My heart melted a little bit.
He cared about Brawny.
I watched the two of them head over to open the barn and close themselves inside.
I got to washing my body, and helped myself to Romeo’s razor and soap.
By the time I was done, I was a pruny mess.
But it was the best damn bath I’d had since I left home.
That was one of the only things that I missed.
Standing up, I stretched my hands up high over my head, then bent almost in half to reach the towel hanging on the towel rack across from me.
Only after I’d slipped it around myself did I step out of the bathtub and onto the cold tiled floor of the shower.
Thirteen
I like your personality. What disorder is it?
—Romeo to Mable
Romeo
I was frozen to the spot as I watched her bend over the lip of the bathtub to reach for a towel.
As if last night wasn’t enough—seeing her naked before I’d slipped my worn t-shirt over her head had been pure torture—I now had an even more provocative mental picture of her.
Clenching my jaw to keep the moan of despair from leaving my lips, I trudged through the snow, barely feeling the wind that before had cut through me like a whip.
Brawny barked and bounded toward the back door, waiting happily for me to catch up.
His tongue lolled when I finally reached the porch, and I smiled despite feeling like my every nerve ending was on fire.
When I got there, I stomped the snow and ice off my boots and then got the small handheld broom to do the same for Brawny.
Once he was cleaned off, I took his snow boots off and opened the back door of my cabin.
When I’d told Apollo what I was looking for, he’d fully come through.
A cabin on fifty acres, with the ability to buy more if I ever wanted to. A river that practically ran right behind my house. A barn with room for equipment—though the horses had been an added bonus, according to Apollo.
The cabin itself was two stories. The top part was a loft that looked over the open-concept cabin. There was one bedroom. One bathroom. And a super large closet that also doubled as my safe room.
Letting Brawny in, he went directly to the food bowl that I’d set out for him right before we left.
He started inhaling his breakfast while I went to the kitchen to get a look at what we had to eat.
The food that we’d brought from Mable’s place was good for dinner, but it wouldn’t pass for breakfast.
I had all of six eggs, bread, and a couple slabs of bacon I’d intended to cut into slices for breakfast.
A creak along a floorboard had me glancing over, and when I did, my belly went taut.
Mable stood at the mouth of the kitchen, her eyes bright, as she stared in awe at my kitchen.
“This place is very nice,” she said as she took it all in.
