“Golf course?” I ignored the rich ass snob comments.

“You haven’t seen it yet? I thought it’d call to you as soon as you woke up.”

Unfortunately, I woke up drenched in sweat with a behemoth of a man standing over me in nothing but his underwear. Looking outside hadn’t occurred to me. “No… I’m in the kitchen.”

“So turn your ass around. It’s right there. Good grief, I can’t believe you didn’t notice it first.”

“Shut up,” I said, spinning on my stool, and “Holy freaking shit. There’s a pool… and a golf course.”

I didn’t know what to focus on first. The pool was small but filled the yard perfectly, and behind the privacy fence, up on a slope, were bright green fairways, even brighter white sand traps. They rolled out across the enormous, flat view from the floor-to-ceiling windows with red, flat-topped rocks in the distance.

My breath whooshed from me and thank goodness I was already sitting. It was gorgeous. I caught sight of Kane out there, legs kicked up on a lounge chair in the shade, one of his plates in his lap before Heather distracted me.

“Yeah, wait until you see the view from upstairs. It’s incredible. Whatever, take whatever time you need to relax. Hit the greens or whatever you golf people say and have some fun.”

My excitement, the first real burst of it I’d had since Lincoln’s fist smashed into my cheek, vanished. “I don’t have my clothes. Or clubs.” Oh God, my heart was racing. “Or anything else I own or the cash for fees, or…”

Nothing. I had nothing. I’d let Heather put me on a plane with an airline ticket, a bag of items from Target, and my driver’s license. Other than that, I’d fled like some kind of freak in the middle of the night from everything I knew. Everyone I knew. My life. My belongings. My savings and credit cards…

“Oh holy crap, Emmersyn, breathe. We’ll handle it.”

She shouldn’t have to.

“Listen.” And it was a rare moment when Heather turned serious. Voice lowered, she quietly continued. “None of us could have predicted Lincoln would be this much of a monster. He fooled us all. This is not your fault. It’s his. All of it. Now, will you please let me be one of your best friends in the universe and spoil you for a little bit, so I feel better I fell for all of his bullshit?”

Tears rose then and before I knew it, before I could stop them, fell down my cheeks. “I thought he was perfect.” My finger touched the cut at the edge of my eye. Five stitches. “How could I be so stupid?”

“You’re not stupid. You’re the smartest woman I know.”

“Liar,” I snorted, because even crying, we could call each other on our bullshit. “I’m not.”

“Well, you’re the most beautiful. The sexiest, and soon you’ll learn you’re the strongest, too, okay? Take some time for yourself. Figure out what you want before dealing with Lincoln. I’ll deal with him here.”