"Fine," he replied, not even breathing heavily. Glaring down at her with his hands on his lean hips, he demanded answers. "You're down. Now tell me where you've been all day long. I know you were at your stables earlier in the day and you took care of the horses, but then where did you go?"
She once again crossed her arms over her chest, not speaking at all.
Mike glared at her but, as usual, she was stubbornly digging in her heels. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed as if quite put out. "Halley, I went over to your place about an hour ago. You weren't there."
She shrugged. There had been some technical problems at the dance studio, so rehearsals had ended earlier than anticipated. She'd driven back from Billings and gone grocery shopping, pretending like she wasn't afraid to head back to her house. Pretending as if she were perfectly fine and there wasn't some creepy person sneaking into her private space. "I went grocery shopping, Mike. You know that because you just dragged me out of the grocery store and it isn't a crime. Not the last time I checked. So you dragging me out of there was wrong and I'm furious with you!"
He nodded and leaned against the countertop. "Yeah, I know you were grocery shopping. I was talking to Joe earlier. He mentioned that you'd left the stables early this afternoon. Before lunch," he emphasized, watching her eyes and he knew he'd just scored a point, but he didn't understand what that point was. More secrets, damn it! "I was worried about you, so I went over to your house. No Halley, no dogs, but someone was there. Who do you know that has about the same body structure as you and a long ponytail? Someone who can run?"
That made her stomach drop to the floor. He'd seen someone at her house? Someone who … she shook her head, refusing to believe that he'd actually seen someone. Somehow, the fact that a creepy person had been cleaning her house and stocking her fridge was less terrifying than knowing that an actual person had been seen. That just made it worse, in some bizarre way. "You're lying!"
He shook his head and his temper vanished with the terrified look in her eyes. His voice softened, as did his stance. "No, Halley. I don't lie, cheat, or steal. I might tease you about things, but I will never lie to you."
The sincerity in his deep voice made her whole body quiver with awareness. He didn't need to say things like that. She knew he wasn't the kind of man who would lie about anything. Mike was one of the most honest men she'd ever known. And he was right, he would tease her about just about anything, but lying, cheating, or stealing … it wasn't in his makeup.
He didn't repeat his words. Mike just stood there looking down at her, waiting for her to accept the truth of what he was saying.
With a deep breath, she rubbed her forehead, wanting to hide from the truth, but he obviously wasn't going to allow that. Reality was so much nicer when one could ignore certain aspects of it, she thought.
"Who was it?" she asked, her voice weaker now with the knowledge that there was evidence of a real person and that person had been in her house three times over the past week. A stranger invading her private domain, making her feel unsafe.
Mike relented at the abject fear in her eyes, fear she was trying valiantly to hide from him. But he knew her too well. His woman was terrified and that made his gut churn with fury.
Pulling her into his arms, he loosely held her close, enjoying the way she leaned her cheek against his chest. "That's what I'm asking you, honey. I went out there to talk to you after Joe told me that you weren't at your parents' stable where I thought you'd be working all day. But something was wrong. I saw someone running through the trees but they were too far away. I thought it was you. So I ask again, who do you know that has a similar body type and long hair?"
Halley shook her head, stepping back as she tried to think. She was grateful that Mike gave her the space, allowed her the freedom to pace for several minutes. "I can't imagine anyone in my acquaintance that has a similar body type to me," she said, completely confused and more worried now. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned away and walked over to the large windows. "Why is this happening to me?" she asked softly, not really seeing the amazing view.
Mike could feel her anger and pain. Someone had invaded her space, had invaded her security. "I don't know, honey. But I'm going to figure this out," he promised, his hands sliding into her soft hair. He loved the way she leaned into his touch. Mike suspected she wasn't even aware of the action, but he knew.
As she tilted her head to the side, her neck was more exposed. He told himself to focus on the problem, on questioning Halley, so that he could figure out what was going on. But her neck was beautiful! Every part of her was lovely, but her neck, leaning to the side like that, made him want to just … he leaned down and kissed her neck. Just a light touch. A barely there kiss.