Page 32 of Her Elusive Cowboy Billionaire

Then a thought occurred.“I can’t paint for at least ten days.Will that be okay with your schedule?”She took another bite of the amazing sandwich.

“Sure.”He waved his hand in front of him.“Whatever you need to do.And I’ll never complain about spending more time with you.”He bit his pickle, his lips forming a little pucker as he chewed.

She wanted to kiss the pucker off his lips until she felt him smile against her, and then she’d kiss him again.

She was sure she blushed, because her face felt like it went up in flames.“What a nice thing to say.I look forward to spending more time with you, too.”But I don’t want to be a burden, either.How will I know when enough is enough?I’ve never lived with anyone, not even Jared.I guess that gave him plenty of time to cheat on me undetected.Maybe that had been a mistake on my part.But I’m thankful every day that I found out before marrying the bast—.She closed her eyes and blanked her mind.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

She opened her eyes.“I haven’t heard that phrase in years.”She took a smaller bite of her sandwich.

“I remember my uncle saying it when I was a kid.”

Swallowing, she took a sip of her water before speaking.“I was just thinking how different it will be to live with someone other than my parents.”

He swallowed his food.“So you’re okay staying with me for a while?”

“I have little choice…if I want to live, and I do.”She set her sandwich down on the tray.She’d had enough.She didn’t even take a bite of the pickle and she loved dill pickles.“I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, constantly wondering if he’s found me.Will I be in the freezer aisle when he guns me down?I can’t live like that.”She reached out and grabbed Chase’s arm.“I need for you to find this man and stop him.”

“I won’t kill him in cold blood, but I won’t let him hurt you or me or anyone else we care about.”He stood and ran a hand through his hair.“I’d like to turn him over to the police and have him go to jail for a long time, but I also want to know what he was to Paige.I know I saw them together a couple of weeks before her murder.Did he know her personally?Or am I mistaken, and he wasn’t the one?Was she just a random person in the wrong place at the wrong time?”He paced the length of the room from the bed to the window and back again.He turned toward Meri.“I don’t think I’m wrong about him.He’s the same man, I know it.”

“I’m glad to hear that you won’t kill him in cold blood.I don’t want to see you go to prison.But you need to find him.Question him and then turn him over to the police.We already know he’ll show up somewhere and try to kill us.If we hadn’t had warning from Isaac, we might have been his victims.”She closed her eyes and rested her head against the pillow.Meri was so tired.Already she was sick of being prey.“You can use me as bait.He’s already shot me once and I’m sure he’ll want to come back to finish the job.Maybe the police will find out who let him in and who gave him our seat information.”

“I’ll find that out.It’s amazing how a little money will get someone to open right up.”

“What will you do when you find out who did it?”

“I intend to send a message back, offering to meet him, one-on-one.He’ll probably take the offer, if only to kill me.But I’m hoping he’ll actually show.I don’t know if he will, but whatever the outcome, you will remain safe in my home.”

“I don’t want you out there alone, either.”

His expression softened and relaxed.He had a small smile as he took her hand nearest him and brought it to his lips, never moving his gaze away from her face.“I appreciate your concern for me, but rest assured that I will not meet him alone.I’ll be wired and my men will be nearby.”

“I’m still scared, Chase.For looking like a street thug, he knows a lot.He knows how to find us.He had to be following you.You’re so well known.I’m surprised you don’t have stalkers.”

“Who says I don’t?Most of them think they are the perfect woman for me and I’ll obviously see it and marry them.”He held her hand so his thumb was making figure eights on the inside of her wrist.

Shivers ran up and down her back and goosebumps covered her arms.How in the world did one tiny motion make her feel so cherished and turned on at the same time?

Two days later,Meri left the facility wearing a sling on her left arm.A staff member pushed the wheelchair to the front sidewalk outside.

Chase waited beside a sparkly dark blue Dodge Charger.

She smiled up at him.“Do you always drive fast cars?”

“Only when I pick up injured special ladies.”

He helped her out of the wheelchair and into the car.

The attendant rolled the wheelchair back inside.

Chase fastened her seatbelt securely, closed the door, and hurried to the other side of the car to slide into the driver’s seat.

He buckled his own seatbelt and then started the car.

Classic radio was playing “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac.One of her beloved songs.If she’d been by herself, she would have sung at the top of her lungs.

“Are we headed straight to my loft?”