Page 11 of Scarred Temptation

“I am not grumpy.”

This time she bumped my arm. “Yes, you are. And you almost always have a frown on your face.”

“Only when thinking about business.”

“Which is almost all the time.”

She was right about that. While portions of my business world were going as they should, I had an increasing concern about recent threats. Including whether the hit and run with Kristoff had been intentional. However, I wasn’t about to share with her the details of why I’d been more cautious in every decision made.

“I’m sorry, my angel. I want my family protected.”

“I’m a part of your family?” She stopped walking, turning slightly.

I pinched her chin. “Of course you are. You mean more to me than you know.”

If she only had a full understanding of how much.

“I’m glad and I know. You worry, fearful about the past. I understand.” She leaned her head against my arm, pushing us to start walking again. “But you can’t be everywhere all the time and I’m perfectly safe.”

“And perfectly mischievous.”

Isabel pulled away and into the surf, kicking water toward me with one of her bare feet. “Who, me?”

“Yes, you.”

Sharing time with her was never dull. When she took off running, intending on me chasing her, I hung my head for a few seconds. She was the kind of woman to keep me on my toes.

And I loved it.

With the wild child having a head start, I sprinted forward. She was much faster than I’d given her credit for, even while glancing over her shoulder every few seconds to see where I was. When she picked up speed, widening the distance, I knew I’d need to up my game.

Now I sprinted faster. She shrieked, seeing how close I’d come, pumping her long legs into the deep sand.

But I was too quick for her.

I threw myself forward for the last few feet, capturing her around the waist. As I spun her in the air, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.

Her laugh was rambunctious, the sound as sweet as any music I’d ever heard. Yet even though we were both enjoying ourselves, I put her down, returning my gaze to an area near a group of trees that were at least a hundred yards away.

As soon as she realized I’d stopped laughing and was standing rigidly still, she grabbed my arm. With her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, she followed my line of sight.

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe nothing,” I told her, but my instinct said otherwise. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Of course, I’d brought weapons with me, but I wasn’t carrying a gun. Not to the beach. The last thing I wanted was to terrify her.

I’d taken several long strides when she caught up with me, forcing me to stop. “There’s nothing there, Maxsim. Take a look. It was just shadows playing tricks.”

I scanned the perimeter. As she’d suggested, there was nothing there. “I saw something. A man.”

She slipped her hand around my arm, tugging until I looked at her. “Listen to me. There isn’t some monster lurking in every shadow and around every corner. You can’t continue living your life that way. You need to learn to relax. Isn’t that why you brought us here?”

While on one hand she was correct in why I’d left all my responsibilities, on the other she had no idea the level of danger that lurked just behind one’s line of sight. She hadn’t been brought up with violence and bloodshed as an everyday occurrence. She didn’t understand the lengths certain monsters would go to try to destroy my life, including my family.

And she would never know.

“Come on. Let’s go back. I’m dying for a margarita.” Her smile was genuine, but I sensed her tension.