Page 11 of Love Me Dangerous

“Can you take her for me?” I ask.

“Sure.” She jumps up, arms outstretched. Pippa rewards her with a giant grin.

After a kiss on Pippa’s head, I leave her with Ava and slip into thehallway. The lush carpet beneath my feet swallows the tap of my sneakers. It’s quiet down here this time of day, especially with summer ending, so when a door creaks open somewhere out of sight, I know which way to follow.

But when I round the turn, the long hallway is empty. To my left is the rentals and repair shop. Miller is tinkering with a mountain bike on one of the repair stands in the work area. I don’t see Kai.

I poke my head into the shop. Rows of mountain bikes hang from hooks in the ceiling that, in a few months, will be replaced by skis. It always stinks in here but I resist the urge to wrinkle my nose. The guys insist it’s the carpet that never fully dries out after winter and the grease they use on the bikes, but it could be their chewing tobacco or their B.O. from playing hoops outside when rentals are slow. Probably both.

“What’s up?” Miller says as Kai rolls a bike in from the open back doors, his brow beaded with sweat. They’ve both been nice to me since the accident, but I’m sure they’ll be back to teasing me soon enough.

“Did Stu just come in with a guy?”

Miller glances at Kai, who is shrugging out of his pack. I wonder if he just snuck off for a loop on one of the trails. He always insists it’s to “test the equipment.”

“Nope.”

“I passed them,” Kai says, sliding his can of dip from his pocket and tapping it against his thigh to pack it. “Ducked into maintenance.”

“What’d the guy look like?”

Kai frowns. “Dunno. Dark hair. Tall but like, not that tall.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Thanks.”

“How’s Jesse?” Miller asks before I can push off the doorframe.

“Doing okay.” This is a major oversimplification, but if Miller senses this, he doesn’t let on.

I hurry down the hall and push through the double doors. Outside, the bright sun hurts my eyes. I try to soften my gaze by focusing on the pale pavement so I don’t get a headache—something the doctor said was normal after a minor head injury, but it’s annoying. The distant hum of the chair lift blends with birdsong, and the chatter from families lounging on the patio goes silent as I slip into the adjacent building. Stu’s door is closed as usual, but I hear voices behind it.

My gut curls tighter. Since the accident, I’ve wanted to find the person who pulled me and Jesse out of the lake. So has Dad. So have a lot of people.

But even with the footage from bystanders, the guy’s face isn’t clear, and once Jesse got handed off to the paramedics on the shore, he disappeared.

I didn’t tell the state trooper I’d seen the guy before. That I had just bought him breakfast at the diner in Sweetwater. Or that he’d already rescued me once. Because if I did, I’d have to explain what’s going on with Gabe, and that’s nobody’s business but mine.

Why would the security guy from the show be at Finn River Ranch with Stu?

Why is my heart thumping into my throat like I’ve just run to the top of Glory Basin?

I lift my fist to knock, then stop myself. It’s not like I have any business interrupting whatever’s going on inside Stu’s office. Even if I’m right and the guy is here.

A chair creaks and the door opens before I can scramble out of sight.

The guy standing in the doorway freezes. I cover my mouth to hold in my scream.

Behind the guy, Stu frowns at me. “Sofie? Something wrong?”

The guy’s wearing black work pants and a Finn River Ranch work shirt that strains at his shoulders, the short sleeves revealing tanned forearms and the outline of a snake tattoo at his left elbow. His thick, dark hair is shorter than I remember from the diner, but his eyes are the same striking gray-blue. Like wet slate. Eyes that a person could see from outer space.

“I… uh… a guest complained about the walkways,” I say. “Slick.”

The guy scowls and tilts his head.

My heart is pounding so loud I can’t think. His look is a warning. Why? Have I done something wrong?

“Anyone get hurt?” Stu asks.

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