Page 43 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

“Time’s up.” Noelle tucked her cell phone into the front of her waistband, knowing her mother would consider it an uncouth move. She was beyond caring. “I believe I made it very clear that ship has sailed. Since you refuse to respect my decision, I’m leaving the restaurant. Enjoy your lunch.” She spun away from them and nearly ran smack into Ellison Faust, who was standing much closer than she’d realized. Too close.

Instead of apologizing or stepping back, he clamped his hands on her waist and drew her closer still. His wiry frame was stronger than it looked. “Before you say another word, you need to know something,” he warned in a low voice against her temple. “Your father’s business is about to go belly up because of a few bad investments. You and I are the only ones who can fix this. How about we go for a short drive, and I’ll explain everything?”

“In your dreams!” She grated out the words, both shocked and sickened by his audacity in assuming she would go anywhere with him. “Let go of me. Now!”

His grip on her tightened cruelly, making her wince. “If you need a little convincing…” Something small, round, and hard bit into her side.

A gun? She blinked at him in horror, feeling the color leave her face. “You’re a monster!” Her voice shook.

“It didn’t have to be this way, Noelle.” He turned her around and towed her toward the exit. “If you scream, I’ll shoot,” he muttered in her ear. “I care too much for you to hurt you, but I’ll pick an innocent bystander.”

He was out of his mind! Completely insane! Blinking back tears of terror, Noelle managed to toss one disbelieving glance over her shoulder at her parents before he dragged her away. Her father’s face was as white as a sheet. Her mother was draped against him, weeping.

Questions swam dizzily through Noelle’s mind. Had they known this was going to happen? Why weren’t they calling the police? Was there any truth to Ellison’s claim that Ward Accounting Solutions was about to go belly up? Even if it were true, how did it involve her?

The only thing that was clear at the moment was that she was being abducted.

In broad daylight.

In the most festive, family-friendly mountain community in the country.

This can’t be happening! It was so wrong. Just when everything in Noelle’s life was finally falling into place. When she’d finally found some modicum of happiness…

Ellison led her outside to the silver BMW she’d thought looked so out of place in front of the restaurant, yanked open the passenger door, and all but dumped her inside. Leaning over her, he yanked open the glove compartment and produced a pair of handcuffs. “Put them on,” he ordered.

She bit her trembling lower lip, trying not to weep. “Please don’t do this, Ellison.” She’d moved on with her life. She had a new boyfriend now, a new career. How dare he pop his greasy head out of the woodwork to ruin everything for her again!

“I wish I didn’t have to.” He sounded close to tears himself, as if he was somehow the victim here instead of her. The man was completely off his rocker!

Not knowing what else to do, she snapped on the handcuffs. She certainly didn’t want one of the locals to suffer a bullet wound for her failure to do so.

Please, Lord. Send help! Her brain was too numb to send up a more elaborate prayer. Think, Noelle. Think!

While Ellison hurried around the front of the car to the driver’s side, she hastily withdrew her cell phone from her waistband. With trembling fingers, she turned off the sound and dropped it between her seat and the console, praying he hadn’t caught sight of what she was doing through the tinted windows. Her GPS tracker was on. It was a long shot, but maybe Nash would be able to use it to locate her. Or the police. Or somebody. Anybody, Lord willing.

A split-second later, Ellison pulled open his door and slid behind the wheel. He took one look at her tear-stained face and sighed, “Believe it or not, I’m doing this because I love you. I’ve always loved you. That’s why I couldn’t leave things the way they were between us.”

“Wh-what are you going to do?” She hated that she could barely form the words. She hated how helpless she felt. More than anything else, though, she hated the fact that the first man to tell her he loved her wasn’t Nash. Her ears felt dirty. In that moment, she would’ve done just about anything to unhear his insane declaration.

Correction. That wasn’t the worst part about what was happening to her. The worst part was that she might never see Nash Carson again.

More terrified tears streaked down her cheeks. This time, she made no effort to stop them.

Nash drove to the cozy red-brick plaza strip that housed his physical therapist. He was fortunate that a town this small had someone with the medical subspecialty his treatment required. Otherwise, he would’ve had to commute all the way to Phoenix to continue his therapy during his stay.

Instead of immediately heading into the building, he sat in his truck and sent up another prayer. “Lord, give me wisdom.” Though he wanted to respect Noelle’s intrinsic need for independence, nothing about their conversation earlier had set well with him. No woman should be so uncomfortable at the thought of spending an hour alone with her parents to bring up stuff like proof of life messages and GPS trackers. Though she’d claimed she was probably just being paranoid, he’d never before witnessed her acting on paranoia. It took patience and level-headedness to train horses for a living.

And help a wounded athlete battle his way back to some semblance of normal.

If she was guilty of anything, it was of possessing an overwhelming sensitivity to the needs of those around her. She was constantly lending a hand, constantly spreading her own brand of sunshine. He and Shelly Hofstetter were living proof of Noelle’s selfless devotion to others.

Gripping the steering wheel, Nash shook his head, knowing he’d never be able to concentrate on his physical therapy regimen today. Not without knowing that Noelle was okay.

According to the digital clock on his dashboard, he had fifteen minutes to spare before his appointment. That was more than enough time to drive a few streets over to the Gingerbread House to make sure things were going alright between Noelle and her parents. Maybe she’d accuse him of being paranoid before it was all over, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

It took him less than three minutes to roll up to the restaurant. His heart thumped with dread to see the flashing lights of a police cruiser. It was pulled sideways in front of the diagonal parking spots, blocking in two of the restaurant patron’s vehicles. One of them was a black SUV he recognized as belonging to Noelle’s parents.

Not caring if he was ticketed for what he was about to do, he nosed in behind the police cruiser and killed his motor. Leaping down from his truck, he sprinted for the restaurant entrance.

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