"ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE going to be okay here by yourself?" Colton asked for the third time.

I nodded. "I'll be fine. Promise."

"If anything happens—"

I gave him a light push. "If anything happens, I'll call you right away."

He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips. "See you at five."

"I'll be looking forward to it," I said with a grin.

A few moments later, Colton pulled out of the driveway.

Contentment and excitement swirled in my stomach. Even though the wine might have made it easy to take things a lot further, Colton insisted on being a complete gentleman.

He had given me a backrub, though. One that I would never forget. His hands were like magic. Finding every single knot and tight area, he kneaded them out one at a time with his dexterous fingers.

Completely relaxed from the dinner and the massage, I had fallen asleep in Colton's arms as we watched Legend.

The next morning, he helped me clean up the kitchen and made peanut butter toast for breakfast. I didn't want him to go, but I knew he needed to check in on his mom and take Buddy for a long walk. Plus—I wanted to get some more writing done.

I cracked my knuckles and pulled out my laptop. "Okay, story, it's just you and me today. No Internet. No one here to distract me. It is officially on like Donkey Kong!"

Just like the other times I worked on my manuscript, the words came incredibly fast. Everything just seemed to fit as I pieced together my notes from when Colton and I had last discussed this section. In fact, things were going so well, I almost missed my phone buzzing on the sofa next to me.

"Hello?"

"Do you like merlot?"

Carefully holding my phone, I grinned. "Who doesn't like merlot, Colton?"

"You ready for me to come get you in ten minutes?"

I laughed. "Ten minutes?"

"It's almost quarter to five," he said, uncertainty in his voice.

"What?" I jumped up. Ouch! Stupid sore ribs!

"Did you still want to come?" asked Colton.

I raced to the bedroom. "Yes, sorry. I was writing and totally lost track of time. Let me just get changed. See you soon?"

"See you soon, beautiful."

I set my phone down and tore through my suitcase. Crap! What am I going to wear? I pulled out three pairs of jeans. No, no, and no. I pulled out a pair of black leggings and a light gray sweater-dress. "Yes!"

I stripped down, pulled on the leggings, and slid the dress on over my head.

I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom to tug a comb through my hair. Deciding I didn't like the way it looked, I quickly separated the top into three pieces and braided down the side. I did the same thing on the other side. Mascara, check! Lip gloss, check!

Knock, knock, knock.

"Coming," I shouted.

I grabbed a scarf, mittens, and my black wool coat.

Knock, knock, knock.

I pulled open the door and struck a pose. My face fell as my eyes landed on the same police officer who had come to the house earlier.

Before I could slam the door, he held out a manila folder. "I thought you had the right to know," he said.

The nondescript folder had papers neatly stacked inside. "What is this?"

"Just read it. I thought you should have all the facts before siding with Colton Hawthorne. If you need anything, I left my card in there."

"Please leave," I said, spinning on my heel and slamming the door behind me.

My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I opened the file with a shaky hand. When my eyes landed on the first piece of paper, I let out a scream and dropped the file.

*******

Cliffhangers,

OH NO! What do you think is in the file?

Hearts and Daggers,

Kelly Anne Blount xoxo