Part of her was grateful that he’d kept his buddies from getting a free show, but all of her was hurt and pissed that there were cameras there in the first place. That was not what she’d signed up for. Not what she’d agreed to.
Was everything about their relationship false?
Her mind immediately vetoed that question. No. There was no way he could fake his body’s attraction to her, just as she couldn’t fake hers with him.
Tonight, she’d felt the depth of his emotions. It had been in his eyes, his touch, his heartbeats. He felt more than just lust for her. Of that she was certain, and it lessened some of the tightness in her chest. Holden cared for her, possibly even adored her. But did he respect her? Dammit, the tightness was returning in her chest.
No, he couldn’t respect her, because if he had, then he never would’ve tried to watch her behind her back.
God, what a mess. She was a mess.
Confused, hurt, and angry. Very angry.
She sniffed as she neared a set of taillights in the deserted road ahead. Emily swiped at her face again to clear her visions and focused on the scene materializing in her headlights.
A car was stopped in the middle of the road with its flashers on.
Her pulse increased and her own issues disappeared. Was an animal hit? Probably. It had that feel to her. She’d been summoned to enough animal versus vehicle calls to recognize the signs.
And one was probably hurt now that would require her full attention.
Inhaling deeply, she parked on the side of the road and got out. It was nearly nine o’clock at night. Not much traffic happened after sunset on this road. It led to the shelter and several ranches, including her house, which was actually the next right down the road a half mile.
As she rounded the idling car, she surveyed the ground, happy to find it clear of debris. Next, she glanced at the front of the vehicle, noting no blood, so that was also good. It meant the driver hadn’t been traveling at a high rate of speed during the collision, although, she knew from experience the damage an animal could sustain from a slow-moving vehicle.
“Are you okay?” she asked the woman kneeling down by a motionless…Chihuahua?
Shoot. Her heart squeezed. It was a small dog.
What was a dog like that doing out this time of the night by itself?
“Yes. I…Oh, Emily, good, it’s you,” Colby said, rising to her feet, relief clearing away the concern in her eyes.
“Colby? What happened?” she asked, moving around the woman to check on the dog, fearing the worst.
“It came out of nowhere. The dog just ran in front of my car,” Colby mumbled. “I didn’t see it in time. I tried to stop but…”
The woman’s words trailed off as Emily’s heart lurched to the pavement.
She recognized the dog.
Oh, my God…
It was her dog.
“Princeton?” she choked out, her eyes filling with tears again. “I don’t understand. How did he get out?”
Emily’s knees hit the ground, and as she leaned over him to feel for a pulse, something hard struck the back of her head, and everything went dark.
Chapter Eighteen
Holden was pissed at himself for not handling the situation better. Hell, he was pissed for getting into the situation in the first place.
Yeah, not keeping vigil would’ve been the smart thing.
Would it, though?
Perez was a dangerous felon, involved in drugs and prostitution, and who the hell knew what else. Holden hadn’t wanted to know when Carter had first started to read the man’s police record. It’d pissed him off that the guy was out running free.
