However, her chest rose and fell as if she’d biked all the way here. He fought the urge to glance outside to look for the kind of vehicle that had brought her all the way here.

And at that moment, he knew she was here to tell him what she’d held back.

NINE

Mackenzie wasn’t usually indecisive, but standing in the middle of this small cabin with Alex, she wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision. Last evening Nora disclosed that she was living in fear and somehow trapped, and she needed Mackenzie’s help, but even so, Nora didn’t respond well to the news Mackenzie shared. This morning her sister was caught up in an emergency board meeting on the heels of losing the CEO. Rowan’s death had shocked them all.

Better her than me.

So Mackenzie had taken this step out of desperation and barreled into Alex’s cabin. But he might not welcome the intrusion, even though he’d asked her to share the truth. Leave it to this guy to know that she’d held back.

And now, watching him, she thought of a big cat. His demeanor reminded her of a tiger ready to pounce if she made a wrong move. Another reason to second-guess her decision.

“How did you know where I was staying?” He crossed his arms, angled his head, and hinted at flashing that roguish grin. Oh, he was cute. Handsome. Enticing. Whatever. Mackenzie liked him too much. And none of that mattered exactly now.

“I . . .” Oh no. How could she explain it? Where should she start?

“Never mind.” He turned his back on her and moved to the kitchen, leaving her with the distinct impression he needed to put space between them.

Or maybe she was the one who needed the space. Either way, she was grateful for it, because now she could breathe. Never mind that she’d been the one to encroach on his personal space in the first place.

He leaned against the counter, those intense eyes assessing. “I’m sure it wasn’t hard to find me.”

For someone like you. Had she read that thought in his eyes?

She gulped. She’d come here, so might as well dive deep. She rushed to the counter and pressed her palms against it. “I need your help, Alex. I need your help, that is, if you can keep it to yourself.”

His gray eyes roamed her face in that familiar way that let her know he was watching for tells—was she lying? Deceiving? Manipulating?

He frowned. “That’s hard for me to say if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You already know enough, don’t you?” Someone spied on me, then shot at me. At us. Isn’t that enough?