I knew how I felt from watching her though. Utterly helpless.

Then she got to the text message part.

“He was there? Watching you smoke?! Oh shit!” She clamped her hand over her mouth again and gagged. “Pull over!”

Fuck! I defied the laws of physics and the road and somehow got us off to the side. She was out and heaving in the bushes the instant the tires stopped. I held her hair away and rubbed her back. Could this night get any worse?

“What the hell is wrong with me?” she gasped. “Can you get me a napkin or something?”

I pulled some towels from the glove box and got a bottle of water so she could rinse her mouth. And kept my trap shut, positively sure I was having an out-of-body experience. This just couldn’t be happening right now.

“I feel better,” she panted. “Whatever that was tonight seems to have passed.” She slowly straightened up and lifted her head up to the night sky. “Gawd!”

“I’m so sorry, baby. You’re ill and I’m dragging you on a road trip and everything’s so royally f**ked up—”

“But you’re here with me,” she blurted, “and you’re going to help me through whatever that shit was on my phone, aren’t you?” She stared at me, her eyes still wet, her chest still heaving from being sick in the bushes, and utterly amazing to me because of her bravery.

“I will, Brynne.” I took the couple steps that separated us and drew her close. She folded into my arms and rested her cheek on my chest. “I’m going to be here every step of the way to keep you safe. I’m all in, remember?”

She nodded. “I’m all in too, Ethan.”

“Good. It’s gonna be okay, baby.” I rubbed up and down her back and felt her relax a little.

“I do feel better…even if I smell like puke,” she said. “Sorry about that.”

“That’s good you feel better. And you only smell slightly of puke.” I kissed the top of her head and she squeezed me in the ribs. “But we need to get off the side of the road. It’s not much further and I want to put you into a bed so you can get some rest. Freddy’s a doctor. He can check you out tomorrow after you’ve had sleep.”

“All right. One hell of a night, huh?”

“You’re a fun date, Miss Bennett.” I put her into her seat. “But I think I prefer staying in to going out with you.” I kissed her on the forehead before I shut the door.

She laughed at that and I was glad I could still get her to smile after the cock-up of an evening we’d just endured.

“Can you smell the ocean?” I asked after we got a bit further inland.

“Yes. It reminds me of home. I grew up with the smell of the sea.” She looked out the window. “Tell me about Hannah and her family.”

I wondered if reminding her of home was a sad memory I’d just brought up, but decided not to pry. It was something maybe for another time.

“Well, Hannah is five years older than me and bossy as hell, but she loves her little brother. We’re very close…probably because of losing our mum at such an early age. We all just hung together very tight once she was gone. Our dad, Hannah and me.”

“Sounds so nice, Ethan—how much you all care about each other.”

“I can’t wait for them to meet you. Freddy’s a good bloke. He’s a doctor, like I said before and runs a practice in the village at Kilve. Their home is called Halborough, an old estate out of Freddy’s family—the Greymonts. These big houses on the historic registry are difficult to keep up so they do a high-end bed-and-breakfast that Hannah runs, along with raising three fabulous kids.”

“What are their names and ages?”

“Colin will be thirteen in November. Jordan just turned eleven, and my fairy princess of a niece, little Zara, was quite the surprise for everyone when she arrived just five years ago this month.” I couldn’t help the grin at thinking about Zara. I had a soft spot for little girls. “She is something else I’m telling you. That little miss runs circles around her brothers.”

“I can’t wait to meet Zara then. It’s good to see a woman who can control all the men in her life, and at such a young age too.”

“Well, you’ll get your chance in the morning, because we’re here.”

I pulled into the gravel driveway that ran in a half-circle up to the Georgian house of pale stone. There had been some mixing of architectural influences over the centuries during various remodels. The Gothic windows and points were a nice touch if you wanted historic. It was still a fine looking house perched as it was above the coast; not bad for a sea-side cottage. That always cracked me up. According to Freddy, Halborough had been the summer cottage retreat for his family two hundred years ago when they needed to get away from Town. If this was a cottage, then what did those people back then consider a house?

“God, Ethan, this is amazing.” She looked up at the façade and seemed suitably impressed. It’s gorgeous and I can’t wait for a tour.”

“Tomorrow.” I gathered up our bags from the back and locked the car. “Time to get you into a bed. You need sleep.”

She followed me up to the side door entrance which was unlocked just like Hannah promised.

“What I need is a shower,” she murmured behind me.

“You can do a bath if you want. The rooms are kitted out superb,” I whispered as I led her up the main staircase. I knew which suite I wanted for us when I called Hannah and asked. The blue one at the corner of the west wing with the full ocean view all the way to the Welsh coast across the bay.

Brynne was impressed when I opened the door and led her in. I could tell by her expression. I think she was struck speechless as her eyes went around the room.

“Ethan! This is…simply stunning.” She smiled wide at me and looked happy. “Thank you for bringing me here.” But then she looked down and shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry tonight was such a mess.”

“Come here, baby.” I held my arms out and waited for her to move forward.

She practically leapt at me and I picked her up, letting her wrap her legs around me in the way I loved for her to do. I tried to kiss her on the lips but she turned away and gave me her neck instead.

“I need to get a shower and brush my teeth before we do anything,” she mumbled against my ear.

“We’re not doing anything. You’re going to sleep after you have your shower or your bath or whatever you’re having.”