Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
The excavator sat still now, its clawed scooper resting on the ground as though it had been there all along.
Garner’s hand lingered at my elbow. “I need you to stay close to me.”
“With as quick as your reflexes are, I’m not going to argue.” My voice was steadier than I felt.
Garner didn’t move right away. Neither did I.
For a suspended heartbeat, the world narrowed to the space between us. His arms were still around me, and my palms rested against his chest where his heart thundered beneath my hands.
I tilted my head without realizing it, my breath catching as his amber gaze dropped to my mouth. The air between us felt thick. Electric.
Awareness burned hot under my skin, gathering low in my belly in a way that left me dizzy.
I didn’t understand it. I only knew I didn’t want him to let go.
His hands flexed, his fingers tightening at my sides like he was fighting himself. For one impossible second, I thought he might close the distance between us. That he might kiss me.
Then he stepped back, and I felt like I lost something more important than his warmth.
“I’m sorry you were startled.” His voice was rougher than before.
“It’s okay.”
My response wasn’t brilliant, but it was all I could come up with at the moment.
“Machines don’t just move on their own,” he murmured, switching back into business mode. “I’ll shut the site down until I know why it did.”
I nodded, though my thoughts felt tangled and confused.
As he turned away, a strange ache settled in my chest—an unfamiliar disappointment I didn’t yet have a name for. I only knew I wanted him closer again. And I didn’t understand why.
5
GARNER
The second the excavator’s arm swung when it should’ve been locked in place, I knew I wouldn’t be letting anyone else step foot on this site today.
I guided Elodie back toward my truck, positioning her where I could see her. Close enough to feel steady. And nothing else could reach her without going through me first.
My cougar paced under my skin, furious that danger had brushed too close to what was mine.
“You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised, doing my best to keep my tone calm.
She nodded without question. That trust hit harder than the malfunction ever could.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and fired off a message to the crew scheduled to arrive within the hour.
Me
Site’s shut down for the day. Do not come in until you hear directly from me. No exceptions.
I watched the read receipts pop up one by one, my jaw tight. Hydraulics didn’t fail like that on their own. Whatever had caused that excavator to move hadn’t been weather or coincidence. I wasn’t risking one of my guys finding out the cause the hard way or chancing an injury if anything else had been tampered with.
As I turned back toward the machine, my gaze flicked to Elodie again automatically.
She stood near my truck with her arms wrapped around her waist. She looked small against the sprawl of equipment and open land. Exposed.
Knowing she’d slept here alone last night made something hot and vicious course through my veins.
Never again.
I forced myself to breathe, to lock the fury down where it couldn’t bleed into my voice. It was too soon for her to see the predator beneath my skin. She needed the man who would protect her. And the only way to do that was to take care of business.
I strode back toward the excavator, cataloging every detail.
Someone had crossed a line. Now they had my full attention.
I climbed back onto the excavator with a grim sense of inevitability settling in my gut. It didn’t take long to find the problem. The hydraulic coupling near the base of the arm had been loosened just enough to bypass the safety lock. Whoever had done it knew exactly how much give was enough to cause movement without making it immediately obvious.
I dropped back to the ground and moved toward the storage container at the edge of the site. The padlock hung crooked, snapped clean through. Inside, nothing obvious was missing, but that didn’t matter.
I crouched, pressing my fingers into the mud near the container. The rain had churned the ground into a mess of half-formed impressions.
I drew in a deep breath anyway, my cougar pushing forward, furious and frustrated. Nothing. The storm had scrubbed the scent clean. Whoever had been here last night had walked away untrackable.
Rage burned hot in my chest.
They’d done this while Elodie slept less than a hundred yards away in her car. She’d been alone and unprotected. Completely unaware of how close danger had come.
I pulled out my phone and made the call.
“Do you have any theories on who could be behind this?” my father asked after I explained what I’d found.
“The other bidder. Who was it?”