“You’re joking, right?”

Lifting his shirt, he tossed it on the dirty mound of clothes and started unbuttoning his jeans. “Not at all, princess. You need to hurry before she gets here. I don’t think she’ll like seeing another woman in my room.” Turning his back to me, he lowered his jeans and boxers to the floor, and grabbed the towel that was on his bed, wrapping it around his waist.

I didn’t see his backside because I was blinded by anger. As he turned back around, I picked up an armful of his dirty clothes, and hurled them at him as hard as I could. His hands lifted, making him lose his grip on the towel. “Clean up your own damn room, asshole! I’m out of here.”

Storming out the door, I rushed upstairs and packed my bag.

“Hadley, wait,” Blake shouted. He raced up the stairs, but I locked the door before he could get in. As fast as I could, I searched through the phone until I found the number for a cab service. Blake knocked on the door, his voice softer. “Please open up, so we can talk.”

Dialing the number, I flipped him off even though he couldn’t see me. “Go fuck yourself. It’s too late for that.”

I requested the cab and hung up quickly. The sooner I could get out of that house, the better. Once I was all packed, I stood by the window until I could see the cab coming down the driveway. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I slammed open the door. Blake’s head jerked up and he lifted his hands in defeat. At least he’d had the decency to put his pants back on.

“Don’t go,” he said. “Let me explain.”

Huffing, I pushed past him and rushed down the stairs. “I don’t want to hear a single thing you have to say. It’s obvious you don’t want me here. You treat your horses better than you treat me.”

“Where the hell are you going to go? You’re under my protection.”

I stopped at the door and opened it wide, the cab crunching on the gravel as it came to a stop. At this point, I was more exhausted and lonely than angry. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and faced him. “I’m a big girl, Mr. Evans. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to keep me safe. But I have to say, I’m sorely disappointed.”

His jaw clenched. “With what?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Robert talked so highly of you, saying you were the best. I guess I didn’t expect you to be such an inconsiderate ass.” Turning on my heel, I rushed down the driveway and got in the cab.

“Where to, young lady?” the man asked. He was probably the same age as my dad, with white hair and a scruffy beard.

“Anywhere but here. A hotel would be nice.”

He put the car into gear. “You got it.”

We started down the driveway and when I turned around, Blake was nowhere to be seen; the door was already closed. I thought I was strong enough to put up with him, but I wasn’t. Picking up my phone, I dialed Logan’s number, hating myself for what I was about to do.

“What’s up?” he answered.

I held the phone closer to my ear, whispering low. “I couldn’t do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I couldn’t stay, Logan. I refuse to listen to Blake’s bullshit for another minute. It was a nightmare.”

“Jesus Christ, where are you? You shouldn’t have left.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m going to stay at a hotel and figure something out.” We entered the city of Jackson Hole and the driver pulled us into a hotel parking lot. The place looked interesting with its dark wood exterior and rustic feel.

“Will this do, Miss?” the driver asked.

“Yes, thanks,” I said, handing him a twenty. I got out of the car and he drove away.

Logan cleared his throat. “What hotel are you at?”

“I’m not telling you. You’ll go right to Blake. The last thing I need is to deal with him or Robert.”

“Who said I was going to call them?”

Rolling my eyes, I strolled toward the door. “It’s not like you can’t find me anyway. The phone is . . .” Then reality struck. “Fuck me,” I growled. It didn’t matter where I was, they could always find me as long as I had the phone.

Logan laughed. “Sorry, buttercup. If Evans wants to find you, he can – with or without the phone. It’s what he’s good at.”

I scoffed. “He sure doesn’t act like it.”

“True, but he really is a good guy. I think it would be in your best interest to go back; at least before he finds you.”

“Not gonna happen. If he wants me back, he’s going to have to drag me, kicking and screaming.”

“And he will, sweetheart. I know I would, if you had left me. Maybe you two should pretend to be ex-lovers instead of siblings. I think it works better.”

I snorted in disgust. “As long as he keeps his hands to himself.” Not to mention, keeping every other part of his body away as well. He was trouble.

Blake

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Logan snapped through the phone.

He’d been trying to call me all night, but I’d spent the majority of it going through Hadley’s file and researching everything about her on the web, including her NHL star boyfriend. I hadn’t bothered to look at her file beforehand, as I’d been too pissed about the assignment. I shouldn’t have let my anger cloud my judgment. The more I learned about her, the stupider I felt. Thankfully, her phone acted like a beacon. I would’ve found her without it anyway. It turned out she picked the hotel Jerrod’s mother worked at, so it was easy to reserve the room adjoining hers. The hotels were vacant this time of year.

“Are you even listening to me?” he roared.

I glanced at the picture I had pulled up on my laptop. It was Hadley at the Country Music Awards, holding her award. “It was a mistake,” I admitted. “I never should’ve pushed her as hard as I did.”

“You think? Why the hell did you fuck with her anyway?”

Sighing, I shut my screen off. “I thought she was going to be a spoiled bitch who needed to be put in her place. I was just testing her.”

“And what did you find out?”

I glanced down at her file. “That I’m a fucking idiot.”

He chuckled. “You got that right. What are you going to do now? She won’t go back without a fight.”

In my hand, I held the source of what would prove otherwise. “I beg to differ. By the end of the day, she’ll be ready to come back with me. I’m at the hotel.”

“Oh hell. What did you do?”

“Let’s just say, she’s going to be very uncomfortable when she wakes up.”

“Good luck, brother. You’re gonna need it.” We got off the phone and I waited until she left the room before calling the front desk.

“Front desk,” Jerrod’s mother greeted.

“Hey, Audrey, it’s Blake. Has Anna gotten down there yet?” I had to remember to call her Anna instead of Hadley.

“She just walked by,” she murmured low. “She’s not looking so good. What did you do to her last night? Her skin’s all red. If you’re trying to get her back, I don’t think you went about it the right way.”

I held in a chuckle. “Trust me, she’ll want to come back home.”

“In my day, men would say nice things and take me out to dinner. You could’ve easily tried that.”

“Anna and I don’t have that kind of relationship. It’s more of a love-hate kind of thing.”

She clucked her tongue. “You kids are something else. All right, she’s eating breakfast. You’re safe to come down.”

Instead of going into the restaurant, I grabbed a newspaper and sat in the lounge. I had the perfect view of her, and she looked miserable. Her ball cap rode low over her eyes and she slumped down, as if she didn’t want to be seen. She tried not to scratch her bright red skin, covered in large welts. If she ever found out what I did, she would kill me. I didn’t realize it would affect her as bad as it did.

She made her way up to the waffle batter dispenser and tried to turn the knob. It didn’t budge. Yanking on it a little harder, she screamed out, “Oh my God!” as the lever came off in her hand.