Lily had never had time for love. She was always working, always trying to prove that she was good enough to succeed. Now, in the middle of earning herself a promotion, she’d finally found the time to connect with someone else on a deeper level and—

And it was all a big fat lie.

Tears poured hot and thick down her cheeks, cooled by the vicious wind rattling the tree branches. Wookie danced around her feet, whining and turning back, only to return to Lily again. Apparently Wookie wanted Lily to go back to Ethan, a man who had lied to her, used her for his own fickle entertainment.

She couldn’t do that. In fact, she didn’t think she could stand to look him in the eye long enough to tell him that she never wanted to see him again. She just wanted to find a hollow in these trees, set up her tent—the salesman had assured her it was a simple feat, though she hadn’t yet tried it—and stay here until she had to slink back to her real life. Besides, the hiking and tenting part would be an addition that Dave wasn’t going to have in his articles.

At least there was no one but Wookie around to see how heartbroken she was. It was ridiculous. She barely knew Ethan. In fact, she knew him less than she’d thought. So why did it hurt her so much to know that nothing could ever happen between them? She’d been seduced. Not in body, but in heart. And it hurt.

Turning her face up to the sky, she welcomed the sting of the wind. Dark clouds gathered, hailing rain. She would be glad when it fell. At least then, no one would be able to tell the raindrops on her cheeks from the tears.

What an idiot she’d been.

* * *

Ethan needed a brisk walk to cool down, but the crisp smell of pine and rain to come did nothing to mitigate the torment biting into his chest. He stormed through the forest, twigs and pine needles crackling underfoot as he sought the peace he so often found here in the mountains. In nature, he finally returned to a state of equilibrium, away from the greedy, grasping people who filled his life. That someone had managed to locate him in his isolation felt like the sting of a Band-Aid ripped from a raw wound. The fact that someone had first made him believe that she saw him, Ethan, not his money, made the betrayal even worse. Where was he supposed to go from here? No corner of the world felt safe.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He almost threw it away before he realized that it couldn’t possibly be Lily. He hadn’t given his phone number to her. Though, given that she had found him when he hadn’t wanted to be found, perhaps she had used her reporter wiles to hunt for his phone number, too. He ground his teeth. How could he have let himself fall prey so easily?

Maybe because a part of him, out here, was unguarded. He felt safe here. More like himself and less like a cornered animal on display for everyone to gawk at. His nightmares were fewer. And after meeting Lily, they had lessened even more. She was…

He couldn’t know what she was because it had all been an act. As his phone fell silent, he dug it out of his pocket to delete whatever message she’d left in his voicemail. Instead of the unfamiliar number he expected, he saw his sister’s name. Jordan. He almost stuffed the phone into his pocket again, but curiosity overwhelmed him. Right now, when he felt so lost, he longed to hear his sister’s voice again. Before he’d gotten rich and she’d taken advantage of him, they had been as thick as thieves. He would have done anything for her.

Static crackled through the line as he dialed into his voicemail box. He plugged one ear to drown out the growing wind as he lifted the phone to his other ear.

His sister’s heavy sigh filled the recording, cutting in and out. “…don’t know why I’m still trying. …know that you’re okay. Call. Text. Send a postcard! …miss you.”

Following the beep in his ear signaling the end of the message, Ethan felt numb. He shut his eyes, listing the five senses in an attempt to ground himself. Then he listened to the message again. He didn’t hear a woman desperate to leech off of him. There were easier ways than spending all these months leaving him messages.

Maybe Jordan really cared. Had he made a mistake in assuming the messages were just asking for money? Had he become so jaded that he just assumed the worst of everyone without giving them the benefit of the doubt. Even his own sister.

He listened to another of her messages, then another, then another, until the storm overwhelmed the cell signal and he couldn’t even hear static off the connection. No signal, read the alert. His hand trembling, he put his phone in his pocket and continued to walk.

Jordan cared for him. She always had. In one of her early messages, she apologized for what her now-ex boyfriend had done. He told me he’d gotten that money from an under the table job. I only realized the truth of what had happened after you left. I kicked him out. Ethan, I’m sorry.

When he’d gotten rich, Ethan had bought her a house, paid off her student loans. He’d given his sister a fresh start, and with a good job she should have been able to support herself. Until her ex had started leeching off of her. Ethan realized now that Jordan hadn’t been the one milking him for money—she’d never mentioned it. She had gone with him to the rehabilitation follow-ups after the nightmares got too much for him and he was jumpy at the least little sound. She had encouraged him to develop and sell his design. When he had been out of a job and his PTSD made him too erratic to keep a job, she had housed him and fed him without asking for a dime.

How had he repaid her? He’d been a jerk to her. He’d cut her out of his life. And still, she called, ready to forgive him at a moment’s notice.

He was an idiot, but maybe not as much of one as he’d thought. Not everyone was out for his money.

He turned, striding back in the direction he’d walked, toward the cabins. The wind rustled the tree branches. A scattered cool raindrop flicked against his skin. When he dug his phone out of his pocket, he still saw that he had no signal. He couldn’t call and apologize to his sister for the jerk he’d been.

But there was someone much closer he might owe an apology to instead.

He’d been so busy trying to protect his heart, that it had colored his perception of everything around him and made him just assume everyone’s intent was to use him. But now thinking back, he realized the email he’d seen on Lily’s computer hadn’t been from her. It had been to her. And, although he’d barely glanced at the date, it certainly wasn’t from weeks ago. The computer chair had been askew, the laptop left there open to the email. A woman as prideful of her work like Lily didn’t do that. Which confirmed the conclusion Ethan was slowly growing in the back of his mind.

Lily couldn’t have known who he was before she’d come to this isolated campground. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with him when they’d first met. In fact, she’d requested to be moved to a different cabin. Lily Ryder had a different reason to be here than to sink her hooks into Ethan Thomas, Billionaire Recluse. But instead, he’d reduced her to the same petty standard he’d reduced the rest of the world.

For no good reason. His inclination to invest in a local newspaper? That had been his idea. He hadn’t even voiced it aloud to her! No, he’d let her think that he didn’t have a dime to his name and was working for Ruby to fix up the campground. Although more than once he’d wanted to reveal the truth, if it had come out, he’d been afraid she would be angry with him. That she’d cut ties with him. Subconsciously, he had known that she wasn’t a gold digger. He just hadn’t let his heart tell the truth to his head.

Now, he might have lost his chance to come clean. The computer chair in that haphazard state, the laptop left open and behind, it spoke to one thing—she’d just learned the truth. She’d probably rushed out, mad over his betrayal. He could only imagine what she thought of him.

He had to apologize.

Movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. The figure of a man walking along the northeast hiking trail. He wasn’t skulking or running. Ethan told himself that this was a normal occurrence. After all, the trails were open for anyone, including the locals even if no one had taken advantage of that fact while he’d been here. And with a storm on its way? They were probably hurrying for the closest place to where they left their car, not necessarily in Ruby’s parking lot.

Although the hairs on the back of his neck rose, dredging up the memory of the last figure in the woods he’d seen lurking at night outside Lily’s cabin, he ignored the sensation. It was broad daylight—well, aside from the brewing storm clouds. The saboteur wouldn’t be hiking the trails where anyone would be able to identify him. Thus far, he’d snuck on and off Ruby’s property under the cover of darkness without raising suspicions other than that of Wookie last night.

Although Wookie was sure to be with Lily, able to protect her, Ethan quickened his pace. He made his way to a trail and made even faster time in reaching Lily’s cabin. He had to apologize to her, ask her for the chance to explain himself.

And if he was nearby to keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe, all the better.