Page 97 of How To Tempt A Bodyguard

"Aye."

Tam nodded once, a smirk scrunching up the scarred side of his face.

They rode back the way they'd come, side by side. The sun climbed higher, burning off the morning mist. The road wound through the hills, rising and falling with the terrain.

Matthew pushed the pace. Every minute Florence spent on the open road was a minute she was exposed. Vulnerable.

"You're an idiot," he muttered under his breath.

She was going to be furious.

"She's going to kill me!" Matthew shouted over the hoofbeats.

"Aye!"

Matthew glanced at Tam, who was looking at him with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Any advice?"

"A lass once told me, don't make excuses! Just listen!" Tam paused. "And apologise!"

"That's it?"

"That's more than most men manage!"

They crested a hill, and Matthew saw them, two riders approaching from the opposite direction. One massive, one small.

His heart lurched.

She was riding hard, her slight form bent over the horse's neck, pushing the animal to its limits. Even from a distance, he could see the fury in her posture.

She wasn't coming to say goodbye.

She was coming to drag him back.

Matthew urged his horse faster towards her.

Chapter twenty-six

No Words Necessary

Florence

She saw them crest the hill, two riders coming towards her instead of away.

Her heart seized.

He'd turned back. He was coming to meet her.

She urged her horse faster, closing the distance, her eyes fixed on Matthew's familiar form. Beside her, Brennan kept pace.

They met in a shallow valley between two hills, the morning sun casting long shadows across the grass. All four riders slowed, horses snorting and stamping from the hard ride.

Florence dismounted before her horse fully stopped. Matthew did the same.

For a moment, they stood ten feet apart, neither moving. His face was guarded, uncertain. Hers was… She didn't know what her face was doing. She couldn't feel anything except the pounding of her heart.

Then she crossed the distance between them and walked straight into his arms. She pressed her face against his chest and held on.