Colton Christmas Protector (The Coltons of Texas #12)(37)

“I can probably arrange that later today. Borrow one from the ranch or just buy a new one.”

She blinked and gave him a slack-jawed look. “Just...buy a new one.” She gave a soft scoffing laugh. “You really don’t have any idea how it sounds to ordinary people when you say things like that.”

He gave her a what-the-heck side glance as he tapped the keyboard pulling up folders to search. “What are you talking about?”

“I bet you pay retail price without blinking.”

He stopped working and gave her his attention now.

“As a Colton, you’ve never had to worry about where the money will come from for any purchase. That’s not something you should take for granted. It is a blessing and something most people never experience.”

For long seconds he only stared at her, his dark blue eyes searching hers, his brow beetled in thought. “You’re right. I am blessed. I’ve spent most of the last eighteen months feeling bitter because I left my job, felt persecuted, had no one special in my life the way Zane and T.C. and the rest have. I’ve been pretty focused on the negatives, and haven’t given much thought to all I do have.”

“Believe me, I know how easy it is to get caught up in your losses and forget your haves. But when I focus on Nicholas, it’s hard to stay negative. He’s a gift. I have him, my health and a house that’s paid for thanks to Andrew’s life insurance.”

Reid dragged a hand over his mouth and gave her a gentle smile that speared her heart. “You are something else, you know that?”

She dismissed his compliment with a shrug. “I’m no guru. I’m just muddling through life like everyone else.”

He reached for her cheek and her pulse skipped a beat. A tremble raced through her as his thumb traced the curve of her chin. “You keep me on my toes, though. Even when Andrew was alive you had a way of hitting me with reality checks when I needed one.”

She was too aware of his touch, too affected by the glide of his skin against hers. Catching enough breath in her lungs to speak without squeaking took effort. “Someone has to keep your head from getting too big.”

Her attempt at levity did little to dispel the toe-curling familiarity of the moment. Intimacy was not supposed to be on her radar. Especially with Reid Colton. She gave her head a brisk shake, effectively ending the moment and stood to pace.

She had precious little time before Nicholas would wake again, and she wanted to use it helping Reid with the gigantic search ahead of them.

Spying the backpack he’d had with him at her father’s house, she remembered seeing Reid slip a file from the desk under his shirt and then later into his backpack. She crossed the room and hoisted the pack to a chair. “What about the paper file you recovered? I could start there. Maybe there’s—”

Reid’s head whipped around. “Pen, stop! Leave that alone!”

Startled, she raised her hands, letting the backpack slump. “What?”

His chair scraped the floor as he shoved it back and hurried to snatch his pack away from her. “I just...don’t want you going through my stuff.”

She lifted one eyebrow in pique. “Says the man who searched the office of my childhood home and is currently invading my father’s private files.”

His mouth tightened and he tossed the backpack aside. “This is different.”

Peeved by his hypocrisy, she folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side. “Oh? How, exactly?”

Reid rubbed his hands on the seat of his jeans. “That file is not related to the case. It’s something personal.”

She furrowed her brow. Personal for Reid? In her father’s office? “Uh...about your father?”

He twisted his lips, clearly deliberating, weighing his words. “No, not my father.”

When she opened her mouth to question him further, he added, “Look, yesterday I asked you to trust me. I need that trust to cover all things. Not just concerning your safety, but also in my handling of this case.” He stepped closer, taking each of her elbows in his hands. His voice dipped to a rumbling whisper that made her vibrate to her core, like plucked strings on a guitar. “I know what I’m doing, and I have your best interests at heart.”

Oh, hell, she thought as she met his intense blue gaze. The intimacy was back, rattling her nerves, stirring a thrum in her blood and muddling her train of thought.

“If you’ll just be patient, I’ll explain everything...eventually. I just need time to sort out everything that’s coming to light.”

Trust Reid Colton? There was that imperative again. One she would have scoffed at in anger even two days ago. But yesterday she’d had no choice but to put her life in his hands. Trusting him had seemed practical, prudent.

But now he was keeping secrets from her, asking her to believe in him, even as he hid information.

Her heart hammered her ribs like a fist beating a wall in frustration. She knew she didn’t have to trust him. She knew where he had put the keys to her Explorer. She could just put Nicholas in the car and drive home whenever she wanted. She could march across the room now, snatch up that backpack and fight him for a look at the file he was hiding.

Part of her wanted to do just that. But after everything that had happened yesterday, after learning all the secrets and lies her father had told her, something deep down inside her wanted to trust Reid. Needed to trust him. Needed an anchor to cling to in the midst of these turbulent and disturbing revelations about her family.