The Bride's Secrets

“J.T., please. I need your help.”

His step faltered. He told himself to keep walking, but his feet failed him.

“Just hear me out,” she pleaded. “That’s all I’m asking.”

Fury pulsed in his jaw. He wanted to pretend the past couple of months had never happened. That he hadn’t met and fallen in love with her.

The men who’d shot at them…the chase…zoomed into vivid focus in his mind.

She was in trouble. Obviously. Whatever it was about, she needed help. He couldn’t deny that singular fact.

Nor could he deny another glaring fact.

He couldn’t just walk away and pretend he no longer cared.

He did care.

Damn him.

Mentally kicking himself for being a fool, he changed directions and strode up to the car waiting in the street. The sparse traffic glided around her, the other cars’ occupants likely assuming the two were in the midst of a lovers’ spat.

He stopped at the passenger door and stared at her across the car’s roof. “Two hours,” he confirmed. “You have two hours to explain yourself, and then I’m gone.”

She nodded, her blue eyes wide with worry. Her blond hair was still damp and clung to her face like tendrils of silk.

He said nothing more. Got into the car.

She settled behind the wheel and put the vehicle in Drive.

“Where are we going?”

She glanced at him before rolling forward. “Where we should have gone two weeks ago.”

He frowned. Two weeks ago they would have gone on…

Their honeymoon?

Chapter Five

Crystal Lake, 2:00 a.m.

Eve parked beneath the canopy of trees near the rented cabin. The lack of moonlight left them in darkness, which was just as well, since she was relatively sure she wouldn’t like what she saw in J.T.’s brown eyes.

He hadn’t said a word since they’d left Chicago. Almost an hour later, her nerves were completely frayed. So many times she’d wanted to kick off the conversation. Just get it over with. But she couldn’t take the risk. She’d needed him away from the city, and the danger, before she reopened communication.

This far out he wasn’t likely to walk away.

She’d taken his cell phone and wallet. Until she had him convinced of her theory, she needed him basically at her mercy.

Shooting him wasn’t an option.

She got out of the car, reached into the backseat and grabbed her bag and stalked to the cabin. The honeymoon arrangements had been her idea. Convincing J.T. to stay close to home after the wedding, owing to her work commitments, had been easy enough. She’d rented the cabin for a month, rather than the weekend she’d told him about. Having a backup plan was her motto. She never left home without one.

Digging the key from her soggy bag, she breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in weeks. Two to be exact.

But this was far from over.

“If this is a joke, I’m not amused.”

It wasn’t a joke and she wasn’t amused, either. This was about survival.

“We can talk inside.”

She pushed through the door and left it open. If she was lucky, he would follow without any additional persuasion.

But then—she flipped on a light and turned to wait for his entrance—she’d never been one to wait on luck. Her fingers itched to reach into her bag and grab the Glock, make this easy.

Easy wouldn’t work with J.T. He had to come around on his own terms. She’d learned that, if nothing else, in the couple of months they’d spent together.

Tall and gorgeous as ever, he loomed in the doorway, his T-shirt still damp and clinging to his chest. The bloody stain on his left sleeve a reminder that he’d been injured. She didn’t know all the details related to last night’s attack, but she was certain the incident had nothing to do with their situation. He’d mentioned the head of the Colby Agency’s grandchild. Maybe the injury had something to do with that.

Before she could stop herself, her gaze had traveled down the length of him. From his dark hair and eyes to the still-soggy trousers molded to his muscled thighs. Her pulse skipped in spite of her determination not to react to him physically. Apparently that wasn’t a facet of this situation she had under control just yet.

That was something else she’d learned recently. She wasn’t completely immune to certain…things.

And he was one of them.

Just when she thought maybe she might need her Glock after all, he stepped into the room and closed the door. Would wonders never cease?

He’d promised her two hours. The clock was ticking.

Eve tossed her bag onto the sofa and plowed her fingers through her hair. It was almost dry now, but it smelled like nasty harbor water. “There’s a change of clothes in the bedroom.” She nodded toward his arm. “You should probably shower and clean up that wound. I’ll make some coffee.”

He looked around the room. It was the perfect getaway. That was why she’d chosen it. The small but upscale kitchen with an intimate dining spot included a magnificent view of the trees and mountains surrounding them. A cozy living room with a fireplace—not that they would need it in July—comfy leather furniture, no distractions. No television, no VCR, no radio. Just a CD player with a collection of let’s-make-love music. And wine. She had made sure there was wine and food, along with a couple of changes of clothes. She knew his size…by heart.

“Then,” he said, that dark gaze colliding with hers, “I’m going to ask questions and you’re going to answer them. All of them.”

He gave her his back and headed for the only other room in the cabin: the bedroom suite. Jacuzzi tub, a shower large enough to dance in. And a massive king-size bed surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows.

Not exactly your regular, everyday cabin.

This one was designed and furnished for making memories.

The forever kind.

Eve hadn’t made a forever kind of memory in her entire life.

Starting now would be a mistake.