“I’m already involved. I don’t like being left in the dark.”
Chase studied her face, soaking in her beauty, her kindness, the goodness in her heart. “We have to go.”
She reached out and grasped his arm before he could turn away. “Don’t lock me out of this.”
Angry with her for pressing him when he’d asked her not to, angry with himself for bringing such ugliness into her life, he shook off her touch. “No.”
Hurt flashed across her features, but he steeled himself against it. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But life was full of pain, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. At the moment he needed distance. Pushing her away was the only way he knew how to get it. For now his number one priority was to get her to a safe place. Once he did that, he’d walk away and never look back.
LILY STARED through the passenger window, watching the rain slide down the glass. Rolling farmland, miles of white rail fencing and the occasional farmhouse zipped by, but she barely noticed the pretty countryside. She couldn’t stop thinking about Chase and the magic they’d shared.
And about the cold glint in his eyes back at the cottage.
They hadn’t spoken since they’d climbed into the car and headed north on Route 93 toward Shane’s house fifteen minutes earlier. She told herself she didn’t need him. Going it alone had been the plan all along. She was independent with a nice apartment and a career she loved. Not to mention a baby on the way. But deep inside, Lily acknowledged that she was lying to herself. No matter how much she wanted to believe it, her life would never be complete without Chase.
The terrible truth was that she still loved him. If she wanted to be perfectly honest with herself, she’d never stopped loving him. But Lily didn’t want to be honest. Not when it was so much easier, so much less painful, to lie.
Damn him for doing this to her.
Damn her for letting him.
Leaning against the seat back, she shifted and tried to get comfortable, but couldn’t. Her lower back ached. Her hips ached. She tried reclining her seat back so she could stretch out a bit, but it didn’t help.
After several minutes of her fidgeting, Chase looked over, concern darkening his eyes. “Are you all right?”
“I just want this to be over,” she snapped.
He glanced away from his driving to study her, but she looked away. She couldn’t look at him without remembering what it was like to be held in his arms. She couldn’t remember without wanting it to happen again. The reality that after today she would never see him again hurt more than she ever could have imagined.
She reminded herself that she had no future with Chase. She and her child would be safer and happier without him. But while her brain was telling her all the things she needed to hear, her heart begged to differ.
All the while, the pain in her lower back nagged at her with increasing fervor, setting her nerves on edge.
“We’ve got company.” Chase’s focus went to the rearview mirror, and he made a sound of disbelief. “They’re not slowing down.” He hit the gas. “Hang on!”
Lily was in the process of turning to look out the rear window when a crash sounded and the car jolted violently. At first she thought they’d hit something or had a blowout. Then she caught a glimpse of a vehicle behind them and realized they’d been rammed. “They’re trying to run us off the road!”
“Or kill us,” he said tightly.
The car jolted again and went into a skid. Gripping the seat, Lily glanced over at Chase. He fought the wheel for control.
“How did they find us?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Chase cursed and shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it, but Ben Parker was the only person who knew where we were.”
“I thought he was—”
“So did I,” he interjected.
Lily turned in the seat to see the chrome bumper and grill of a large SUV loom closer. “They’re right behind us!”
The vehicle struck them again, hard enough to send the Toyota into a skid. Chase struggled with the wheel, but the car seemed to have a mind of its own. It crossed the yellow line, but within seconds he brought the vehicle back under control.
“Can we call someone for help? The police?” she shouted.
He didn’t look away from his driving. “Battery’s dead.”
Like us, she thought and shuddered.
Another wave of horror ripped through her when the big SUV pulled up beside them. Lily caught a glimpse of the bumper and a shiny red fender. The silhouette of a driver and passenger behind tinted windows. An instant later, the vehicle swerved and crashed into them on the rear driver’s side.
“Hold on!”
The vehicles clashed like two giant beasts locked in battle. Steel screeched against steel, mechanical screams that grated like fingernails on chalk. The Toyota shuddered and swerved, but Chase managed to maintain control.
“Can you outrun them?” Lily cried.