CHAPTER SEVEN
Three days later
– JAXIE –
Clicking with my tongue, I reward Gollum as he yields at my request.I’ve been doing some groundwork with him for the past half hour.I started with Sloth this morning, and he’s now in his stall so I can fully focus on Gollum.
Well, fully focus might not be the correct word, because it is impossible when a certain someone is watching me.Every time I throw a glance in his direction, I find his gaze on me instead of keeping a watchful eye on the screen of his laptop.
Earlier, when I was doing groundwork with Sloth, Seamus was chopping wood.The horses are used to the sound since my father would do it too if they were up here.Though, having this man doing it shirtless?A sheen of sweat coating his muscles?Yeah, try to focus on anything with such an amazing sight.
Three days have passed since the man entered my life, along with the turmoil of information.Yet, the past few days have been uneventful, except for the occasional eye-candy Seamus provides.No one else has made an appearance, and no alerts have come from the cameras.
The things I’ve discovered do make me worry.If it wasn’t for the creepy figure in the woods the first day I came here, I would have dismissed everything.But there are too many coincidences piling up, and I now even doubt if my father’s death was an accident.
I let my hand glide over Gollum’s neck and I head for the stables.He follows me without so much as a word and I put him safely into his stall.Frustration hits me while I normally feel relaxed after working with my horses.
Ever since I heard the name Nolan Lowell there’s been a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.My father might have physically kept me away from the company, he did, however talk about things.This being said, he never mentioned the details about Seamus’s accident.
Well, Murray insinuated Nolan is to blame for what happened.When I asked Seamus about Nolan, he walked away and we haven’t had a normal discussion for three days.He feels more like a roommate who does everything in his power to avoid me.
Except when I try to avoid him, like going outside.Then he follows me around with the excuse I shouldn’t be outside unattended.Like I said, if it wasn’t for the figure freaking me out the first day I got here?I wouldn’t have believed any of it.
Where I was seeking solitude in the place that carries fond memories in an effort to move forward with my life, I keep going over everything that happened in the past two weeks.All in an effort to try and remember weird things around the time my father visited Seamus.What happened that made Dad decide to go to Seamus and give the assignment to watch over me in case anything happened to him?Which damn well happened.
Such a scary thought my father felt his own life was threatened enough to reach out to Seamus.He must have found something, knew what he got himself into, or whatever caused him to turn to Seamus.Last night, when I was staring at the ceiling once again when I had trouble sleeping, I remembered seeing a medical document on my father’s desk.
The name Nolan triggered something in my mind.With Murray and Seamus talking three days ago, my only focus was Seamus, discovering who was responsible for what happened to him.The man is a grumpy closed book.
I didn’t see a last name on the document because it was tucked in a file, I only saw a first name; Nolan.When my father caught me looking, he quickly locked it away into the secret safe in his office.I have no clue if it concerns the same Nolan, and it’s why I want to go back to the house and look through my father’s things.Maybe the file is still in his secret safe?
Decision made, I walk out of the stables and clap my hands to get Benny’s attention.Seamus closes the laptop and leans on his cane to get to his feet.He follows me into the cabin while I gather my purse.
“What are you doing?”Seamus rumbles.
My hands raise automatically to sign, until the hard look on his face makes me decide to stay quiet.My speech therapist might be overjoyed someone is pushing me to speak, but the last few days Seamus has avoided talking to me.The grumpy asshole makes me want to stay silent in every damn way.
I snap my fingers and Benny instantly follows.The flat hand against the door keeps me from opening it, and I throw an angry glare over my shoulder at Seamus.
“I asked you a question,” he grits.
The annoying asshole talked more to me in the past ten minutes than he did in three whole days.Spinning around, I try to punch his shoulder.Try, because he clearly anticipates the move and has me pinned to the door.
The air rushes from my lungs as I stare into his eyes, swirling with heated emotion.I gasp for my next breath.The way his body is pressing against mine, caging me against the door, makes desire flood my system.Something I haven’t felt in well over a decade.
His gaze locks on my lips and my heart skips a beat.Pupils dilate, nostrils flare, and I can feel his dick harden against my belly.All of it tells me Seamus is just as affected as I am.
“Fuck it,” Seamus grunts and there’s no time for me to question his reaction when his lips crash down on mine.
