“I didn’t walk around your house last night, Mer. I only pulled in the driveway and watched to make sure Josh didn’t come.”
Meredith’s eyes widened, and her stomach tightened. The worries of Cruz dating other women were pushed to the side as she admitted, “There have been other nights when I’ve heard footsteps and cars in and out.”
Cruz’s jaw tightened. “What has Sheriff Greenwood said?”
“He hasn’t seen anything.”
“Did you call him last night?”
“No,” she admitted.
“It only happens late at night?”
She nodded. “I’m not home much during the day though. I’m busy with the shop.”
He glanced around her yard, and then those beautiful blue eyes settled on her again. “Well, that settles it.”
She backed up and leaned against the door for support. “Settles what?”
“I finish filming this afternoon, and my crew is leaving. I’ll sleep here.”
“Excuse me?” She hated all the worries Josh had planted in her head. If Cruz had really turned into the playboy, he could be trying to worm his way into her house and into her bed. If Cruz was half the jerk Josh had made him out to be, he wouldn’t care that she’d loved him forever. He’d take advantage of that fact, use her, and leave her.
“I’ll sleep out in your yard and catch whoever is creeping around.”
“Sleep in my yard?” she asked faintly, putting a hand to her heart. It was actually very thoughtful of him to want to rough it and watch out for her. “I … can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?” His eyebrows arched, and he gave her a dangerous look that should’ve been illegal. It was obvious he’d be happy to stay here, but why?
“Cat and your dad want you around.”
“They’ll understand.” He stepped in closer and rested a hand on the doorframe above her head. “We’ve always been close friends, right, Mer?”
She sucked in a breath. “Yes,” she admitted.
“I want to be around you, Mer, make sure you know that whatever rumors Josh fed you are a lie, and make sure whoever this jerk is that’s stalking you is caught.” His gaze traveled over her all smoky hot and making her pant for air. “Right now, I’ll explore the trails close by your house while you get ready and head into work. Tonight, text me when you leave work, and I’ll come hang out with you and then sleep outside.”
Meredith could not catch a full breath now. “For how long?”
“Until I catch him.”
“You have a career to get back to.”
“I have two weeks off to spend here with my family.”
“It might take longer than two weeks,” she said stubbornly.
He smiled and leaned a little closer. “Fine by me. I’ll rearrange my schedule to stay as long as you need me.”
Meredith needed to get away from him right now. She sadly loved the thought of spending the evening with him, cooking him dinner, and talking. Maybe he could convince her that Josh’s words were lies, maybe he could convince her that he wasn’t the ultimate playboy and loved her, and maybe he’d kiss her like he had in the woods so long ago.
No! She spun away from him and fumbled to input the code to unlock the deadbolt. Finally, she heard the click, pressed down on the doorknob, and the door swung open. Cruz straightened. She backed into her house.
He tilted his chin up to her. “I’ll see you tonight, Mer.”
Meredith didn’t have a clue how to respond. She should tell him no but she’d long dreamt of time alone with Cruz.
“Do you want me to pick up dinner from the resort, or would you rather cook together?”
Meredith’s hand was back on her heart. Cook … together? As if they were some couple? What was Cruz doing to her?
“I’ll cook,” she managed.
“Thanks. I love homecooked food. Do you need me to pick up anything?”
She shook her head, dumbfounded by how he’d wrangled her into this. “Cruz … you’re not really sleeping outside my house tonight.”
“Yes, I am.” An alluring grin crossed his face. “Unless you’d prefer I sleep in the house.”
Meredith had no choice. She shut the door in his face. Leaning against it for support she heard his deep chuckle outside. He’d been teasing. He wouldn’t try to sleep in the house with her. Sadly she didn’t know if he were teasing. Twelve years and fame like Cruz had earned could easily change the man she’d thought he was before.
“See you tonight, Mer,” he called through the door.
Meredith deadbolted the door and ran for her bedroom.
Chapter Four
Cruz had one of the worst days he’d had in recent memory. His crew had taken Josh’s firing in stride, but the lone camera man, Scott, had to make Cruz do some shots many times to get different angles. He was working on a surf demonstration video that was supposed to go through everything from learning how to get up on a surfboard to doing the latest surfing tricks like three-sixties, flips, and jumping the wave while performing a one-eighty and changing the lead foot.
Everything he was doing should’ve been easy for him and come off without a hitch, but he had Meredith on the brain. He was worried about whoever was stalking her, worried what Josh had told her, and worried about her response to him. He realized it wasn’t fair of him to show up back in town and think she’d love him like he loved her, but he’d been stupidly hopeful.
He’d talked to Sheriff Greenwood and, sadly, had to rule out Josh being the creeper that was lurking outside Meredith’s bedroom window at night. Josh hadn’t even known her up until yesterday. That stunk because he wanted to pin something on Josh, but more importantly, it left the suspect list wide open. It could be anyone in the valley or a tourist who stayed regularly at the resort or one of the rental cabins. The men who’d abducted Cat, Iris, and Meredith were in prison or dead. Devon had checked to make sure they hadn’t been paroled or escaped, but they probably had contacts on the outside and maybe were after revenge.
Finally, they wrapped up the filming for the day. The producer wanted the video done in several different locations. It was a good thing it didn’t need to be completed today with how off he was feeling. He bade goodbye to his crew, thanked them all, and told them he’d see them in a couple of weeks. Would he? If the perp wasn’t caught, he’d told Meredith he’d stay. He would stay for her, but it wouldn’t be easy. He’d have to rearrange his schedule and disappoint a lot of kids and teenagers if he didn’t show up at the Flathead Lake Wakeboard Academy in two weeks, but Meredith needed to know how important she was to him.
How important is she? a little voice begged to know. She was very important, but if she didn’t feel the same, he couldn’t force her to.
He went home to shower and explain his plan to Cat and his dad. When he came out of the shower, he could smell fish frying and hear Cat, Stetson, and his dad’s voices in the living area. Hurrying down the stairs, he entered the kitchen and gave Cat a hug.
“Wowzers.” She whistled. “Somebody smells better than trout fried in a pound of butter. Where are you going all spiffy-like?”