For a moment, Zane didn’t answer, just stared into her eyes. His mind had finally cleared, and he could take a moment to respond rather than simply react to her. It was a good thing, too, because she only wore her nightclothes. They weren’t scanty, but they weren’t the usual business suit and stilettos either.

He wouldn’t lie. Did it make him happy to see her so concerned about him and his well-being? Yeah, it did. He liked being in her life, even if it was messy.

“Zane?” she demanded, pointing at the bandage.

He shrugged, not wanting to freak her out, but not wanting to hide the truth from her either. “It’s a flesh wound from some kid trying to break into your house last night.”

Her face went pale. “What?”

Widening his stance, he balanced on both feet. He’d been so off-balance by her yesterday that he couldn’t get a grip. More accurately, he hadn’t been able to get a grip since he’d first run into her at the coffee shop. Now, it was different. He was different. Getting up early today and meditating had centered him. “I’m not worried about it. I mean, not the kid last night. He just gave me a small wound. He had another bug he was supposed to plant.”

Sarah shook her head. “He stabbed you? Did you go to the hospital?”

Zane thought of Sutton’s guy coming and administering some antibiotic cream and some glue. “I’m fine.”

Pushing two fingers to her temple, she massaged her head. “This can’t be happening. Should we call the police?”

“No.” Zane didn’t trust the police right now. He feared Harris had some of them in his pocket. “The thing I’m worried about is the thug who hired the kid. I went back to the party where the kid was hired and checked it out, but couldn’t find anything.” He lifted his eyebrows at her. “So today, we’re changing locations to up security.”

With a gasp, she put her hand to her chest. “What?”

“I can’t protect you here. We need to move. We’re going to my boat.”

“No.” She tried to inhale, but it was a short and wheezy breath.

She looked like she was having some kind of attack, so he put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay, Sarah?” Worry surged through him. What was going on? Heart attack?

Sarah sucked in more breaths and closed her eyes. “I’m fine. I just … I just have to think. I …” She wasn’t breathing well.

“Is this asthma? Do you have an inhaler?”

She shook her head, then bent over and put her hands on her knees.

He stood next to her, rubbing tiny circles into her back. “Sarah?”

She stood up to full height. “It’s anxiety,” she said, still taking long breaths. “It’s … I’m fine.”

Her face was burning red, and he thought of all the running they used to do together. She’d never looked this worn out.

Concern washed through him, and he gently took her by the shoulder. “It’s okay.” He found her gaze and met it. “It’s going to be okay.” He was already kicking himself for upsetting her now that he knew she had anxiety.

She held up a hand and put it on her chest. “It’s okay. I’m sorry—” She broke off. “It’s nothing.”

“That’s not nothing,” he said, softly but severely. He wanted to demand answers. “When did you start having these attacks? Are you … can you get treatment?” He thought of different guys who had had complete mental breakdowns. It wasn’t pretty. Usually, after something tragic and horrible, focusing his thoughts helped. For him anyway.

She took in another breath.

Fishing for a way to help, he took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I want you to think of something. Umm, swimming or running. Remember running in the graveyard and how we would race?”

He got a chuckle out of her, and she said, “You and Jeff would pretend you were zombies.”

“Yeah.” That had been a long-forgotten memory. He thought of more funny things. “Or remember that summer before senior year we put on the sprinkler and ran through it in front of Jeff’s yard and then lay on the cement and ate popsicles?” Sunshine seared right to his heart.

She smiled, looking like she meant it. “You said we were too old, and I said—”

“We were still kids. It didn’t matter,” he said a bit breathlessly, thinking of that day and of how carefree he’d felt.

There it was. The “time standing still” thing between them. Neither of them spoke, but she wasn’t breathing hard anymore. The old ache was back in full force, reminding him of all that he’d wanted and missed with her. After the split, he had to learn to put her far behind him and never feel anything for her again. Being back here, especially with the walls between them, he couldn’t just walk through a door and go back to how things had been. They’d both changed too much.

But she was here, and his hands were on her shoulders. She was so painstakingly gorgeous. Before he could stop himself, he said, “I like you like this.”

Not breaking eye contact, she laughed, “You mean all scrubbed out and having an anxiety attack?”

“No. I like you natural.” Unable to stop himself, he closed the distance between them to sweep a loose hair out of her face and push it behind her ear. “You’re so gorgeous. You’re … everything.” Gently, he put the back of his hand on her face and trailed his fingers along her jawline. “You were always beautiful, and now you’re unimaginably more beautiful. There’s this depth to you with Tyler.” He let out a light laugh, knowing it was stupid to tell her this right now. “You should have seen your face when you saw us fighting with lightsabers.”

She blinked and looked even more vulnerable. “It’s like you’ve always known each other.”

This statement sobered him. “I should have known him his whole life. I should have—” He broke off, wishing so many things. “I should have sucked it up. I should have been a man and supported my best friends.” He clenched his hand into a fist. “You didn’t deserve my silence. You or Jeff. I should have come to his funeral. You’re right, I …I didn’t want to see you. I felt …” He looked away, ashamed.

“You felt what?”

How did he explain it to her? “I’ve been horrible because I never—” His eyes shifted back to hers, and he saw the sheen in her eyes that matched his. “I shouldn’t still feel these things for you. That’s what I worried about. That I would show up and I wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that I still love you.”

Light as a whisper, her hand rested on his forearm. “You do?”

He stared into her perfect green eyes, and for right or wrong, for good or bad, he saw the truth. She loved him too. Did she know she loved him? “I never stopped.”

They were really having this moment. He’d blocked the possibility in his waking moments, but it still surfaced in recurring dreams of her, about them. Together, like it’d been in high school. All those memories he’d tried to shove away. He’d even tried to tell himself it hadn’t been real. Not as real as it’d felt. Yet here it was, exactly like it’d felt before, only different. Grown-up. Unlike before, unlike all those times when these thoughts could send him into a spiral for days, there was hope.

Sarah blinked. “Jeff is the elephant in the room. Jeff will always be something—” She broke off and turned back to the house. “I never stopped missing you.” Her words were soft, and he thought of how she’d told him that first day that she’d hurt him.

Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder. A million thoughts went through his mind, but he shook his head. He had to focus on the most pressing problem first. “We have to leave.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe a guy knifed you.” She swallowed and looked so vulnerable. “Where would we go?”

Taking her gently by the arm, he led her back to the house. “To my boat. For a few days.”

She seemed to be digesting this information. “I have clients today.”

They reached the patio, where they stopped and he turned to face her. “Cancel your plans. Call the school and tell them Tyler’s sick.”

“Really?”

“Sarah, do you understand that someone got to the door? I’m having the place watched, but I was distracted.” He felt the familiar frustration of the past few days, but pushed it away. He had to make her understand. “I can’t protect you here. We have to go.”

Hesitating, she stared hard at him. “I never wanted to put you in danger.” Her gaze swept over his chest, and he realized she was looking at different scars and his tattoos. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

The moment held, and he didn’t know what to say. He settled on telling her, “I have never stopped worrying about you.”

She gently touched the scar on the top of his lip. “Where did you get this scar? It’s new.”

Her touch made him want to pull her in and kiss her again, but he held back. “Stories for another day. We have to go. I want to get out to sea today.”

“Okay, okay,” she said, pulling her hand back.

It annoyed him that he didn’t know what she was thinking. He cleared his throat and focused on the mission. “Get your stuff together, and we’ll leave as soon as we can.”

A small smile played at her lips. “Will your brothers be there?”

“I talked to Sloane this morning. He’s going back on the road with Texas Waters. He’s going to play backup for a bit while he finishes writing his songs.” He rolled his eyes and grinned. “Walker is headed back to Texas for practice, so it’s all clear.”

She processed this slowly, and he could tell she was coming around. “Your brothers have all done well for themselves.”

He grunted. “Yeah.”

She pointed at him, her grin widening. “You always were jealous of them.”

“I was only jealous of the way you looked at them.” A laugh stuck in his throat as his brain caught up with his mouth. Man, had he just really admitted that?

The smile froze on her face, and they stared at each other. Feelings pulsed through them at a rate they couldn’t control.

She looked away before softly saying, “I only saw you.”