Page 31 of Line of Resistance

Eloise sniffled, sucking in a long breath. “Okay.” Her head turned his direction. “How did you know to come look for me?”

“Naomi tried to call you and you didn’t answer.” He relaxed his own head back, rocking it toward hers. “Apparently you always answer your phone and everyone started to panic.”

Eloise’s lips pulled into a bright smile. “Really?”

The hint of surprise in her voice made his chest tight. Like she didn’t expect her friends to worry about her. Didn’t expect them to know her well enough to realize something was wrong.

“Everybody was wound up about it. Heidi’s the one who helped me figure out where you were. She tracked down where your cell phone pinged last.” Might as well get the full truth out in the open and give Eloise time to sit on it. Come to terms with the invasion of her privacy now instead of when she was in front of everyone.

But Eloise didn’t seem upset or bothered. “That was really nice of her.”

He should agree, but it didn’t feel right letting Eloise believe what they did was simply a nice gesture without acknowledging the element of the invasion of her privacy. “It was definitely useful, but means she has access to a lot of your cell phone data.”

Eloise’s eyes widened. “Like text messages and stuff?”

Nate blew out a breath and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know exactly what Heidi’s capable of. But I wouldn’t put it past her.”

He braced for the upset, but it never came.

Instead, Eloise laughed. “If she went through my text messages, hopefully she was trying to fall asleep. They are about as boring as it gets.”

It was yet another unexpected piece of the puzzle that was turning out to be Eloise. Most people would be offended, or more likely outraged, to find out their privacy had been invaded like this, but Eloise almost seemed flattered.

But he still felt like he needed to explain. “She doesn’t really do it to be nosy, she just likes to make sure anyone who’s around Alaskan Security is—” He didn’t really know how to explain it.

“Not a liability?” Eloise explained it perfectly.

He was going to have to add perceptive to the list of qualities she possessed. “Something like that.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.” She lifted one hand, gesturing at the tactical gear he hadn’t changed out of yet. “It’s pretty obvious you guys aren’t doing low-level animal control jobs for a living.”

Nate smirked. Her assessment intrigued him. Made him want to know more of what she’d figured out on her own. “You don’t think?”

Eloise shook her head. “Definitely not.”

“What was your first clue?”

Her brows jumped, climbing high on her forehead. “My first clue?” She wiggled around like she was settling in. Getting comfortable. “Probably when you guys came out of the woodwork the night the bar caught on fire.”

Thatwas what made her realize they weren’t a run-of-the-mill security company? “Believe it or not, none of us were on the clock that night.”

Eloise appeared skeptical. “So you just all come running whenever somebody in your company has a problem?”

“Yes.” It was part of the reason the people around him were so important. They were exactly the kind of family he’d always wanted. They depended on each other. Needed each other. Appreciated each other. They would never walk away from him without looking back. They would never abandon him for no reason.

It’s why he worked hard not to give them a reason. Why he was willing to sacrifice his feelings for Eloise. As much as he thought they could be something good, nothing in life was guaranteed. If things fell apart, his friends would have to make a choice between them. And he wasn’t convinced they would choose him.

“That’s actually really nice.” Eloise focused on her bag, reaching into it. “And not very surprising, which is why I’m not upset Heidi dug into me.” She pulled out a bottle of water and passed it to him. “Especially since it’s what’s going to get me off the side of this road.” Her eyes slid his way. “As soon as someone who can keep their car on its wheels shows up.”

There was no stopping the laugh that jumped free. “Are you giving me shit right now?”

“Maybe.” She cracked open a second bottle of water and took a sip, hiding her smile behind the lip. “Fair warning, I’ll probably give you some later too.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ELOISE

THERE WERE PROBABLY worse people she could be trapped in the back of a car with, but at the moment, it was impossible to think of anyone. Her brain didn’t seem to be capable of functioning properly with Nate so close. Add in that he’d killed a moose to save her and tried to cover her up with his coat, and she was riding the struggle bus hard. Fighting to keep from falling into the same flipping trap she did every time he was around.

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