“Let me help you,” Shay said as she watched Josh struggle with carrying his plate to the sink. It was the day after the accident and they’d just finished breakfast. Though she appreciated that he wanted to help with the clean-up, when she saw him juggling his plate in his left hand with his coffee mug balanced precariously on top, she had to step in.

“I’ve got it,” he said, his voice traced with annoyance as he set the plate on the counter. Then he turned to her with a smirk. “I’ll let you wash the dishes though.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “That’s fine. What are you gonna do today?”

Leaning against the counter, he smiled at her. “I might watch you work in the garden, but first I’m going to work in my office.” His eyes twinkled. “Speaking of my office, do you want the tour?”

“I think I should, don’t you? Just to make sure you don’t have a meth lab in there or something.” Her eyebrows had gone up, but she was smiling.

He laughed. “Exactly.”

“Let me clean up in here, then I’ll be ready.”

He nodded, then he paused. “Have you checked to see if your ex has sent more messages?”

She’d been trying not to think about Will, but she knew sticking her head in the sand wouldn’t make him go away. “No.”

“Maybe you should.”

“I know.”

Josh took a step in her direction, leaving only a few feet between them. “You know, Shay,” he began, his voice soft and his eyes on her. “You don’t have to be afraid of him. You’re with me now.”

Overwhelming comfort swept over her. She knew he meant it. He would protect her. Nodding, she smiled. “Thank you.” He continued looking at her and she wondered if he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her.

But he didn’t. Instead, he smiled. “I’ll be in the front room when you’re ready.”

Fifteen minutes later they walked side by side to the barn, Shay excited to finally see what Josh had been hiding.

They reached the door and Josh lifted his left hand to punch in the code, but stopped and turned to Shay. “This code is top secret,” he said with a grin. “But I’m going to give it to you so you can come in here when you need to.”

Pleased that he trusted her with the code, she tilted her head as she smiled. “You just want me to be able to come in here and clean up after you.”

Chuckling, he said, “That may have crossed my mind.”

Her gaze slid to the sling on his right arm before going back to his face. “You know I’m happy to help you however I can.”

He stared at her. “As much as I appreciate that, it’s…well, it’s your company that I like the most.”

Thrilled to hear that, Shay smiled.

Josh turned back to the keypad and told her the code, then asked her to punch it in. Seconds later there was a click as the lock disengaged. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open. “Welcome to my sanctuary.”

Laughing, Shay walked inside.

Spread out in front of her was a gym that was much nicer than any club gym she’d ever been in. The equipment looked like it was top of the line.

“Wow,” she said. “Very nice.” Turning to Josh, she could see the pride on his face. “I’m glad there’s no meth lab in sight.”

He shook his head, but his lips had tugged up into a smile.

With a glance at the space, she said, “Is it okay if I take a look around?”

“Of course.”

Knowing he was watching her, she walked to the nearest wall and looked at the sports memorabilia hanging there. Photos of Josh with his teammates, as well as magazine covers with him on the front adorned the wall. A sense of pride in his accomplishments swelled within her, and she knew now why he hadn’t wanted her to come in her before. She would have immediately figured out who he was.

After making a circuit around the room to see all of the awards, photos, and other memorabilia, she stopped next to Josh. “I’m impressed.”

* * *

Josh’s goal hadn’t been to impress her, but he couldn’t say he didn’t like having his ego stroked. It had been fun watching her take it all in, but he was glad she’d gotten to know him before she’d found out about all of his accomplishments. Something about that just made her attraction to him more genuine—it wasn’t based on his fame or wealth, and that was important to him.

“I never would have guessed that all this was behind the doors of your barn,” she said.

He laughed. “That’s kind of the idea. It’s my own private oasis.”

“My oasis would be more like a spa, I think.”

He pointed to a door off to the side. “I have a sauna in there.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t saunas involve a lot of sweating?”

“Yeah.”

Shaking her head, she said, “Not my idea of fun.”

“You don’t like to sweat, huh?”

“I know it can’t be helped when I’m working in the garden or working out, but I wouldn’t want to go into a room and sit there just for the purpose of sweating.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I can respect that.”

She turned and looked around the space. “Where’s your office?”

Gesturing with his hand, he said, “This way.”

A few moments later they stepped through the doorway into a spacious room with a large desk at one end, and a couch facing a huge TV at the other. A large window with the blinds down took up part of one wall.

“I guess I can open these now,” Josh said as he pulled the cord to open the blinds. Sunshine poured in as the forest came into view.

“What a gorgeous view,” Shay said as she stepped to the window, then she turned to him. “Did you keep them closed just so I couldn’t see in?”

Embarrassed, one side of Josh’s mouth pulled into a smile. “Yeah.”

“That was probably a good idea, because I admit I tried to get a look inside once.”

His eyebrows rose. “Just once?”

“Yes. But this place was locked up tight, so I gave up pretty quickly.”

“Trying to discover my criminal activities, I suppose?”

A blush rose on her cheeks, which Josh found charming.

“I could tell you were hiding something,” she said. “What was I supposed to do?”

He couldn’t blame her and he thought it was kind of funny that she’d thought he was manufacturing drugs. “You could have asked.”

She huffed out a breath. “If you’ll remember, I did ask you. Several times.”

“Not about being a meth dealer.”

“No, but I asked what you did for a living. And when you told me you were a financial consultant, I could tell that wasn’t exactly the truth.”

“Oh, you could, huh?” Grinning, he added, “Are you some kind of human lie detector?”

Her lips pursed. “Maybe I am.”

Having fun with this game, he said, “Okay. Tell me if what I’m about to tell you is a truth or a lie.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Bring it.”

Laughing, he tried to think of something to ask. Then he thought of just the right question, something he thought they needed to clarify. “I blame you for my injury.”

Her face immediately shut down and he knew he’d hit a nerve. Good. He wanted to clear up the misconception that his injured shoulder had anything to do with her.

* * *

Of course Shay wasn’t a human lie detector, so when Josh stated that the accident was her fault, that his separated shoulder was because of her, she knew he was telling the truth. Regret poured over her like acid.

“I know it is,” she said. “And I’m so, so sorry, Josh. Can you ever forgive me?”

“You suck at this human lie detector thing.”

Not sure what he meant, she wanted nothing more than to head out to the garden where she wouldn’t have to look at him and be reminded of what she’d done. Glancing toward the office door, she said, “I think I should get started on the garden.”

Josh’s eyebrows bunched. “What are you talking about?”

Pointing vaguely toward the exit, she said, “I just, I should go. I know you have work to do.”

Without warning, he closed the distance between them and used his left hand to lift her chin so that she was forced to meet his eyes. “What I just said? About my injury being your fault?”

Pinned in place by the intensity of his gaze, Shay didn’t answer.

“That was a lie, Shay. A lie. I don’t blame you. Not one bit. And if you were any good at being a human lie detector, you would know that.” His blue eyes were locked on hers. “You need to stop blaming yourself. Right now. Are we clear?”

“Yes,” she said as he released her chin.

“Do you mean it?” he asked, his voice soft.

Will had trained her so well to blame herself for everything, could she let go of the blame in this case? Wanting to, she nodded, promising herself she would try.

“Good. Because you have enough on your plate. You don’t need to take on my troubles too.”

With him being so sweet to her, and with only inches separating them, Shay had to hold herself back from swaying towards him, from falling into his arms—well, arm. Even a one-handed hug from him would be wonderful.

“I’d better get some work done,” he said after a minute.

Shay took the hint, and with a smile, she turned and left.

* * *

It had taken all of Josh’s self-control not to drag Shay against him and kiss her senseless. The way she’d looked, so sad and vulnerable, like she was responsible for all the bad that happened in the world, he wanted to take that away. To make her smile. And the only way he could think to do that in that moment was to claim her mouth with his.

He’d almost done it too, but at the last possible second he’d changed his mind. He was no body-language expert, but he’d sensed she’d been open to another kiss, so why had he held back?

Maybe because he didn’t want to muddy the waters of their conversation with a kiss. Maybe because first he wanted to tell her that he was having feelings for her, and then seal those words with a kiss.

Liking that idea, he smiled as he sat on the couch in front of the TV and pulled up another game he wanted to study. Soon he would go out to the garden to be with Shay. He wouldn’t be able to help her with the gardening, but just being near her would be enough.

Maybe then he would tell her what was on his mind.