Page 97 of Hero's Prize

There was no way she could talk to him about that at all now even if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to because all this proved was that Colton didn’t know her at all.

She stood there and shook her head. She couldn’t even formulate words. She had never expected to have to defend herself from something like this.

“Look,” he continued. “You said it yourself. Lincoln spilled the beans at the wedding when he told me you had a crush on me. I didn’t really think much of it at the time. I mean, we’ve known each other forever. I didn’t think you thought of me that way. That you were such a…fan.”

Ella was afraid she might vomit right here in her office. What could she say to any of this?

“Don’t look at me like that, please, Butterscotch.”

The endearment just made it all so much worse.

“I do want us to find a way to work this out. You grew up with a famous father, so I sort of expected you to understand more how it all works. The need for privacy. Not drawing unnecessary attention.”

He reached for her, but she slid back and closed her eyes. If he touched her now, she might shatter into a million pieces.

“I just want to understand why you did it and make you understand that you can’t do stuff like this, okay? It’s not good for either of us.”

She opened her eyes and found him looking at her with suchsincerity that it made the situation unbearable. He truly did just want to understand.

Ella understood something, too, but not what he thought.

She understood that this could never work.

“How about if we just agree to this, Colton: You don’t ever have to worry about me doing something like that ever again. Lock the door behind you when you leave.”

Without another word, she turned and left.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

Late afternoon the next day, Colton sat in the far back booth of the Eagle’s Nest, nursing a drink. His face was grim enough that nobody had approached him, not that there were many people here.

He’d gotten up before dawn and gone rock climbing. The activity never failed to help clear his head.

Except today, it hadn’t helped. All he could do was see Ella’s face as he tried to talk to her last night. He’d run the conversation over and over again in his mind. Trying to figure out exactly where it had broken down. They’d both seemed to be on the same page when she’d first shown up—wanting to talk about the social media post concerning the sporting goods store.

Yeah, she’d been embarrassed about that scrapbook, and maybe he could’ve been a little gentler in how he’d brought that up. Coaxed her into explaining more about that.

Because…that look on her face. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all last night, but if he had, that look would’ve haunted his nightmares.

He couldn’t wrap his head around it. He thought he was doing the right thing by giving her a chance to explain. Yeah, they would need to establish some ground rules moving forward, but the important thing was he still definitely wanted to move forward.

Nothing in the way she’d left her office last night had suggested she wanted the same.

The thought of that did way more than send him into a panic attack—it sent his whole world crashing down. He had to find Ella and figure out a way to make things right. Figure out a way to make her understand that one indiscretion was completely forgivable. The fame elements of his life could get overwhelming and out of control.

Yeah, he’d expected her to understand a little better, given her family, but they could still work this out.

He should have gone after her last night as soon as she left the office. Should’ve dragged her back and fought it out and then cleared the air. That’s how it had always been between his parents. Tempers could burn hot, but then after the fight, the anger dissipated and the air between them was fresh. That was what he’d been expecting from Ella—for her to push back with some anger of her own to match his.

But the more he thought about it today, the more he realized that wasn’t sweet, gentle Ella’s style. She was a peacemaker, through and through. Fighting was not in her nature.

He sat up straighter in the booth. Neither was drawing undue attention to herself.

Fuck.

She hadn’t done it. She hadn’t been the one to leak the info about the sporting goods store. Of course she hadn’t been. He couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to even consider it. He didn’t give a shit what it had said on that sticky note.

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