WAITED FOR Mara to process everything and then excused himself to go to his room. He slipped into his attached bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. The night had thrown him several curveballs and he hadn’t hit one of them.
Even if he filtered out Mara’s sudden reappearance and the absolute bombshell that was their daughter, Billy still had Bryan Copeland’s legacy to worry about. Whoever this Beck person was, Billy would be damned if he was going to let him repeat what had caused Riker County so much pain years ago. Especially not during the holiday. That was no present any family should have to get.
Billy splashed another wave of water on his face. He stayed hunched over, resting his elbows on the edge of the sink, and kept his eyes closed. There. He could feel the weight of Riker County’s newest burden settling against him. It pressed down on his shoulders and kept going until it hit his chest. No, he wasn’t going to stand by while the residents of his county endured another Bryan Copeland incident.
Billy opened his eyes.
Not while he was sheriff.
He dried his face, and without changing out of his wet clothes, he walked out to find Mara, his mind already made up.
She was standing in the living room, Alexa asleep in her arms. Her bag was thrown over her shoulder and her expression was already telling him goodbye.
“You’re leaving.”
Mara’s cheeks reddened but her answer came out clear, concrete.
“Yes, but not town. To be honest, I don’t like Beck knowing where I live so I don’t want to go back there just yet,” she answered. “Plus, to be even more honest, I’m really tired. The faster we get to the hotel, the happier I’ll be.”
Billy wasn’t a complicated man. At least, he didn’t think he was. Yet, standing there a few feet from a woman who had left him in the dust, he knew he shouldn’t have felt any joy at her admission that she was staying. Or an ounce of desire from looking at her hardened nipples through her light pink T-shirt—the result, he guessed, from the AC he had turned up despite the cool they were getting from the storm—or how her jeans hugged her legs just right. But he did.
“Stay here instead,” Billy said before he realized he’d even thought it. Mara’s eyes widened a fraction. Her cheeks darkened slightly. “The guest bedroom is free, the sheets are clean and you don’t have to drive in the rain to get there. Plus, Miller’s parking lot looked pretty full. Probably lousy with in-laws and extended family members that no one wants in their house.”
He grinned, trying to drive his point home. It didn’t work.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Mara said, eyes straying from his. He wondered if she knew he was thinking about her naked and against him. It was a fleeting thought, but by God it was there. “I’ve already upset your life enough by coming here.”
Billy cleared his throat and tried to clear the feelings of attraction he was currently wading through. He needed some space from her, but he wasn’t about to let her leave without a fight, either. Something he wished he could have done two years before.
“Then stay in the guesthouse,” he offered.
Mara met his gaze.
“I finished it last summer,” he explained, remembering she hadn’t known he’d thrown all of his spare time into finishing the apartment that used to be the detached garage. It had been less for his mother when she came for long visits and more of a distraction. “Come on, Mara,” he continued when she still seemed to be weighing her options. He moved closer but stopped when the floorboard squeaked. It earned a small movement from Alexa. Billy let himself look at the little girl before fixing her mama with a look he hoped didn’t show how hard it was to just talk to her. “Please, Mara. Just stay.”
Mara shifted Alexa so she was more firmly on her hip. A wisp of a smile pulled up her lips but it blew away before she answered.
“Okay, we’ll stay in the guesthouse if it really doesn’t bother you.”
Billy nodded and moved to grab her bag. His eyes lingered on Alexa but he didn’t ask to hold her. He couldn’t be a father right now. Not when things in Riker County were starting to heat up. Not when Mara had attracted the attention of a mysterious man who had no problem threatening children. Not when he’d been in contact with Mara for less than an hour and was already having trouble focusing on anything else. He shouldered the bag and led the two down the hall and to the back door, grabbing an umbrella in the process.
It wasn’t raining as hard as it had been, but it was enough to warrant pulling Mara close to him to stay dry beneath the umbrella. She didn’t move away or argue as she folded into his left arm and against his side. The inner war he was fighting was downright impossible to ignore as they walked in silence along the stone path that led to the guesthouse door. Billy pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it.
“Here you go,” he said, voice low, even to his ears.
He watched as she stepped inside and wordlessly looked around the living space. A kitchenette, three-piece bathroom and a small bedroom made up the rest of the apartment. He’d built on to expand it but everything was still small. At least it was private.
And far enough away from him that he’d never know if she left.
“Oh, it’s beautiful, Billy,” Mara said after a moment. “You did a wonderful job.”
Billy would have taken the compliment with pride if anyone else had given it at any other time. But Mara’s words flipped a switch within him. He felt his body stiffen, his expression harden. The pain of finding her note on his pillow came back to him in full.
“I’ll come get you at seven,” he said. He stepped back out into the rain but didn’t look away from those dark eyes that made him crazy. “And, Mara, try not to leave this time. Once we get this guy you’re going to tell me exactly why you kept my daughter a secret.”
Mara and Alexa were up and ready when Billy knocked on the guesthouse door the next morning.
“You’re late,” Mara greeted him, a hand on her hip. She nodded to the clock on the wall behind her. It was ten past seven.
“I thought I’d give you some wiggle room,” he admitted. He looked down at Alexa, who was, for the first time, wide-awake since they’d shown up on his doorstep. Her attention stayed on the stuffed dog in her hands as she played on the floor.
“There’s no such thing as wiggle room when you have a toddler,” she said with a smirk. It was meant as a quick comment, but Billy couldn’t help but wonder about the foundation it was born from. When had Mara learned that lesson? Whenever it was, all he knew was it was without him.
Mara’s smirk sank into a frown. She cleared her throat, humor gone.
“Listen, about Alexa,” she started, but Billy was already a step ahead of her. He held his hand up for her to stop.
“Again, I want to have this talk. I really would like to know why you kept my daughter from me,” he said, serious. “But not right now.” Mara opened and closed her mouth, like
