Page 34 of Montana Heat

A horn shrieked right outside my window, catching me off guard, throwing me back to the horn that had blared right as I was run off the road a few weeks ago.

I dropped the phone, covering my ears as the noise continued. The world was spinning like it had that night in my car. I’d been sure I was going to die.

I crouched down, covering my head, willing the sound to stop, but it kept on.

The car was spinning, and I was sure I was going to slide off the side of the windy road any minute and roll down the ledge. I couldn’t get control. I?—

“Kenzie! Kenzie, are you there?”

I looked up from my crouched position. No, I wasn’t in a car. I was in my apartment. There was no horn blaring.

I crawled over to where I’d tossed my phone in my panic.

“I’ve got to go, Mom.” My voice was hoarse, breathless.

“Are you okay? What just happened?”

“Nothing. I dropped my phone. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I love you.”

I disconnected the call before my mom could press the issue. There was nothing she could do about whatever panic attack had just come over me, and she would just worry.

I let out a yelp when I saw the time. It was already nine o’clock. Jensen would be downstairs to pick me up.

I rubbed my hand against my eyes. Hell, it was probably him who had honked to let me know he was here, and then my brain had totally blown it out of proportion.

I hopped up and grabbed my jacket, still struggling to get my heart rate under control. Yet another thing this stalker had taken from me: my ability to distinguish fact from fiction.

I headed out the door, feeling a little safer knowing a couple of the Resting Warrior guys had put up a camera in my hallway for security, and rushed down the stairs. Still, I kept my eyes open for anyone lurking. The hall was empty, and when I opened the lobby door, I burst out into the sunshine.

Jensen had parked, getting out of his truck to approach me. Just the sight of him calmed my nerves, but I refrained from running to him after being spooked.

“You didn’t have to honk. A text would’ve been fine.” I smiled, joking.

He furrowed his brow, clearly confused. “I didn’t honk.”

I almost tripped in my step as I reached his passenger door. “Really?”

“What am I, fifteen years old?” He opened the door to his truck for me. “What kind of grown-ass man honks for a woman to come out to his vehicle? I will come up to your door, so from now on, you wait for me.”

I stared at him. Those were the most words with the most intensity that I’d heard from Jensen. He obviously took my safety seriously.

“Okay. I just heard a honk and thought it was you.”And I let it send me into a nightmare spiral that I am still recovering from.

He walked back around to his side of the truck and got in. “I didn’t hear any honk. But either way, just wait for me or whoever’s coming to pick you up, okay?”

“No problem.” I tried to keep a smile on my face even though I was still sweating a little from my panic attack.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just…” I didn’t want to get into my imaginary horn craziness with him, especially not when I was this unsteady.

I forced out my brightest smile, the one I saved for when I had a real estate client who was about to drive me insane but I couldn’t make that fact known. “I’m just ready to get started on our project.”

“You’ll be in the main office with Susanna, so I hope that’ll be okay. She loves to talk, so if it gets to be too much, just ask her for some quiet. She’s used to it, and you won’t offend her.”

I stifled a laugh at his exasperated tone as we parked at his garage.I’d already experienced some of Susanna’s bright personality when we’d gone for coffee my first full day in Garnet Bend. I was a pretty upbeat person, but she was way beyond my level.

I smiled at Susanna as we walked inside. She was on the phone already, using earbuds that connected to the landline. Jensen gave her a nod, and we continued on past her, to a smaller office area.

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