“Or so he said.” Gage kept trekking down the slope, winding around boulders and trees. As Elena followed, the sound of rushing water grew louder. “But was your welfare really his top priority if he’s still running from justice over a decade later?”

“Of course not. But when I was fifteen and still living at home, I will confess I was rooting for him to elude the cops every time we had a close call. If he’d gone to jail, I would have been in the foster system.”

“But instead of telling me that, you decided to take the cash my father offered you.” He shook his head, obviously still thinking the worst of her.

And didn’t that remind her exactly why she’d chosen to leave him in the first place?

“You made it clear what you thought about me,” she retorted, anger coursing through her. “There was no way we could have stayed together after that.”

Her boot heel skidded on dead leaves, and she stuck a hand out to grab Gage’s shoulder.

With lightning-fast reflexes, he reached back to steady her, his hands bracketing her waist. Her heart pounded from his touch. His sudden nearness. All that delectable maleness reminding her that she’d deliberately married someone who didn’t make her insides melt, hoping she’d be safe from the rush of strong emotions that made her feel unstable. Unpredictable.

“Are you okay?” He stood too close, fixing her with his gaze, his strong hands lingering on her.

She remained very still, not sure if she was more worried that he wouldn’t let go of her—or that he would. Because he was in front of her on the downward incline, his eyes were almost level with hers. He was close enough she could see the fine scar above one eyebrow that she knew was from a hiking accident long ago. She’d kissed that place before, and demanded to know the story.

Too many memories.

“Fine.” She forced the words past her lips, her throat dry as she tried to hold on to the anger she’d been feeling just a moment before. “I just wasn’t looking where I was going.”

His fingers fell away from her, but he didn’t step back. For a moment, he seemed to take her measure.

“We’re almost there, anyway. I thought you might like to see this.” He nodded to his left, where a deer path seemed to lead down a steeper ledge. “Will you take my hand for about ten more steps?”

She wondered why he bothered when he thought so little of her.

He held out an upturned palm, letting her choose. It made her think of how prickly she’d become since their breakup. Not just with him, but probably even with Tomas. She hadn’t always been that way—ready to lash out at any moment.