Page 57 of Lethal Threat
He shrugs out of his snowy coat and hangs it by the back door. “Sorry I scared you.”
My heart races as I flutter my hand over my chest. “It’s okay. I don’t need a defibrillator, this time.”
He stands stock still. God, he looks intense. I cover my cheeks with my palms, hoping that I’m not pale from being startled. The man will really freak out if he thinks I look faint.
I paste on a smile that makes my bruised cheek protest. “Maybe a little warning, next time, please.”
Cole’s unamused. The scowl he’s wearing gets worse.Yikes.
In a grumbled tone, he says, “Thought you heard me come in. I stomped my boots on the rug.”
“I was too busy being dazzled by this.” I point to the open freezer door and the perfectly organized glass containers. “There must be six months worth of meals.”
“Nolene stocked me up when I came home. She worries that I’m starving over here on this side of the valley.”
My stomach lets out a very loud protest as I focus one particularly tasty looking container markedWhite Chicken Chili.
“Well, I’ve got to thank this mother named Nolene because I’m going to eat this one. I hope you don’t mind.” After closing the freezer door, I ask, “Are you ready to eat?”
“Sure.”
But the look on his face says something else.
Anxiety immediately unfurls in my gut.
I know he’s stressed. So am I, and I’m over this emotional whiplash. It’s time for the rubber to meet the road. I stiffen my spine as I clutch the frozen food container. “Cole, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Silently, he moves across the room to me. He doesn’tstride, but he doesn’t drag his feet. There’s a war of some kind going on behind his eyes.
“Sit down, Sierra. We need to talk about some things.” He wraps a hand around my upper arm and guides me to one of the chairs. That’s when my worry blossoms into full blown distress.
His tone unnerves me. The edge on his expression flat out scares me. “You’re making me nervous.”
“Well, I’m pretty damned tense too, if that makes you feel any better. I’m not looking forward to what I’m about to do.”
Gulp.Just breathe, Sierra.
Only the room feels like there’s not enough air.
Words wheeze out of me. “Whatever it is. Just tell me. Nothing in my life makes sense right now. So I need for you to stop handling me like I’m fragile and be straight up with me.”
Cole leans forward, planting his elbows on his knees. His eyes are troubled. He studies me while my heart imitates a snare drum. With a terrible drummer.
He exhales. Scrubs his hand over his face.
I’m hanging by a thread that’s ready to snap. “For the love of God, Cole, please. Spit it out.”
Those dark, penetrating eyes drift closed before they open and nail me to my seat. “The whole fiancé thing was fabricated so you could be released from the hospital.”
It takes twenty seconds before the wordfabricatedreally registers.
A weird sensation tightens my stomach. My hands feel cold and tingly. The entire world seems to come to a pinpoint of focus.
Just us. Awful silence.
I stammer, “Y-you lied about us being engaged?”
He wraps his hand around his jaw, rubs at the scruff, but he doesn’t answer. The man looks like he wants to bolt.
