“They call or drive to my house when I don’t answer right away.” He looked toward the fire. “Especially after the accident,” he added gruffly.
He wasn’t lying when he said the girls were a pain in his ass. He’d give his life protecting them, but they had nearly suffocated him with their worry since the accident on the canal. They meant well, but they hovered constantly. Check-ins and phone calls. Rachel had even taken to leaving dinner for him a few times, forgetting that he could fully take care of himself and had been doing so for years.
A beat of silence passed, but she didn’t push. “They love you.”
“Yeah, I love them too.” He nodded, adding dryly, “They’re big fans of therapy. And sending me Pinterest quotes.”
Lily snickered. “Bet you love that.”
His gaze dropped before he could catch himself, lingering on the outline of her breasts beneath the thin flannel. No bra. He’d known that the second he’d walked out of the bathroom, and now it was all he could see. Soft. Full. Fucking perfect. The kind of breasts that would fill his hands and make him forget his own name.
He shifted against the counter.Not the time.He needed to focus. He needed to do his damn job. He set his coffee cup down with a deliberate clink and turned to face her. “Tell mewhy you ran.”
Lily froze mid-sip. Her gaze flickered to his before skittering away, but he didn’t relent.
“I told you,” she said after a beat. “I just couldn’t go through with it.”
Rush crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not an answer.”
Her soft lips parted, and her eyes went wide and innocent, but he steeled himself against them. “Why do you need to know?” she asked, licking her lips.
She was nervous around him. Good. The more uncomfortable they both were, the less likely anything could happen.
“I need to know if I should be looking over my shoulder for some pissed-off, jilted groom,” he said, his voice hard. “Or if you’re in some kind of trouble.”
“Trouble?” She twisted her hands in front of her. “I told you Tucker wouldn’t ever hurt me.”
“Legal trouble, Lily,” he said quietly, watching her reaction. He needed to be sure she wasn’t lying. He might have been the guy who drove her out of town, but he was also the sheriff. His job was to make sure she wasn’t running from something worse than last-minute jitters.
She shook her head quickly and relaxed her shoulders. Rush relaxed too. She didn’t look the type to get into any legal trouble, but he’d seen stranger things. Her reaction was reassuring to him that whatever had happened at the altar, she wasn’t running from the law.
“I’m not in any legal trouble. I just couldn’t marry someone I didn’t love, okay?” She looked so sad for a minute that he almost relented.
He set the coffee cup down on the counter. “I had to make sure.”
“I understand.” She nodded, looking relieved that he didn’tpress her any harder. “So,” she said brightly. “What are we going to do today?”
Rush ran a hand over his jaw, looking at her.
That was the problem.
He already knew what hewantedto do.
He grabbed his gloves off the counter and his jacket off the hook by the door, shrugging into it. “Do whatever you want.” He ignored the way her face fell. “I’m going outside to chop wood.” He whistled. “Riggs, come.”
Riggs leaped to attention from his spot near the fireplace and trotted after him. Rush yanked the door open, and a blast of cold slammed into him, biting at his skin and seeping into his bones.
Good.
He needed a cooldown.
Chapter Nine
Lily needed to move.
She’d been cooped up in the cabin all day. Rush had spent most of the day outside, chopping firewood, shoveling snow, and keeping himself busy with whatever mountain men did. He’d come in only to warm up with a cup of coffee, his jaw tight, his words clipped, before heading right back out again with Riggs.
Clearly his energy needed an outlet, preferably one that didn’t involve being stuck inside with her. She tried not to be offended. She didn’t know the man after all, but after last night, she’d thought maybe they had gotten to know each other a little bit while sharing body heat. And then there was that raging erection of his in the shower… She was certain that wasn’t him ignoring her. Mentally, she shrugged. Clearly, she wasn’t an expert about men.
