“I do. I just don’t like mosquitoes. I’ll wear bug spray.”
Dylan was still obviously skeptical. “You’re sure you’re not just bored?”
“I was bored. I’m not now.”
Olivia started up a path toward the terrace. Dylan kept his eyes on her as he continued, “Are you avoiding San Diego? It’s an adjustment, going from controlling everything to do with NAK to—”
“Controlling nothing?” Noah gave a small smile. “No one’s going to feel sorry for me, Dylan, and I don’t feel sorry for myself. You and I are both moving on. We made our choices about how we’d take NAK public. We still have a strong interest in the company, but we wanted fresh blood. The last thing the new people need is the founders skulking around.”
“Founder,” Dylan corrected. “Singular.”
Noah didn’t argue with him. They’d had this argument countless times in the past four years. “We’re both pivoting to what’s next for us. I just didn’t expect you to fall for someone from a little town on the other side of the country.”
Olivia joined them on the terrace and smiled at Noah as if she’d told him all she knew about the identity of his princess. “I love it here but you’ll be roughing it by your standards.”
Noah returned her smile. “Like I just told Dylan. I’ll wear bug spray.”
*
On his first evening alone in Knights Bridge, Noah listened to an owl in the woods behind the house and chased a mosquito out of the kitchen. He’d have killed it if he’d had the opportunity but it followed him outside when he walked Buster.
He had no problem killing mosquitoes.
His assistant in San Diego had arranged for a messenger to deliver a new phone to Carriage Hill. Noah scanned his messages. Loretta Wrentham had called seven times. When he called her back, she was annoyed with him for not responding sooner but she had no news.
He sat down at Olivia’s white-painted kitchen table. “If you don’t know anything, why did you call me seven times?”
“Because you didn’t return my first two calls.”
“That makes no sense, Loretta.”
“It makes perfect sense to me. I hate being ignored.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you.”
“What were you doing?” she asked.
“I didn’t have a phone.”
A half-beat’s silence. “You didn’t have a phone? Really?”
He heard the skepticism in her voice. “Really,” he said. “I only got your voice mails just now.”
“Don’t you have an assistant who checks your messages?”
“Not one who checks my private number.”
“So are you and Dylan about to head back out here?”
“Dylan is already en route,” Noah said.
“Noah…” Loretta took in an audible breath. “Where are you?”
“Knights Bridge. I’m staying at Olivia’s place. I’m dog sitting.”
Silence on the other end of the connection.
“I almost wish it were cool enough tonight for a fire,” Noah added. “I like Olivia’s fireplace. Fireplaces, actually. There are five or six. They all share one chimney. It’s in the center of the house.”
“Dear God.”
He smiled into the phone. “Have you ever been to New England, Loretta?”
“Boston. Knights Bridge isn’t Boston.”
“Not even close.” But he didn’t mind that, he realized. At least for now. In another few days, it might make all the difference in the world. “Dylan and Olivia will be arriving in San Diego soon. Don’t let him get involved in this thing. He needs to show Olivia around town, take her to the zoo. Stuff like that.”
“You’re a romantic at heart,” Loretta said.
Noah laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“Are you sure it’s wise to stay out there by yourself? You have a higher profile right now with NAK going public. You need to take your safety seriously. You’ve had corporate security training and you know fencing and karate, but if this guy’s actually stalking you—”
“I’m not worried, Loretta. I don’t want you to worry, either. Let’s just identify this man and figure out what he wants.”
“That high-IQ mind of yours is working the problem. I can feel it all the way out here on the other side of the continent.”
“The problem has gotten a bit more complicated since we last talked.”
She sighed. “Of course it has. Tell me.”
Noah explained about his princess and the note Olivia had handed him. “I’m positive my princess overheard our guy and wrote that note but I can’t prove it.”
“She doesn’t know who you are and you don’t know who she is,” Loretta said.
“But Olivia and her friend Maggie know both—who I am and who she is.”
“I get it, I get it. You want to find this woman and your stalker, and you think staying in Knights Bridge will help. How, I don’t know, but you’re the genius. What are you doing tonight, since it’s too warm for a fire?”
“I’m listening to an owl right now.”