Fuck, I’m sore.
I stretch lazily as I take a mental inventory of the damage. I know it’s pointless, since there is no chance I’d forget a single second of what went down between Luke and me yesterday. And as much as I’d like to sit and reminisce about the kinky thoughts he’s set off inside my mind, I have more pressing matters to attend to.
Like figuring out why the fuck I’m alone in this bed.
I really wasn’t lying when I said he unleashed a sexual monster in me. For all of those years I had to repress those feelings because I never felt comfortable enough with a partner to reveal myself that way or was stuck in a sham engagement that should have never happened to begin with.
Either way, it’s left me alone, grumpy, and horny on this fine, beautiful Tues—Wed—… what day is it? Who cares. I sit upand immediately spot Luke standing out by the dock with what seems to be a coffee in hand.
The sight of his broad back against the beautiful backdrop of the lake and colossal trees almost takes my breath away. His body seems like it was meant to be here, as if he were built by the mountains that surround us.
I break away from my ogling session to do my business in the bathroom and put on cozy leggings, then pull on an oversized cardigan over my cropped T-shirt, knowing that the spring mornings up here in the mountains still tend to be nippy. I don’t bother making myself a coffee, instead pulling a throw blanket over myself as I head outside.
I’m taken aback by the sudden gust of cold wind. I don’t understand how Luke is simply in a T-shirt and joggers. He must be absolutely freezing.
He turns right as I reach the bottom step of the deck and quickly makes his way to me.
I have a witty remark about waking up in bed alone, but it dies on my tongue when I see the look on his face.
“Hey, what’s wron—”
“It’s cold. Let’s get you inside.” He places his empty mug on a railing as he tries to lead me back into the house, but I’m not budging.
I drop the blanket despite his sound of protest and gently cradle his face, my thumbs slowly brushing over the dark circles under his eyes. “What’s wrong, Luke?”
He sighs deeply, but his tired eyes won’t meet my determined ones. “More importantly, are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you want me to turn on the booster so you can call someone? I don’t want you to feel isolated. Should I call Luisa? Or maybe Isabella, since she isn’t the friend that’s married to your brother?”
I’m confused by his words, and because he’s rambling when he typically tends to communicate well with as few words as possible.
“I, what? I don’t understand.” I shiver against a brutal gust that has Luke cursing under his breath one moment, then hoisting me over his shoulder the next.
“Luke, what the hell? Put me down and tell me what’s wrong,” I huff. I kick my legs and haphazardly try to smack his ass.
I’m enveloped in the warmth of the cabin and the still warm sheets when I’m deposited onto the bed carefully. His hands run up and down my arms, then cup my hands in his as he blows warm air onto our fingers.
I manage to free one of my hands and place it behind his neck, gently pulling him down until our foreheads touch. “You’re scaring me. Please tell me what I did—”
He jolts, but my firm grasp keeps him in place. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Daisy. You are perfect. Far too perfect for someone as tainted as me, and yet I still took every bit of you I was allowed without a moment’s hesitation because I’m a selfish man who’s spent an obscene amount of time wanting you. When, instead, I should have been protecting you from my darkness.”
His darkness?
I may not know everything about his past, but I know for damn sure that Luke is a good man. The fact that he wouldn’t even touch me after helping me run from my wedding simply because I was still wearing my engagement ring tells me he is ruled by honor, no matter how displaced it may be.
And while I know I need to tread carefully with what I say next, I have to nip this in the bud before we start creating obstacles for ourselves. Because once we are out of this cabin, the real world is going to slap us in the face with what’s coming our way, and I need to know that we’re in this together.
“Luke, talk to me. I have a pretty good idea of what you’re referring to, but I’m not going to push. What I will ask instead, is for you to allow me the same respect you’ve always given me and include me in whatever conversations are going on in your head. Because when you don’t, you come up with assumptions I’m not privy to, and it leaves me feeling… lost.”
He clears his throat, lifting slightly to press a lingering kiss on my forehead before straightening out of my hold. “You’re right. I’m sorry for freaking out on you. I should have…” He shakes his head, placing his hands on his hips. “Fuck, I need to be better. You didn’t deserve to feel like that. You deserve—”
“And I’m actually going to stop you right there, babe.”
He stills at the term of endearment, which was actually my intention, to shock him out of whatever doom spiral he is in.
Unfortunately, I am well acquainted with those.
“I’ve had a couple of back-to-back freakouts since you busted me out of that church parking lot. I don’t see you holding a grudge over any of those. Granted, one of those instances had you ripping me out of my wedding dress, but I digress.”
“Daisy—”
