“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “You’d never see these in the city. There’s too many lights.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“Blame me for what?”
“For wanting to live out here,” she replied. “There’s something about this place. It speaks to your soul. It wants you… no, it invites you to stay.”
“You can stay.”
“For two more days,” she reminded him. “That’s what we agreed on.”
“Can we renegotiate for longer? I don’t mind if you don’t mind.”
“Don’t tempt me. It’s not safe.”
He spun her in his arms. “Did you not notice all that weaponry in the dining room? Your Janek?—”
“He’s not my Janek—he never really was—he just made me believe he was.”
“Then he was a fool,” he told her solemnly. “He’s realized his mistake, and now he won’t stop coming. Janek knows he fucked up.”
“You sound like you almost agree with what he’s doing to me.”
“Hell no.” He reared back. “I would never hurt a woman. And I definitely wouldn’t hurt you. I was only saying I understand that he doesn’t want to let you go. I’ve known you for a couple of days, and I know I’d like to keep you longer.”
“Keep me? I don’t belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”
He’d done it again. Stuffed his shoe into his freaking mouth and screwed up the words which came out around them. She was hot, raging mad, with her hands propped on her hips, glaring at him. She looked like an enraged goddess about to go to war. “Sorry, sorry.” He held his hands up in front of him. “That came out wrong. I don’t want to own you…” Word thinking on his feet was not his best skill. “I want to be owned by you, not the other way around.”
“You can’t own people.”
“You can own their heart.”
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Hah, I lost that long ago.” He lifted one shoulder. “It’s why I work for Nemesis. All of us who work here have lost our damn minds; it’s why we do what we do.”
“You cannot own people,” she repeated as if she was stuck on that point.
“So, what do you call what happens when you give your heart to someone? That’s kinda the same thing.”
“Doing a stupid. That’s what I called it: giving your heart to someone is doing a freaking stupid.”
“I want to know why you think that.” He reached for her again, trying to keep his voice smooth and inviting, but he didn’t think he succeeded as if he could hear the rasp; she certainly could, too.
She blinked at him but came easily back into his arms when he tugged lightly on her hand. Maybe he was as drunk as a skunk or dreaming. He had to be, because feelings like this didn’t happen to him, standing here on the front porch with the Crazies a smudge in the distance as they watched one of nature’s masterpieces glitter against the night sky. To him, it was almost surreal. How many times had he watched the falling stars from the sky in a distant land, far from the comfort of this place? Probably too many times to count. He was sure he’d been awed by their splendor each and every time, but he was sure they paled in comparison to watching a meteor shower with Rose. “Tell me who you are, Rose. I want to get to you know and for you to get to know me.”
A tinge of wariness sounded in her voice. “I don’t understand why you want to know everything about me.”
“Saying it out loud will probably make me sound like an idiot.”
“Tell me anyway.”
He chuckled, trying to shake off nerves that he hadn’t expected. “Being here with you is, I don’t know, something I never expected. It feels like this is where I’m supposed to be, right here, right now.” He leaned in closer to her as he tried to put what was inside him into words. “With you.”
She laughed, a rich, melodic sound that made his heart skip a beat. “I never figured you as poetic.”
