That asshole was probably stringing Nora along all those years.
Does she really not know why he’s trying to force her back to him? Or is she hiding something? And how far is he willing to go?
To say I’m pissed is a goddamn understatement. Nora doesn’t owe me anything, but she has to be fucking worried and scared, and I won’t let her do this by herself, not after she’s been out there for six fucking months fighting a battle alone.
Remembering how I treated her that first night on the highway makes my shoulders hug my ears in shame. I’ll make it up to her.
AND I’ll show her asshole ex what it feels like to be scared.
After looking out the window for a few minutes, Kinley clears her throat. “She asked me not to tell you.”
I swing my head to look at her. Is she fucking serious? “Why?” I shout the question and immediately regret it.
Kinley cuts her eyes to me but chooses to let it slide. “She didn’t think it would be fair to put this on you. She mentioned, tearfully I might add, that she pushed you away because she’s convinced herself she has to take care of this herself, and feels horrible about it.”
Feelings, deep and consuming, swell in my chest, and I set my fist over my heart to ease the tide. I’ve never felt anything so powerful and relentless for another person before. She won’t do this herself. She’ll never do anything she doesn’t want to by herself again.
Several cars are parked in the wide gravel driveway of the inn, and the soldier in me wonders if I should be worried about any of them. What are the odds he might have found her? Could he be following her? I reach under my seat to grab my gun from the holster tacked to the underside so I can tuck it in the back of my jeans but think better of it when I remember Nora’s reaction to seeing it that night on the highway.
Allison is standing behind the desk when I open the front door, barging in like a man on a mission. She looks up as if she’s about to greet a guest, but when she sees me, a Cheshire smile slowly spreads across her face.
“What room is she in?” I don’t have time for pleasantries or her teasing bullshit; I need to see that she’s okay.
With a smirk, she hooks her thumb over her shoulder toward the stairs. “Room two.”
If I could walk normal, I would take the stairs two at a time, but after the balance and strength exercises my physical therapist tortured me with today, it hurts just to put my weight on my leg. Pushing the awareness of the pain to a place in my mind I’ve built especially for PT days, I take the stairs one step at a time.
I tap the door with my knuckles two times and wait, but there’s no sound on the other side. Taking a step back, I make sure I’m at the right door. A muffled thump comes from inside the room, and then it’s quiet again.
That’s when I realize she’s scared to answer the door.
“Nora, sugar, it’s Tuck.”
It only takes two seconds before the door swings open; the breeze from the quick movement lifts the loose hair around her face for just a moment. Her thick red hair is down and hanging in long, messy strands down the baggy hoodie she’s wearing, except for the sides pulled up into a clip over each ear. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and her nose is shiny from crying.
It guts me to see her so sad.
She doesn’t say anything, she only stares at me as her chin starts to wobble, the delicate fingers of one hand still tightly clutching the edge of the door like it’s the only thing holding her still.
I don’t wait for her to ask me in, I step across the threshold and fist the thick material at her waist to pull her into me. “Come here.”
She steps into me willingly. I wrap my arms around her soft body, her palms cool through the shirt on my back as she clings to me. I set my chin on her head and hold her tight, I won’t let go before she does. I can’t.
She fits perfectly against me, her curves, her height; she was meant for me. In some corner of my fucked-up head, I know I’ve found the woman who fills the empty parts of me, whose mere presence soothes the constant anger that lives just below the surface. The only woman in this fucked-up world who makes me a better person.
No one could deny that she’s got courage in spades, but every time I see her smile, or that beautiful shyness creep across her skin, flushing her cheeks, or she looks at me with those gorgeous green eyes, I become putty in her hands. She’s the woman I’ll do anything for.
“Kinley told me about your conversation this morning. You okay?”
She sniffs and sucks in a deep breath. “I’ve been so careful.”
Talking over her head, I squeeze her tighter. “You shouldn’t have to be.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t very nice to you the other night. I hated every second of it. I just didn’t want to pull you into the mess that’s my life; you don’t deserve that.” She mumbles into my shirt, melting every defense I’ve erected.
I kiss the top of her head. “Don’t apologize. You’re not alone anymore.”
Pulling her head back, she looks up at me. I can practically see all the questions stacking up on top of each other in her eyes, and her eyebrows tip down. “You can’t do that.”
