“I can’t stop,” he snaps.
The words hang there, raw and unfiltered.
We both go still.
He drags a hand through his hair like he regrets saying it but can’t take it back. “Girls are going missing, Brittany,” he says, quieter now, like he’s forcing himself to stay calm. “Not just rumors. Not just gossip. They’re gone. And you got Pearly Gates sniffing around you and my wife frothing at the mouth and half this town thinking you’re mine.”
“I’m not.”
“I know that.”
“Then why does it feel like I don’t get a choice?”
His eyes darken. “Because in this town, you don’t.”
Silence stretches between us, thick and charged. I fold my arms, holding myself together like a woman trying not to fall apart in a stranger’s floating cabin on a lake.
“You don’t get to decide I need rescuing,” I say, quieter now, because something in me is finally hearing him.
He studies me for a long moment. “This ain’t rescuing,” he says. “This is logistics.”
“Logistics?” I laugh sharp. “You sound insane.”
He takes another step closer, and this time his voice drops like it’s confession and warning all at once. “I’m attracted to you.”
The air leaves my lungs.
“What?” I whisper.
“You heard me.”
My cheeks burn. I hate that they do.
“That doesn’t give you the right.”
“I didn’t say it did.” His jaw flexes. “I want to fuck you, Brit. There I said it. I think about it more than I should. And I’m still married. So no, I don’t get to act on it because you’re not easy.”
My anger flickers, confused by the honesty.
“But that don’t mean I can just shut off the part of me that sees you walking around like bait in a county full of wolves,” he finishes.
“I’m not bait,” I say, and my voice comes out thin. “Not jailbait, either.”
“You’re young, innocent and on everyone’s radar,” he corrects.
“I have wants too you know.”
He shoots me a hard look.
I swallow hard. “Is your wife here?”
His mouth twists. “Yeah.”
The word hits strange.
“Then why am I out here?” I demand.
“Because if she sees you at the same dock as the rest of the club, it’s a statement.” He gestures around us. “This way, it looks like coincidence. Like you’re just some girl renting the cabin next door.”
