I started the engine and reached for Stella’s hand, lacing our fingers together on the center console.
“Tell me more about these plans of yours,” I said as we pulled out of the gravel parking lot and onto the main road.
She turned to look at me, and the heat in her eyes made my grip tighten on the steering wheel. “The kind where you fuck me until neither of us can move.”
“Those are really good plans.”
She laughed, squeezing my hand. “Drive faster, Murphy.”
My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal.
six
. . .
STELLA
The first thingI noticed when I woke was the cold. Not the snuggle-deeper-into-the-blankets kind of cold, but the biting chill that came from sleeping alone in a bed that had been warm with another body only hours before on a December morning.
I reached across the mattress to where Cade had lain, my hand finding only cool sheets and the faint impression of his head on the pillow.
I sat up and squinted at the alarm clock on my nightstand—not even six o’clock yet.
As he’d kissed my forehead and slipped out of bed, he’d said something about checking traps before the weather turned—but I’d been half-asleep at the time.
Now, fully awake and annoyingly aware of his absence, I flopped back against my pillows with a huff.
It was fine. We weren’t joined at the hip. We couldn’t stay in bed together forever. He had a job to do. This was normal, healthy, adult behavior.
So why was I so disappointed?
I was just reaching for my phone to distract myself when I heard the unmistakable sound of the side door creaking open downstairs, followed by heavy footsteps on the stairs. Deliberate, unhurried.
My entire body went rigid, my heart slamming against my ribs as I yanked the duvet up over my bare chest and looked around wildly for something I could use as a weapon.
The lamp on my nightstand was too heavy to swing, my phone useless unless I wanted to dial 911 and hope they got here before I was dead.
The footsteps grew louder, closer, and I was just reaching for the lamp anyway when Cade appeared in my doorway, his hair damp and windswept. He held two cups of coffee in a cardboard holder in one hand, a white paper bag in the other.
My body went weak with relief so fast it pissed me off. How dare he scare me like that!
“Morning, baby.” His mouth curved into that easy smile that normally made me weak in the knees as he moved toward the bed. “Brought you breakfast.”
“And scared me half to death in the process,” I snapped, my heart still hammering. I let the blanket drop to my lap, adrenaline making my hands shake. “Fuck, Cade. I thought you were a burglar.”
His smile vanished instantly. “Shit.” He set the coffee and bag down on my nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand coming up to cup my face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I should’ve texted. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just, you know …” I blew out a breath, trying to calm my racing pulse. “... lost a few years off my life.”
He waited, his thumb stroking along my cheekbone until my breathing evened out.
“Better?” he asked softly.
“Yeah.” I managed a shaky laugh. “God. I thought I was about to get murdered in my own bed.”
“I’m really sorry.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Won’t happen again. I promise.”
“Better not. For your sake as much as mine—I was about to brain you with a lamp.”
