police.

Why hadn’t she reached for her phone the instant she’d seen him? She pulled it from her scrub pocket but only managed to stare blankly down at the screen.

Irritated, she tossed it on the counter. She didn’t want to call her brother, Doug. Maybe it was the bone-weary exhaustion from working all night combined with seeing Owen again so unexpectedly, but she couldn’t handle all of this now. She’d used all her strength and endurance during her shift.

Besides, once she made the call, Doug would arrive on her doorstep, grill her for information, and then send out a search party to find and arrest Owen.

Which in all honesty was exactly what Owen deserved.

But that could wait until later, when she was better prepared. Crossing over to the back door, she locked it, took a moment to eat her breakfast, and then crawled into bed. She should have fallen asleep instantly, but instead, she restlessly tossed and turned for what seemed like hours before she drifted off.

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