“It’s okay. I’m okay,” she said, over and over, as she played with the hair at my nape and ran her fingers along my neck, her touch light and reassuring even as I nearly crushed her to me. “I need to get inside.”
No. I didn’t want to set her down, let alone allow her to go into the death trap she called a van.
“I’ll go,” I said, my voice coming out gritty like sandpaper. “Tell me what you need.”
She huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “Brady. I can’t open the back or side door, which leaves the driver’s side, and there’s no way you’re going to fit through the passway.Ibarely fit. Plus, it’s not like the tree is going to suddenly fallmore. It’s as far down as it can go.”
Her words made sense, but that didn’t stop the overwhelming urge I had to clutch her to my chest, turn around, and run her straight back to my house and lock her inside. Irrational. Completely fucking irrational, and she’d think I’d lost my mind if I uttered a single word of it. So instead, I just stood frozen, staring at what could’ve been a catastrophic accident.
“C’mon, grump. Set me down.” She rubbed her hand on my chest, directly over my heart, the repetitive motion soothing something deep inside me. “The quicker I grab my stuff, the quicker we can leave.”
“Fine,” I finally grumbled. “But I’m checking it out first.”
I carried her over to the driver’s side, found a clear patch of grass, and set her on her feet. Then I reached for the door handle, my jaw ticking when it opened immediately.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” she said with an eye roll. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about, don’t you think? Besides, you didn’t exactly give me time to grab my keys last night.”
“Or panties,” I mumbled under my breath as I slid into the driver’s seat.
“Or panties,” she repeated with a cheeky grin. “Plus, I don’t think I need to worry about someone stealing my van. What with the gigantic tree pinning it down and all.”
“I’m not worried about someone stealing your fucking van,” I bit out, my temper getting the better of me as I glanced into the back to see the damage. The roof was caved in, a huge dent directly above her bed. Directly where she would’ve been lying during the storm.Christ, my chest hurt.
I slid out of the van, not wanting to let her go in there but knowing I could either be here when she did it and make sure she stayed safe, or I could keep her from it, only to have her sneak back after I’d headed into town. Yeah, she was a slippery little thing, but I’d learned her tricks in the month and a half she’d been here.
After I stepped off to the side and made room for her to go in, she rolled her eyes. “If someone stealing my van isn’t what has your balls all tied up in knots, what is it, then?”
She didn’t wait for an answer before she disappeared through the small pass-through, my heart in my throat the entire time. Good, because I didn’t have an answer to give her. Not a sane one, anyway. What could I tell her? That the thought of her getting hurt made me fucking crazy? That the idea that she’d been out here, for weeks, without anything other than a rock collection to protect her made me sick for no good reason, and imagining her out here during the storm made me want to throw up my breakfast? Yeah, no. I’d keep that shit to myself.
A few minutes later, after I’d circled the van and catalogued the destruction, Luna crawled out from the back, large bag in hand and shoes on her feet. She made a huge production of shutting her door before holding up the key fob in between us and locking the van with a beep. “Happy?”
Was she doing that shit on purpose just to get a rise out of me, or did she truly not understand I was more worried about her beinginit when her doors weren’t locked and any troublemakers or criminals having complete access to her than whatever trinkets she kept that petty thieves would steal? Didn’t matter, because I wasn’t happy aboutanyof this. Not her out here in her van, not her staying in my home, not her in Starlight Cove.
She’d gotten under my skin and made me feel things I hadn’t felt…ever. I wasn’t even this protective over Addison. My brothers and I would go to the ends of the earth to keep her safe, but it was wholly different from the thrum in my veins I felt for Luna.
“Hardly,” I answered, leading us back toward my patrol car, keeping close to her to make sure she didn’t stumble.
I shouldn’t have been worried, though, because Luna strode through the forest like it owed her something. Like her safe passage was guaranteed and something as silly as a branch or exposed root wouldn’t dare to get in her way.
It wasn’t until we were settled back in the patrol car, making our way toward the main inn, that Luna broke the silence. “Thank you.”
I snapped my gaze to her, only to find her eyes already trained on me. Eyebrows lifted, I said, “I must’ve heard you wrong. What was that?”
She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “I said thank you. If you hadn’t been an idiot and cuffed yourself to me last night, forcing me to leave, I’d have been inside the van when that tree fell.”
I inhaled sharply, images of her trapped inside with no way out flashing through my mind, and I gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“And I probably would’ve peed myself if that happened, and we both know I wasn’t wearing panties, so it would’ve been a big ol’ mess.” She inhaled deeply, then released the breath on a long, slow exhale. “So, thanks. I guess following protocol isn’t always bad.”
I huffed out a laugh, not finding this remotely funny. “Nothing about last night was protocol.”
Her eyes stayed locked on me, her gaze like a brand against my skin, heating me up from the outside in. “Then why’d you do it?”
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? It was easy to say I had no idea what made me do it. No idea why I’d forced her hand last night just to keep her safe. But I was afraid Ididknow why, and it was worse than not knowing at all.
Instead of answering, I just clenched my jaw in response, leaving her question hanging in the air between us.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
