“Would you shut up too?” She lay back against the bed.

“I’m sorry.” He just wanted to take care of her, more now than he ever had wanted to take care of anyone.

“Just take me home,” she insisted.

“No. I will take you with me. I will take care of you, and you will breathe fresh air and be safe in my arms this weekend.”

She shook her head and covered her eyes with her arm.

He didn’t understand why she was shutting herself away from him. “Damn it, Regan, I’m so sorry.” The calm had torn away, and tears fell freely down his face. “I am so sorry this happened.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is. He attacked you to get back at me for firing him. John said he trashed the office and snuck out while John was at the car with you. God, Regan, he hurt you, and that’s my fault.”

She sat silently for a moment shaking her head. “But he didn’t get me. I’m fine. I’ll be fine in a few days and no worse for the wear.”

“But look at you.”

“I know.” Her voice was angry. Guilt filled him and he couldn’t push it away.

He smoothed his hand over hers. “What was Curtis talking about earlier?”

“My big-mouthed brother talks more than he should. Don’t worry about it.”

“I love you, Regan. I have no intention of ever hurting you. You know that, right?” She nodded. “Then don’t hurt me by lying to me.”

“I’m fine.” She turned away from him on the bed. “I just want to go home.”

Zach wasn’t surprised when each of her family members called her the moment she’d been released from the hospital. He’d heard Curtis on the phone with Carlos only moments before Curtis turned to him and threatened to take him out to the parking lot and kick the crap out of him if she ever got hurt again.

But he found Curtis wasn’t any more forthcoming with details than his sister was on their earlier conversation.

Word sped to New York as Tyler and Audrey waited to meet Arianna after her show.

Security had called Tyler Benson, since he still owned the building. He called Zach.

Zach, who had stood firm in his insistence that Regan not be alone yet, drove up the road toward his parents’ house with her by his side. He adjusted his cell phone on his ear as he looked over at Regan. “She’s fine. She got knocked around by Roger Byers.”

“I never did like that man working for us.”

“Well he doesn’t anymore,” Zach assured him. “John took care of that.”

But now, looking at Regan, he wondered at what expense. He should have never hired that man to run the project. One slip in judgment had almost cost him everything he cherished.

The Bensons’ home was as warm and inviting as she’d remembered. Zach turned on lights as they walked through the hallway toward the kitchen. His hand was on the small of her back, and she was glad she’d come. She liked feeling him close by.

“I’ll get you a drink,” he offered.

“Just water.”

Regan rested against the counter and looked out over the darkness of the acreage behind the house. She let herself out the sliding glass doors onto the porch. The air was warm and still. Stars sparkled bright above her, and she found a moment’s peace beneath them.

A house on sprawling Tennessee land with a porch that wrapped around it was calming just in thought. Being here, she felt at home. If it were her home, there would be two rocking chairs, one for her and one for her husband, and children would run about the fields laughing and playing.

She ran her hands up her arms and winced as she brushed the cuts. A soft breeze brushed over her face, against the tender skin on her cheek. At the hospital, she’d taken a moment to look at herself, and she knew she’d look worse in the morning.

Curtis was right. She too was tired of seeing herself like this. This time it had nothing to do with her. Roger Byers was crazy. But the bruises would heal and the cuts were superficial.

Nothing was lost this time.

She ran her hands over her stomach and breathed in slowly.

“Your water, my dear.” Zach joined her on the porch and handed her the glass. “You’re beautiful when you’re looking at the stars.”

“Thank you.” She sipped the water and felt herself calm. “It’s so pretty here. I had thought of our weekend earlier today.” She moved closer to him, laying her hand on his chest.

“And what did you think?”

“I was thinking we could make love on that boulder in the creek, and your mother wouldn’t know.”

“Oh, she’d know.” He laughed, then his eyes softened. “I had many plans too, but for tonight I want you lying beside me in my room. I want to hold you and protect you and know you’ll be there when I wake.”

“I’ll accept your offer.” She rose and kissed him gently, pulling back quickly when her lip stung from the cuts. “I’m exhausted.”

“I have the pills your brother sent for you. Do you need something?”

“No. I’m okay,” she lied, because she didn’t want pills. She only wanted the arms of the man she loved to be wrapped around her and holding her through the night.

Chapter eleven

Zach spent the night holding Regan and keeping her safe, as he’d promised. He woke before she did and watched her sleep for an hour before the morning sun crept through the drapes, and her eyelids finally fluttered against the light.

He brushed her lips with his and pulled her close to him as gently as he could. Her face now showed the signs of the struggle she’d had the day before, and it wrenched in his gut like a knife. There wasn’t any part of what had happened that he didn’t personally blame himself for. He may not have been the force that physically hurt her, but he’d been behind it just the same. She should never have gone to the site with John. He should have fired Byers months ago and not waited until the situation came to a head.

Things had never been like that before. When something needed tending to, he took care of it. He was shoveling off his duties. He was putting people in harm’s way, and why? Because he’d fallen in love, and his mind wasn’t focused on his business.

When she shifted in his arms, the scent of her rushed through him. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having her close. He’d never been in love before, never had the whole world slip from his fingers. But he had to be realistic. First, as much as he loved her and wanted to hear the words from her, they weren’t coming. Second, he had the L.A. project to think about. It would be the biggest build the company had ever acquired. He needed to be focused when it came down to it. Even his love for Regan couldn’t get in the way. There was too much at stake.