Cam drew back as if stung.

Silently, she berated herself over her reaction.

So Alex had touched her. She’d felt his skin on hers for the first time in an eternity.

Big deal.

Then why was her heart stuttering? Why did the spot where he’d touched her seem to tingle, to vibrate with some weird, raw energy?

She pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut for the briefest of moments.

His touch should have no affect on her. After all, she’d actually undressed him a few hours earlier, and that hadn’t sent shivers down her spine.

She swallowed. Okay, so maybe it had a little. She’d been all business at first, but as much as she’d tried to stay focused, she couldn’t help but notice the array of tattoos on his muscled chest, the sinewy muscles in his thighs and calves, the soft bulge in his boxer briefs…

Cam blinked a couple of times. She was exhausted from lack of sleep. That explained her ridiculous response just now. Keeping vigil over Alex during the night had taken its toll. She’d left his side for only the briefest of moments: to brew an extra strong pot of coffee, to refill her mug every time she drained it, and to relieve herself as the liquid ran through her. But even still, those trips out of the bedroom where she’d set him up were less than a minute at a time. And not a single one of those minutes had brought a second’s worth of rest. She’d needed to be vigilant. And being vigilant had meant staying awake.

Cam told herself she was doing this, behaving this way, because she didn’t trust him. He could bolt at any minute. Disappear into the night, leaving her with all of her unanswered questions. That was not an outcome she was prepared to accept.

She set her phone in her lap, abandoning that plan for the moment, and reached for something else on the nightstand instead.

Her coffee.

She sipped it, hoping it would provide some much-needed clarity. But the liquid had gone cold. She wished she could top it off, not just to warm what was already there but so she had more to help fortify her.

It wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t dare leave him now. Not when he was awake.

And not when she could finally pose the questions that had consumed her during the late hours of the night.

It had been hard to watch Alex sleep. Hell, it had been hard to get him into the damn bed. After he passed out on the floor, she’d made quick work of getting the knife out of his leg. She wasn’t trained medical staff by any means, but as an officer she’d gone through basic first aid and trauma training. Having a brother who was a doctor had also helped. There had been several nights during his med school training where they’d FaceTimed and Cam had drilled him with questions to prepare for exams. After those calls ended, she always felt like she was going through the classes with him.

Not all of the information had stuck with her, of course, but she had a pretty good handle on how to treat basic wounds. Clean it. Staunch the bleeding. Wrap it. And then seek medical help.

She was three for four in the process. Miguel would be proud.

Well, until he found out who her patient was…

Her big brother had sworn an oath to help care for the sick, but she was pretty sure he’d throw it out the window if he knew who was currently resting in her guest bed.

Cam took one more fortifying sip of coffee and set the mug back down.

She needed to focus.

Drawing a deep breath, hoping it would steady her fraying nerves, she zeroed in on the list of questions she’d mentally prepared. She would try again and then, if Alex still chose not to respond, she’d pick up her phone and not hesitate a single second to make the call that would bring a cruiser to her door.

“We need to do this,” she told Alex.

He turned his gaze to her. “Do what?”

“I need to ask my questions and you need to answer them.” Her voice sounded surprisingly calm. Good.

Score one for Cam.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

She could see his hesitation, the flicker of some emotion in his eyes. Was it fear? Worry? Back in high school, she could always tell what he was thinking. But now? It was like there was a filter that blurred her view, denying her full access.

He swallowed, wincing as he did so, and she felt a small tug in her stomach. She might have spent the last decade of her life hating him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to watch him writhe in pain.

“Answer the question.”

He nodded. “I’m here because I had nowhere else to go.”

Alex’s seemingly candid response took her by surprise, and a cascade of new questions flooded her.

“Nowhere?”

Did that mean he was homeless? Banished from whatever home or apartment he’d been living in? Were the cops after him?

She rolled her eyes. Of course they were. That actually felt like a question she didn’t even need to contemplate.

“What happened last night?”

“I came here.”

Cam frowned.

His lips curved into a semblance of a smile. “Well I did, didn’t I?”

She gave him a grim smile of her own. Two could play his game. She would just ask specific questions from now on.

“Where were you coming from?”

“Bentley.”

Cam frowned. Bentley was thirty minutes due west, a city whose population had swelled to close to fifty thousand with the addition of a state college back in the sixties and a burgeoning manufacturing community. She’d never stepped foot in the town but she knew a little about it, just like she knew tidbits about other cities in the state.

Bentley was going through a particularly rough patch—had been for the past few years, if memory served her correctly. The rapid growth they’d experienced in a short amount of time had come with a host of problems: the housing market boomed and then went bust, and with the closure of some of the manufacturing plants during the recession a decade earlier, unemployment still skewed higher than many of the neighboring towns. They’d also seen an uptick in drug use, especially opioids and arrests. In fact, Cam was pretty sure they were ranked first in opioid arrests in the state.

Not exactly a thing to brag about.

“Why were you in Bentley?” she asked. “Is that where you live?”

Wordlessly, he nodded.

Her frown deepened. She knew better than to ask yes or no questions. She tried again. “What brought you to Aspen Falls?”

Another ghost of a smile appeared. “A car.”

Her fingers tightened on her mug. She was tempted to launch it at his head.

“Your car?”

He shook his head.

“Whose was it, then?”

He went to shrug, then thought better of it. The grimace on his face told her how much pain that simple movement had caused him. “I didn’t ask.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Did you…steal it?”

“It was an Uber,” he said, arching a brow. “The driver and I didn’t make much conversation. Although he did try. I’ll give him credit for that.”

She ignored him. “What happened in Bentley?”

He sucked in his lower lip.

She waited.

“Can I have a cup of coffee?” he asked.

“What? Right now?”

Alex nodded. “I haven’t had anything to eat or drink since…I don’t know since when.”

She tamped down the guilt threatening to rise up inside of her as she processed this statement. It wasn’t her job to take care of him. She wasn’t his nurse, and he wasn’t her responsibility. The only reason she’d let him stay was so she could ask him questions and then hand him over to the proper authorities.

But still, she got to her feet. Reluctantly, though.

At least she felt a little torn.

“Cream or sugar?” she asked.

He gazed at her. “Always black.” His dark eyes threatened to swallow her up. “Did you forget?”

Her cheeks warmed. Of course she hadn’t forgotten. Alex had started drinking coffee because of her, a way to stay warm during the wickedly cold winters. A gas station near their neighborhood sold a refillable cup one year, where ten bucks could buy unlimited coffee for the entire winter. Cam didn’t have ten bucks, but she had five. She and Alex had split the difference and passed the cup back and forth all winter long. When they were together—which was often—they shared it, and Alex always complained when she dumped hazelnut creamer and packets of sugar into the cup.

She remembered not wanting to admit that the more she put in her coffee, the less hungry she felt.

“I didn’t forget,” she said curtly, forcibly trying to oust the memory from her mind.

She assessed his position in the bed. He looked harmless, immobile, but she knew better than to trust appearances. Part of her was convinced that the moment she turned her back, he would try to make a run for it.

He met her gaze, his eyes unwavering as they locked on hers. “I’m not going anywhere.” He waved a hand at his chest. “I’m not exactly in any condition to try, now am I?”

She tried to swallow her irritation. It irked her that he could so easily read what she was thinking.

He’d always had that ability.

And it had always driven her nuts.

“I’ll be right back.” It came out sounding like a warning.

Good.

Cam practically sprinted to the kitchen, hauling out a mug and filling it with coffee in record time. Drops of hot liquid spilled on her hand, and she muttered a string of expletives as she rushed back to the guest bedroom where she’d put Alex.

He was right where she’d left him.

She held out the mug and he tried to adjust himself into more of an upright position. It was hard, though, and Cam watched as he struggled to get comfortable. It was impossible not to feel a pang of sympathy for him. He was clearly in a lot of pain still.

He accepted the coffee gratefully.

She sat back down in her chair, realizing belatedly that she should have taken her own cup with her to top it off.

Oh well. She’d had an entire pot already. She could wait for a refill.

What she didn’t want to wait for were answers to her questions.

“So tell me,” she said, once he had gotten down a few sips.

Alex cradled the mug in his hands. The coffee must have been some type of magical elixir because his color immediately improved. His complexion went from sallow to the creamy brown she remembered, and a rosy tinge blossomed on his cheeks. Even his lips looked pinker, fuller.

She dragged her eyes away.

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me what happened in Bentley.”

“I was jumped.”

He said it so quickly, so easily, that Cam wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “What?”

“I was jumped.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t ask,” he said dryly.

She shook her head impatiently. “Why do you think they jumped you?”

“Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”

She stared at him with narrowed eyes.

She didn’t believe him for a second.

There was more to the story. More he wasn’t telling her.

“So why did you come here?” she asked. “To Aspen Falls. And to my house.”

He took another sip of his coffee, and she glared at him. She knew exactly what he was doing. Stalling for time. Because he didn’t want to tell her.

She was about to ask again, more firmly this time. She was even contemplating ripping the mug out of his hands so he couldn’t use it to hide behind.

But a knock at the front door stopped her.

Her gaze flew to the small digital clock on the nightstand. It was barely eight on a Saturday morning. Who in the world would be knocking on her door at this hour?

There was a loud thump and she swiveled so she was facing the bed again. She sucked in a startled breath. Alex was out of the bed, swaying unsteadily on his feet. Dressed in only his boxers, his tall, well-muscled frame was on full display. She tried not to stare at his broad shoulders and tanned chest, at the tattoos that graced his clavicle and dipped down toward his pecs. He clutched his stomach as he staggered toward the window.

Cam was instantly on her feet. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

His eyes were wide. With fear or pain, she didn’t know. Maybe both.

Another knock came, louder this time.

The hairs on the back of Cam’s neck stood at attention.

She walked toward Alex, approaching him the way she might a wounded animal. “You’re okay,” she said, her voice calm.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. “No,” he said, shaking his head.

“You need to lie down,” she told him. “You’re in no condition to be standing. To be walking.”

Another knock.

Alex took another painful step closer to the window. Cam had no doubt he’d probably launch himself through the glass, he was so panicked.

“Please,” Cam pleaded. “Just lie down. I’ll go see who it is.”

“No!” His voice was forceful.

She stiffened. She knew he was acting from a place of fear, but there was no way she was going to allow this man to tell her what to do.

She didn’t let anyone dictate what she did.

“Stay here,” she said firmly.

She spun on her heel and headed out of the bedroom.

“Camila.” Alex’s anguished voice called for her, sending shivers down her spine.

Who the hell did he think was at the door?

For the briefest of moments, she wondered if maybe she shouldn’t answer. Or that maybe she should grab her gun from the closet.

If she could find it, she reminded herself.

She approached the door gingerly, keeping her footsteps light. The blinds were still drawn and the lights were off. With her car tucked away in the garage, there was no reason anyone should think someone was up or even at home.

Standing on her tiptoes, Cam centered her right eye over the peephole. A heavyset man wearing an ill-fitting suit stood on her doorstep, holding a binder. Her eyes zeroed in on the large lettering emblazoned on the front.

Top Notch Security.

Relief bubbled inside of her.

A security firm. The one that constantly ran radio ads on the local stations.

The man raised his hand as if he were about to knock again, and she knew what would happen: one more rat-a-tat-tat just might send Alex straight out the window.

She flung the door open before the man’s knuckles met the wood.

He looked visibly surprised; a little startled even. “Oh. Hello.” He pasted on a smile. “My name is Duncan Powell and I’m from Top Notch Security. I was in the neighborhood and noticed you don’t have a home security system.”

“That’s correct.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, ma’am, have you ever considered getting one? With crime rates going up, people are more vulnerable than ever to in-home criminal activity.”

Cam raised her eyebrows. Crime was going up? She wondered what skewed statistics he’d produce if she questioned him on it, or if he’d just flat-out made that up as part of his sales pitch. She knew full well that crime rates were down all over—not just in Aspen Falls but the country as a whole.

Part of her was sorely tempted to challenge Duncan Powell, to engage him in conversation so she could flay him with all of her facts and figures.

But then she remembered who else was in her house.

A man who for some reason was terrified that the person knocking on her door was there for him.

“I’m not interested,” she said.

“But ma’am, you really should consider a home security system. Do you live alone?” He was thumbing through his folder, trying to find something. “Women who live alone are most at risk, you know.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” she clipped. She was tempted to tell him she was a cop, and she could take care of herself, thank you very much. She was the last person who needed a security system.

Well, except for the fact that someone had indeed broken into her home less than twelve hours earlier…

“We are offering a special this month. Free installation and—”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

She closed the door firmly and twisted the lock and the deadbolt in place.

“I’ve walked your property,” Duncan called from the front steps. “I can point out where you’re most vulnerable!”

She ignored him, making a face as she pictured him walking the perimeter of her yard, checking for signs of weakness. She didn’t want to admit it, but just the thought of someone doing that creeped her out. Even if it was someone who just wanted to sell her a pricey security system.

She shook it off.

She had more important things to do.

Like getting back to Alex and making sure he hadn’t crashed through the bedroom window and was now dealing with massive cuts to go along with his gashed thigh and sore ribs.

She hurried back down the hallway and into the guest bedroom.

And froze.

Bright sunlight filled the bedroom, momentarily blinding her.

Alex had pulled the shade.

A cool breeze ruffled the white lace valance.

Her mouth dropped as she noticed the open window.

She didn’t have to look at the bed to know it was empty.

Alex was gone.