Page 45 of Tormented Hearts

She shifted onto her back, trying not to rustle around too much and wake Hawk. She kept her eyes closed but her mind wouldn’t quiet down. It kept circling back to the mine and the men who’d tried to kill her.

Her thoughts returned to her father’s secret, now threaded through all of it.

And to Hawk.

A place low in her core clenched at the thought of the man lying next to her.

Close enough that she could reach out and touch him.

Kiss him.

Roll on top of him and ride him.

She filled her lungs with a deep breath and let it trickle out slowly, turning her mind to the sound of the forest instead. Small noises drifted to her—a branch creaking as some bird launched off it and the small rustling sounds of a rodent hoping to get away.

None of it worried her. If any of it was a real threat, Hawk would already be up, weapon in hand, standing between her and whatever it was.

Her heart gave a small, warm squeeze. She might be paying Black Heart Security for his protection, but the way he looked at her…the way he’d moved without hesitation back on Timberline Ridge and when she nearly pitched headfirst down that rocky slope…made her suspect he would have done it for free.

After spending only days with the Army Ranger turned FBI turned mercenary turned human shield, she knew that protecting people was part of his DNA.

And the man was damn sexy when he did it.

Her stomach performed another warm little flip, and she wiggled her hips—purely to get comfortable on the hard-packed earth.

Her bodyguard was hot, but under other circumstances, would they have fallen into each other’s arms?

She’d only let herself get carried away because they were stuck together in the middle of an unexpected adventure. Along the trail, what began as a job had turned into…well, more.

Even telling herself she’d slept with her bodyguard for those reasons didn’t feel like the truth.

She’d wanted Hawk.

She wanted him now.

She let out a breath that sounded as a whisper and stared at the dark ceiling of the tent.

Her father would not approve.

What would he say if he could see her now—sharing a tent with a bodyguard she’d slept with, chasing a family secret through the Wyoming backcountry?

He pushed me to come here.

Since her father’s death, she’d cycled through several stages of grief.

But never the anger part.

The emotion was just starting to hum inside her when a big hand brushed her shoulder.

“Sinead.” Heath gave her a light shake.

It took her mind a moment to switch gears from the daughter who’d been slighted by the one man who was supposed to approve of her, to Hawk propped up on one elbow, staring down at her.

“What’s up?” Her voice was thick with the effort of pulling herself out of her own head. “Did you hear something?” she whispered with more urgency.

“No. We’re safe. I’ve been lying here thinking.”

Knowing he’d been awake the entire time made her flush from the tips of her toes to the top of her scalp.