Page 31 of Undoing His Innocent Enemy (Hot Winter Escapes)

At last, the stunning glass and steel structure appeared on the horizon.

She frowned as her heart rate spiked.

As he arrived at the lakeside entrance to the house, and clicked the gizmo attached to the snowmobile, the garage door rose. He drove into the concrete bunker, the warm air like a welcome blanket as the door lowered behind them.

But inside Cara felt cold—and foolish. She’d jumped at the chance to return here—because he still fascinated and excited her. But why hadn’t she made more of an effort to find out where they stood?

As soon as he braked, Cara clambered off the machine. She ripped off her head coverings, and tugged off her snowsuit, then took off her ski jacket and fleece while he parked the vehicle.

She reached for the camera box she had tucked into his saddlebag while he took off the first layers of his own clothing.

He slicked back his hair, damp from sweat, the day-old growth on his jaw making him look like a pirate as he walked towards her.

He reached for her camera. ‘Let me see it,’ he demanded.

She held the camera close to her chest and shook her head. ‘Why?’ she asked, hoping against hope that her suspicions were wrong.

But the cold feeling spread as she waited for his reply. Because she suspected she already knew the answer to that question. Despite the offer to bring her back here, he still didn’t trust her.

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his ski-pants and levelled that all-seeing glare at her, the one designed to intimidate her into not asking inconvenient or probing questions.

Well, to heck with that.

He’d been inside her. He’d been her first lover. And maybe that didn’t make her any more trustworthy in his eyes. But it meant something to her.

Rather a lot in fact.

She didn’t trust men easily, but on some elemental level she had trusted him. Enough to throw herself at him. Enough to want to come back here at his suggestion. But she would be damned if she’d do that entirely on his terms. He wanted her camera now, so he could check what was on it. She got that. And she didn’t really have any objection to that. Because she knew her pictures would confirm her innocence.

But she would be damned if she would let him believe he had a right to make her prove her innocence, when she had done nothing wrong—except get lost in the snowy wilderness, and want him, the way he wanted her.

He continued to stare at her, and for once she could see the calculation in his eyes. He was trying to decide whether to admit the truth or not.

She was sure he was going to give her some lame excuse, but then he surprised her.

‘Because I want to see if you took any pictures of my home before you became lost,’ he said. ‘No one is allowed to know this exact location unless they have signed NDAs and I know I can trust them.’

‘But what about the people who built this place?’ she blurted out, a little stunned even now by the extent of his seclusion, and how fiercely he protected it.

‘The construction crews, the architect and engineer were all blindfolded before they were driven here. And also required to sign NDAs.’

‘But... How do you get your food delivered? What about if you need a doctor?’

‘I have supplies air-dropped to a location twenty miles away twice a month. I can contact a doctor in an emergency. But I am fit and healthy.’

‘But...Why?’ She could see instantly the question had angered him, his eyes becoming flat and direct, the muscle twitching in his jaw visible despite the heavy beard scruff.

‘Because I value my privacy,’ he said.

He’d got away with the non-answer once before, but she refused to let him get away with it again.

‘But why do you value it to that extent? What are you afraid of?’

The muscle hardened, his brows furrowing over those piercing silvery blue eyes.

‘I am not afraid. I just do not need people.’

It seemed like a simple answer, but the stormy emotions on his face told a very different story.

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