Hideaway Heart (Cherry Tree Harbor Book 2)

“MOTHERFUCKER.” I reached over and scrolled through photos of us leaving the cabin last night hand in hand and dancing at The Broken Spoke. They’d been posted on a different tabloid site this time, one called Hot Shots that seemed to specialize in romantic speculation. The caption read, Who’s the local hottie that caught Pixie Hart’s eye? Vacation fling or something more? “Motherfucker.”

From the angle and shitty quality of the photos, it looked like the guy had been shooting from the woods at a considerable distance.

But still. Someone had been here. Someone had been watching us, maybe all day. And I’d fucking missed it.

I jumped out of bed, glad to see we’d at least pulled the window shades down in here, but the living room had no window coverings—and we’d been out there last night. “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

“Leaving? Where would we go? Xander, come on. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is to me.” I hunted around for my jeans and yanked them on.

“You’re not even identified.”

“Doesn’t matter. Someone was here,” I said through clenched teeth. “How did I fucking miss it?”

“Because these guys are pros. They know all the tricks. They’ve got the equipment.”

“They followed us to my dad’s house. Then they followed us again. Goddamn it.” I stopped moving. “Is there a photo credit?”

“I don’t know. What does it matter?”

“Because I’ll fucking find him.” I tugged my T-shirt over my head.

“And do what? Beat him up? Smash his camera?”

“That’s a start.”

“Do you know how many of these guys exist in my world? You can’t beat them all up, Xander. You just learn to live with them.”

“Bullshit.” I knelt on the bed and grabbed the phone out of her hand, looking for the photo credit. All it said was Now News Media. “What’s this?”

“It’s probably a company the paparazzi sell to. There are tons of them.”

I felt like TNT was running through my veins. How could I have been so fucking careless? I remembered the beige Honda Civic I’d seen parked on the road Friday night. Why hadn’t I called someone to run the plates already? I knew fifteen people who’d have done it for me. Instead, I was busy thinking about my dick.

I tossed her phone onto the mattress and stood up. “Pack your things. We need to get out of here.”

She gathered up the covers over her chest. “And go where?”

“For now, my house. This place is compromised.”

“What about the boat?”

I raked a hand through my hair, thinking about all my mistakes. “Jesus, fuck, we were running around outside last night. He could have been out there.”

“Xander, you’re overreacting! This stuff happens to me all the time. It’s just photographs.”

Furious with myself, I scavenged around the floor for my socks, then pulled them on. “Anyone could have gotten photos of us through the windows last night. How much do you think a photo of you with my face between your legs would get? Or you on your knees with my dick in your mouth? Christ.”

“They don’t want to hurt me, they just want to get paid for the pictures.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if I’d been on my game. If I hadn’t been distracted.”

“Wait a minute. Are you blaming me?”

“I’m not blaming anyone but myself!” Roaring mad, I left the bedroom.

Out in the living room, I found my phone and texted a friend with contacts at the DMV, asking her to run the plates of that beige Honda. Then I shoved my feet in my boots and went outside, standing there on the porch, heels planted wide, fists clenched, chest expanded. “Are you there, motherfucker?” I muttered. My eyes swept the surrounding area. I cracked my knuckles. “Come on. Take my picture. I fucking dare you.”

After a few minutes, the lava in my veins started to cool, and my heart rate slowed. Satisfied there was no immediate threat—but also kind of disappointed I wouldn’t get to smash a camera—I went back into the house.

Kelly still hadn’t come out of the bedroom. I owed her an apology, but I thought it might have a better chance of being accepted if I offered it alongside some caffeine, so I made some coffee first. When it was ready, I poured her a cup and took it with me down the hall.

She’d shut the bedroom door. Grimacing, I knocked on it. “Kelly?”

“Go away.”

“I have coffee.”

“Leave the coffee and go away.”

“Can I please come in?”

A pause. “I don’t care what you do.”

I entered the room and saw she was still in bed, wrapped to her ears with blankets and curled up on her side, facing the wall.

“Hey.” Careful not to spill the coffee, I sat on the bed.

Silence.

“I’m sorry, Kelly. I’m really mad at myself, and I took it out on you.”

“You don’t need to be mad at yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Setting the cup on the windowsill, I lay down behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist. “I did, but it wasn’t your fault, and I treated you like it was.”

“This is normal for me, Xander. People follow me around and take photos. Do I like it? No. Did I want this bullshit on my vacation? No. Do I want to try to have a good time anyway? Yes.”

I kissed her shoulder. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry your picture is being taken too. You didn’t ask for this.”

“I don’t give a fuck about myself. But we’re going to be more careful, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you still want to go on the boat today?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll make you a deal. You agree to move into my house for the rest of your trip and I’ll take you out on the boat.”

She sighed. “Why do we have to move?”

“Because this place makes me nervous. It’s remote—anyone could be staked out in those woods. There are no security cameras. There are no shades on the front windows—practically the entire wall is glass.”

“Does your house have cameras?”

“No,” I admitted. “But it has blinds and curtains. We have neighbors who’d notice a stranger lurking around the house and report it. People look out for each other here.”

“Is this going to be okay with your dad?”

“Are you kidding? He adores you. It will be just fine.”

“We won’t be able to sleep together.”

“Why not?”

“Xander!” She rolled onto her back and looked up at me. “I can’t sleep with you in your dad’s house, while he’s there. Mabel and Devlin are there too, right?”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about them.” I thought for a moment. “I guess it’s too crowded to stay at the house. I’ll book a hotel room.”

“Xander, we’ll be fine here,” she said, snuggling up to me. “I’m not afraid when I’m with you. And I will take all the precautions you tell me to. I won’t stray from your side. You will truly be stuck with me from now until the moment I leave.”

“Fine. But the other thing we’re doing is working on some self-defense moves. I won’t always be there.”

“I don’t need—”

“You want a ride on my boat, you learn the moves,” I ordered.

She sighed dramatically. “Fine.”

“And if I see that guy around here, I’m going to fucking smash his camera. Possibly his face.”

“You have my permission,” she said. “Although I’d like to remind you that just a few days ago, you said if you had to get into a fight for me, it meant you hadn’t done your job.”

“Well, things are different now.” I looked at her messy red hair, clear green eyes, and freckled nose, experiencing a strange tightness in my chest. “And if someone I don’t like gets near you on my watch, he’s done.”

She smiled, slowly, sweetly. “My hero.”

It sort of hit me like a lightning bolt.