If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

She’d still be thinking of him.
    Yeah, maybe she’d gone to Ash for a reason, and maybe she’d accomplished everything she’d set out to accomplish. Maybe she didn’t exactly have a
life
there and maybe there were ugly, awful memories there.
    But Law was there, too. And she was starting to realize that if she really wanted to get back to her life, she needed to figure out just where Law fit into her life, just what place he filled. It certainly wasn’t her past, though, because she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
    The phone started to ring. But when she saw the number for the sheriff’s department in Ash, she ignored it. Flopping back onto her bed, she pulled a pillow over her head and tried to just
not
think.
    Just let her thoughts drift … that’s how she’d figure out how to solve this problem.
    The problem being the massive hole inside her heart.
    What would fill it? And the answer was easy.
    Law
 …
    Swearing, she kicked her legs over the side of the bed and stormed over to the closet. She grabbed her duffel bag and started to pack. She’d only gotten all of the clothes washed and put away yesterday and here she was again, packing them back up.
    Damn it. She needed to talk to him. Face him. Figure out just what they had going and what they needed to do about it. He meant something—mattered, and she suspected if she let him, he’d come to mean everything.
    The thought both terrified and elated her.
    She should, if she was sane, take a little while to settle. Recover. Relax. But she couldn’t because her mindwouldn’t settle until she’d faced Law again. Until she’d figured things out.
    So she packed. She did it with the ease born of habit, making a few calls on the side to let her contact know that she wasn’t available like she’d thought—damn it, she was seriously screwing herself there, but oh well. She was getting so burned out on all the damn travel anyway, all the horror and grief and chaos they wanted her to face when they sent her out.
    If she didn’t have jobs lined up, then she didn’t have jobs. She’d figure out something, right?
    It took her less than twenty minutes to get ready. She was going back to Ash, damn it. With a much less dangerous agenda, but this one was every bit as complicated.
    Her heart was racing as she strode to the door. A hard, determined smile curled her lips as she jerked open the door.
    And then, she froze.
    Law was standing there, sweating, gripping a cane, one hand raised to knock.
    Gaping at him, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
    “About to collapse,” he said shortly. He nudged her out of the way, none too gently, and headed over to the couch. “Nice place. I’m coming in. Thanks.”
    “Ahhh …”
    Then she winced as he sat down with a look of obvious pain on his face. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be putting too much weight on your leg yet.”
    “I’m not.” He glared at her.
    “Then what are you doing walking around?” she demanded.
    “You
left
,” he pointed out. “Said you had to get on with your life. That your life was in Virginia. So fine. I’m in Virginia now.”
    Edging closer, she dumped her bag on the floor by the couch and shook her head. “Ah … I’m not following.”
    “Of course not.” He scowled. “You only see what you want to see.” He reached out, caught her arm and tugged.
    She resisted, edging around his leg. “Damn it, you’re going to make me trip over you—do you
want
to be in more pain?” She stepped over his legs and then let him tug her down so that she sat next to him.
    He didn’t say anything right away, just pulled her close, tucking her under his chin. Then he sighed. “I dunno if it’s possible. Just being away from you hurts like a bitch.”
    “Yeah.” She rested a hand on his uninjured leg. “I know the feeling.”
    He pulled back, a scowl darkening his face once more. “Then why did you
leave
?”
    “Well …” She shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do. I’d done what I came for, just hadn’t planned on you.”
    “I didn’t plan on you, either. But there you are.” He cupped her face. “So we didn’t exactly meet under normal circumstances. So what? Does that mean we can’t make it work?”
    “No.” She curled a hand around his wrist and leaned in, pressed her mouth to his. “It doesn’t mean that.”
    “Then why did you leave?”
    “I … shit, Law. I don’t know. Maybe I had to leave, just so I could figure that