A problem? What kind of a problem? The kind where he threw her out and left her to her own devices? In the forest?

He moved to sit on the couch beside her, keeping distance between them. Holding her body still, Shay turned her head to see what he was doing.

Sitting on the edge of the couch, he stared straight ahead, his face a study in granite.

Worried about what he was going to do or say, she shifted her gaze away from him and to her lap where her fingers twisted together.

What was the worst that could happen? He would make her leave and she would have to continue walking along the road? That wouldn’t kill her, would it? No, that would put her right back where she’d started. Going nowhere fast. Well, not all that fast.

Feeling slightly better, but really hopeful that he would take pity on her and help her out by…she had no idea how he could help her out. Still, when she let her gaze slide in his direction and she saw how incredibly good-looking he was, how physically fit, how completely masculine, she was in no hurry to rush off to a future that was a big question mark.

He leaned back against the cushions, then looked at her.

Shay noticed this out of the corner of her eye—she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by staring at him. Not if that would make it more likely that he would want her to leave.

Absurdly, she wondered how she looked in profile. She thought she was reasonably pretty, but if he was looking at the side of her face, did her nose look too big?

Pausing her ridiculous thoughts, she wondered if maybe she should face him. If he found her attractive, would that go in her favor?

Unless he had a girlfriend. Then having her around would be a liability.

She was so busy considering what to do that when he finally spoke she jumped slightly.

“You gotta go.”

What? Crap! Crap crap crap.

Forgetting her quandary over which way to face, she turned in his direction. “Go?” She said the word as if she’d never heard it before. Yeah, she’d been on her way to Reno, but that was just a random destination. She had no ties there, no real reason to go there. “Go where?”

His forehead creased. “How the heck should I know?” He made a scoffing sound in his throat. “Where were you going yesterday?”

Shay had yet to mention how the creep had dumped her in the middle of the road—in the middle of nowhere. And she wasn’t so certain she wanted to point out that someone would do that to her. Would it make him think she was used to that sort of treatment? That it was something she was okay with? Cause she wasn’t okay with it. Not for a minute. Not now that she’d finally gotten the courage to leave Will.

As she stared at him, even though she found him beyond attractive, she knew there was nothing he could do for her. And why should he? He didn’t know her. He didn’t owe her a thing.

She stood abruptly, and when she did he kind of jerked back like he’d hadn’t been expecting it.

“Will you at least give me a bottle of water or something?” she asked, looking down at him as he sat on the couch.

“Uh, yeah.” His eyes narrowed. “Do you want a lift somewhere?”

At that moment she decided she didn’t want anything from this man—a man whose name she didn’t even know. “No.”

What was she doing? Did she really want to walk? With those blisters? Of course she didn’t. But for some unknown reason—okay, maybe it was her misplaced pride—she wanted to show this incredibly hot stranger that she was an independent woman. That she didn’t need anything from anyone. Least of all from a man.

His gaze slid to the bandages on her knees. Gesturing with his chin, he asked, “What happened?”

She didn’t want his pity—besides, the reality would make her look like an idiot—so she tried to downplay it. “Just a little scrape.”

Then his gaze went towards her foot. Wanting to hide her blisters, she used her right foot to cover her left one.

His gaze lifted to her face, then he stood. That was when she realized how big he was. He must have been six foot two. She was five foot six, so not exactly a shrimp. Even so, he towered over her. And did she mention how broad his shoulders were? Yeah, broad and muscled. She nearly swooned.

Since he was standing only about a foot away from her, she had to tilt her head up to look at his face.

“Just give me a minute to change into my shirt,” she said, her voice unsteady as she gazed into those amazing blue eyes.

He didn’t reply, so she turned and made her way to the staircase.

Was he watching her? He had to be watching her. What was he thinking? Was he already regretting sending her away or was he happy to be rid of her so easily?

Not pleased about the way things were going, but not seeing a way to change them, she climbed the stairs, and once in the bedroom, she took off his flannel shirt and put on her less than fresh one. Shoving her feet into her flip flops, she took a deep breath, then with a final look at the room, she slung her purse across her body and headed back to the stairs.

As she walked down the wooden steps, she felt his eyes on her, and when she looked in his direction, he didn’t look away. He met her at the bottom, and she noticed that he held a small backpack in his hands.

He stared at her a moment. “Are you sure I can’t give you a ride somewhere?”

Say yes, Shay. Just take the ride. “No. I’ll be fine.” You’re such a liar. Do you really want to walk for who knows how long in those flip flops? With blisters? Hopeful that there would be more traffic at this time of day, she pushed a smile onto her mouth. “Thanks for letting me spend the night.”

Barely nodding, he held out the backpack. “I put some food in there, along with a few water bottles.” Something passed behind his eyes, but she couldn’t tell if it was guilt or relief.

She took the backpack from his hand. “Thanks.” When he said nothing more, she walked the few steps to the front door and pulled it open. Bright sunshine flooded the porch, and as she stepped outside, she held out hope that the man would tell her he’d changed his mind, that she could stay.

When the only sound she heard was the chirping of a bird in a nearby tree, she descended the porch steps and began the walk back to the road.

* * *

Josh peered out the window to watch her plod down the dirt road. He’d been mildly surprised when she’d left without an argument. Typically, when groupies approached him, they were persistent. Of course none of them had broken into his house. But when he’d told her she had to leave, she hadn’t cried, begged, or thrown herself at him. None of those things.

The only emotion he’d read was resignation, which was actually kind of weird.

Still, he’d been beyond relieved that she’d left without a fight.

Then he pictured the blisters on her feet and the way she’d seem completely baffled about where she was going to go. What was that all about?

And when he’d offered her a ride—twice—she’d turned him down. Was she going to walk to Burton? It was ten miles away.

Josh thought about her reaction when he’d found her in his bed the night before. She hadn’t seemed happy to see him. It hadn’t seemed as if she’d been waiting for him, known he was going to show up. No. If he had to name the emotion he’d read in her eyes, he would have to say she’d been terrified.

That gave him pause.

Why would a groupie who had tracked him down and broken into his house—slept in his bed!—be terrified when he’d shown up?

He was missing something here. He just didn’t know what it was.