“Never really had to use a pickup line,” he confessed with a shrug.
NowthatI could believe.
I already thought it was very likely that I would indeed regret playing this game with him. But I’d never been known to do the smart thing. I liked to run into a wall a few times before I believed it was too hard to get through.
Gunner got up, his gaze lingering on my face before he turned away.
I buried myself under the warm blankets and lay on my side, facing the room. I didn’t know how to deal with a nice Gunner. To avoid confusing my poor emotions further, I turned the small lamp next to the bed off, plunging the room into darkness, the only source of light coming from the fire.
“Good night, Gunner,” I whispered.
“Good night,” he replied from where he was now sitting on the couch. He had a blanket and pillow, but the couch was too short for his giant frame. His feet would hang off the end. I felt a little bad for him having to sleep on it, but the feeling passed quickly.
I must have been more exhausted than I realized, because I drifted off as soon as I closed my eyes.
Chapter10
Gunner
Beingat the cabin usually relaxed me. It was my safe haven, the one place I could let my guard down. Bringing Freya and her bunny with me changed everything.
When we arrived, I’d expected her to complain about the lack of privacy. Or the lack of food. Or that she had to make her own bed. But she surprised me when she took it all in stride.
She might not have liked being there, but she didn’t bat an eye when I asked her to change the sheets on the one and only bed. She even made dinner without me having to ask.
The Freya from five years ago was gone, replaced with someone entirely too enticing. I’d been attracted to her from the moment I first met her, but I used to be able to tell myself she was only a job. Something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do.
And now she was sleeping in my bed, close enough that I could hear her every breath. For the first time since I built the cabin, I wished it had more than one room.
I turned yet again on the couch, the springs digging into my back, my legs hanging over the end. It would be a challenging few weeks, but we’d be safe here. The cabin was impossible to trace back to me. I had similar safe houses in other cities, but this one was the closest and also the least likely to be found.
Nobody but me had ever been here. It used to be the only place I could relax, let my guard down. But I doubted that would ever be the case again. Freya’s presence had changed the place already. She’d put wildflowers in a mug on the table, for God’s sake.
Her bunny was sitting on the ground next to the kitchen. And Freya’s soft snores rang through the room, reminding me of her presence.As if I could ever forget.
My thoughts eventually drifted off, and I found a few hours of restless sleep.
* * *
When I woke up, my muscles ached, and it took my body a while to be able to stand upright. The couch was worse than it looked; I didn’t know how long I could stand to sleep on it. The floor might be a better option.
I got up with a groan and stretched my arms over my head, moving them from side to side to work out the kinks.
A choked inhale caused me to turn and lock eyes with a red-cheeked Freya. Her gaze was glued to my upper body, and I raised a brow when she finally lifted her gaze.
“Morning,” I said, my voice more cheerful than was appropriate after a shit night’s sleep. But I’d finally knocked her off balance, and that was a fucking beautiful feeling. And her hungry eyes and flushed cheeks didn’t hurt my banged-up ego either.
“Morning,” she squeaked and pulled the blanket higher up her body.
I made a point of pulling my T-shirt on slowly, and, if it was possible, her cheeks reddened further. Instead of milking more out of her embarrassment, I turned to the kitchen and made coffee for us.
I heard her get up, and then the door to the bathroom closed. She emerged a few minutes later fully dressed, her hair in a complicated braid.
She didn’t wear much makeup, but she usually did something to her hair that should have taken much longer than it seemed to. The braid suited her and did nothing to dissuade my inexplainable attraction. Judging by our history, we should hate each other. But she’d slowly wormed her way in, and now all I could think about was what she’d taste like, how soft her skin was.
“You sleep okay?” I asked, not looking up from filling our cups.
I knew how she liked her coffee, had known for years.
