Page 51 of Hidden Shadows
Another silence that was so damn loud it made her belly coil with nausea.
Her breaths started to shorten. “You do, don’t you?”
“I’m not a relationship guy.”
Tears pricked at her eyes, but she blinked them away. “You could be. Youchoosenot to be. And you know what? I am not going to force you to see my worth.”
She wanted to. She wanted to do everything possible to make this man want to keep her. But she shouldn’t have to.
When the line moved forward, Finley forced a smile to her lips as she walked up to one of the employees working the hill. “Hi. I was wondering if you could film me going down for my socials?”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh—you’re Finley. I follow you on TikTok and Instagram.”
“I am.”
“Of course I will. God, I’m going to be taking footage for Finley freaking Dunkley! That’s crazy!”
It took too much energy to keep the smile in place. “Thank you.”
Nixon stood beside her, his gaze forever scanning the area.
She lowered to the toboggan. When Nixon didn’t sit behind her, she frowned. “Are you coming?”
“I’m gonna watch you go down.” His hand hovered near his concealed holster, his gaze moving around the hill.
There were half a dozen others at the top of the slope. She doubted someone would attack her here. But even if they might, she didn’t have the energy to argue.
With a deep sigh and a shake of her head, she pushed off the edge of the hill. Cold air lashed her face as the sled glided over the snow.
She was halfway down when someone careened into her from behind.
She gasped, her head whipping back as she was sent off course.
Voices shouted from behind her, and she looked up to see a tree stump. She couldn’t avoid the collision.
The hit knocked the air from her lungs—then she was airborne before her head hit something hard upon landing.
The pain was instant, darkness blurring her vision.
There was movement around her. Voices. But they sounded far away.
Then Nixon’s voice. “Fin! Honey, talk to me!”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Then darkness closed in around her.
CHAPTER17
Other than the slow rise and fall of Finley’s chest, she was completely still. Fuck, he hated it. He hated that she looked so pale and small in the hospital bed. That yet again, she’d been placed in danger today. That she’d been hurt.
His jaw clenched and it was an effort to remain where he was. To not get up and yell or hit something.
Someone had crashed straight into her toboggan. No one realized that the sledder was heading straight toward her until it was too late.
His heart had damn near stopped. Had it been him? Had his goal been to hurt her without killing her? Because Finleyhadbeen hurt.
When he couldn’t remain seated any longer, he rose and raked his hands through his hair as he paced the small room.
The entire fucking thing had almost unfolded in slow motion, while he’d been unable to do a damn thing to stop it. It had been torture. The hit. The veering of the sled before she hit the tree stump, then the pole. Even now, replaying it in his head killed him.
