I want her to know that there’s more to me than just a pretty face. I want her to see my heart.
Gasping for air, I lean against the counter taking a first sip of my coffee.
I’ve officially lost my mind, thinking any woman would want more than just the exterior.
I am what I am and there’s no chance to change that.
Not even for a woman like her.
CHAPTER 4
Aspen
“Thank y’all for coming again tonight. Be careful getting home. That storm is moving in faster than anticipated and the first little hit is supposed to be tonight.”
Clippers are tricky little bastards. It seems like more often than not there’s more than one of them riding in to wreak havoc in the mountains. The jet stream catches one and the rest just ride in like avenging horsemen to really tear down the mountain.
“You too, Aspen!” The group clears the doorway and heads out into the cold and I follow them, waving. Turning back, I jump, squeaking, when a shadow draws out of the darkness by the house.
“Aspen, huh? Funny. You don’t look anything like what I thought you’d look.”
Fear trickles down my spine, my heart racing in my chest, my mouth going dry. I follow the figure with my eyes but my body edges away from the person in front of me.
I can barely see his eyes in the dim light from my porch light. There’s nothing in the black light in them that makes me feel safe.
My hand clenches and I swear softly at myself. What the hell was I thinking coming out here with nothing in my hands to protect myself. Who the hell thought I would need anything outside my own house?
Snow falls around us, still light, but the crisp, metallic smell of the night air tells me that there’s a storm brewing and it’s not just with the strange guy circling me.
“I told her that she didn’t need to come here to get over her dad’s death. She just needed to settle down and go back to taking care of us.”
By that, the selfish bastard means taking care of him. I recognize the type.
“But no….her friends told her that she needed help to deal with his death. And she listened to them. Not me. She didn’t listen to her own husband.I know what’s best for her! Me!” His voice is edging louder and I see his fists clenching at his side and my whole body goes taut.
I’m running out of time. I need to do something. Something that doesn’t set this crazy fucker off.
“I think that she was just desperate. I bet she listened to you all the time. She was just confused. Maybe her friends didn’t understand you both and they just tried to split you up. I don’t know. But they got to her when she was hurting and she just didn’t understand.”
He pauses and the crazy light in his dark eyes changes slightly. Going softer. Less manic. “Yeah. They were trying to confuse her. Take her away from me.”
“Right. I didn’t know anything about you. I would have told her that she should talk to her husband, of course.”
“Right.” He doesn’t sound convinced and obviously I’m not as good an actress as I thought I was.
“Maybe I can help you? Could we go to your house and talk to her? I bet she’d listen to me.”
He stiffens and the crazy gleam comes back to his narrowed eyes. “You already told her to leave me. Don’t you remember that? How many people’s lives have you ruined with your big mouth?”
My heart hitches when he strides closer, his whole body taut and menacing.
Oh shit!
I don’t remember any woman that I told to leave her husband! I don’t know who this guy is and I can’t figure out what to do when he’s a blank damn slate!
Backing away, I do the absofuckinglutely worst thing that I can do. The shrubs around the house hit my back and I’ve got nowhere else to go.
Shit, shit, shit!
