I’ve readthe same sentence in this book three times. There’s no point. I can’t concentrate with so much on my mind. You’d think my biggest concern would be facing criminal charges, or dealing with two insurance companies for my house and diner, and those are there, eating at the back of my nerves, but it’s Lee I keep coming back to.
It’s been a week since he made love to me. I’ve never liked that expression, but there’s really no other way to describe what happened between us that night. It wasn’t a hook up. It wasn’t only a fuck. The way he took me was different, slow and sweet, steeped in tenderness and emotion. Don’t get me wrong, I know it isn’t love, not for either of us. It was need. The need for some respite from the world which seems to have fallen on our shoulders lately.
The way he held me afterwards, keeping me in his bed when I’d usually leave. The way he clung to me in the earlyhours when he woke from a nightmare he wouldn’t tell me about. He needed me.
I’m not sure what it is, but something is going on with him. Something that has him gone most of the time and sends him out on late night walks. He’s put distance between us like he’s worried that night might have meant too much to me, but he isn’t avoiding me. No, he’s busy with something he won’t talk about that keeps a frown on his face.
I dog-ear the page of my book and set it over on my nightstand with a sigh. What I should be doing is going to sleep. The diner is reopening tomorrow, and I plan to be there from open to close, except for an afternoon visit with Celia. I still can’t imagine what she could do to help me with the Matheson’s but I’m curious.
My bedroom door is open, and Lee glances in my direction but doesn’t speak when he emerges from his room to slip out the front door, locking it behind him. He never says anything when he leaves like this at night. I peek around the corner of the curtain to see him walk past his truck. Where the hell does he go? The only time I asked him, he said he walks to clear his head. His tone made it clear he didn’t want any more questions.
My impulsive urge to follow him is too strong. Without giving myself a chance to change my mind, I step into my shoes, pull a hoodie on, and quietly close the door behind me. The cold night air surrounds me, damp and thick with pine. From the porch, I can just make out the shape of him entering the woods. As usual he doesn’t take the trail or even carry aflashlight. I need an explanation to satisfy the knot tightening in my chest.
As quietly as possible, I creep to the edge of the woods. Am I really going to follow him into the forest at night in my pajamas? This is crazy. He’s getting farther away. It’s now or never.
Damn it. The forest closes around me like a mouth, swallowing me whole. It’s not a pleasant thought. Part of me worries it may not spit me out again.
It’s so dark under the trees that I have to squint to pick out the shapes. The tree trunks, low brush, and the faintest path formed by his other walks out this way.
This is stupid. This is so stupid. What the hell am I doing out here? It’s terrifying. There are too many sounds. They’re everywhere, making me whip my head around to stare uselessly into the blackness. A twig snaps off to my right, and I freeze, my breath burning in my chest.
It’s probably a squirrel or a raccoon. Or nothing. Tell that to my heart that’s beating hard enough to attract every predator in my radius. Not that we really have any big predators in this part of the state. But still, every shadow feels alive. Every branch looks like a grasping hand.
I keep low, watching Lee’s silhouette moving ahead of me. He’s sure-footed and calm, like he’s done this a thousand times and knows exactly where he’s going. Too bad I don’t.
A fallen branch cracks like a gunshot under my foot, making me jump, and in a panic, I flatten myself behind a tree, then peek around it. Lee slows his steps, then pauses. He turns, tilting his head slightly, and looks around.
After the longest ten seconds ever, he keeps going. I follow again, quieter now, with my pulse thumping in my ears. It isn’t long before the outline of a cabin becomes visible.
Is it one of the cabins he rents out? Is he just coming out to work at night? Meeting a woman who rents from him?
Those theories die when I get closer to it. The cabin is small, tucked between thick oak trees, and half-eaten by shadows. The shift of the clouds allows enough moonlight to see that the windows are boarded up. It’s definitely not one of his active rentals.
What the hell?
I hang back, crouching behind a fallen log as Lee walks into the small clearing. He doesn’t hesitate. He walks up and steps inside the dark cabin. There’s no pausing or fumbling with a lock. The door closes behind him and my skin crawls. I may not have wanted him to see me, but when he was in sight, I didn’t feel like I was alone in the woods. The clouds cover the moon again and the darkness feels thick, like a physical presence pressing against my skin.
My breath fogs the air as I watch, my nails dug into the rough bark of the log.
Nothing happens. If any lights come on, I can’t see them with the windows covered. There’s no movement. No voices to be heard, at least not this far away. Is he in there alone? I need to get closer.
My legs begin to ache from crouching, and I stand up, never taking my eyes off the cabin. Why does he come here? What’s he hiding?
I inch forward, horribly aware that he could come backout at any moment. I’m not scared of him, exactly. He’s never given me a reason to think I should be, but as soon as you decide a man would never do something, they can’t wait to prove you wrong.
My foot falls on a small pile of leaves, and the crunch of them is unbelievably loud in the stillness. My mind goes to the thought of crunching bones. It’s not a reassuring image to have in my head.
I’m only a couple of trees back from the clearing now. It’s as close as I dare to go, but still, no sounds reach my straining ears. With the place so closed up, it doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t mean he’s alone in there.
The tension in my muscles increases by the second. The suspense of it all, of what he’s doing and what could happen if I’m caught stalking him grows until I’m pulled taught like a wire. As soon as I see any movement, I’ll retreat and run b?—
A loud bark sounds like a bomb going off right behind me. My hand slapping over my mouth barely catches a screech before it can escape, and I jump so high that I stumble, landing on my knees in the dirt. It’s probably a good thing I fell, or I would’ve been up the tree like a startled cat.
“Rogue,” I hiss, relieved and terrified at the same time. My heart ricochets around my ribcage. She dives on me, licking my face, happy to be a part of my midnight adventure.
There’s no way Lee didn’t hear her bark. I turn and retreat deeper into the shadows just in time. Lee steps out on the porch and looks around. Rogue is thrilled to see him andbounds out of the woods to join him. His attention on her gives me the chance to run without his notice.
I don’t bother trying to be quiet now. Branches whip at my arms, and my breath tears in and out of my throat as I sprint through the dark. I don’t stop until I’m back at Lee’s, locking the door behind me. The pounding in my ears starts to fade while I pull off my dirty pajamas, shove them into the bottom of my hamper, then change into another pair.
