And my interest lies with her, the woman who’s hightailing it as fast as she can away from me.Fuck.She’s already out the front door and taking a path down the side of the house.
“Wyn,” leaves me as soon as my foot hits the front porch, but she’s turning the corner of the gravel pathway and moving out of my sight. Once I make it to where she turned, the bar from last night is a mere fifty feet ahead, and Wyn hustles just past the main entrance, along the side of the building.
At dusk, this place is a helluva sight—the parking lot filling up and plenty of noise coming from the bar that was eerily quiet in those hours just before dawn. Right now, cicadas ring outalmost as loudly as the music pouring from the double doors of the bar every time they open.
An entire day had come and gone, and the only thing I had to show for it were bruises around my wrists and a bandaged leg, slowing me down a bit. At least that wasn’t ignored. I’m almost certain she could’ve sliced something deep and dangerous with that fucking weapon.
Smokers take drags and blow smoke in conversation as I pass by. Harleys and Ducatis line the sides of the building, and a party bus parked in front delivers a laughing horde of women in matching black dresses. Two female bouncers, who look like they’ve never backed down from a fight, give me judging glances as I rush past. The Whispering Fool is already lit and loud with neon lights and plenty of people angling for a good and rowdy time.
“Wyn,” I call out, louder and deeper, but she doesn’t stop. She doesn’t even look back. “Naomi!” I yell, and that at least has her looking over her shoulder.
“Well, hello handsome,” one of the women from the bus says as I shove by.“What’s the rush? Come buy me a drink!”I hear behind me.
It takes only a few painful jogging strides to hit the edge of the gravel and down the small riverbank toward the footbridge that Wyn is nearly halfway across. “Why are you running away from me,Naomi?” I call out to her.
She doesn’t slow. “Not running, asshole, just have things to do.”
“Asshole? That’s not very nice,” I say loudly over the rushing water.
Finally, she stops when she reaches the incline of the riverbank. “Not nice? You fucking tricked me in Montana—” She pauses like there’s more she wants to say. “And then you drugged me, Julian,” she says, but it’s the way her voice faltersand how she’s looking at me that makes me feel like I want to take it all back.
I rub along the back of my neck, knowing I can’t change what happened here, but I can apologize for it. “I’m so sorry—” I bend so that she’ll look at me. “If I’d known it was you last night, I never would’ve done that. Trust me when I say that I would never hurt you, not like that—” I take a step towards her, and she takes one back, but I know she’s working through the things I’ve just said. “I mean it. I’m sorry.”
Tall grass moves with the little bit of breeze a late summer night will allow. The last thing I want is for her to be scared of me. And right now, it feels like she might hate me a little. I need her to know that I’m not going to do anything to hurt her. I shove my hands into my pockets, because what I really want to do is to feel her wrapped up in my arms again. I stopped asking myself why I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her or why it felt so easy to be around her. Instead, I decided that, after this job, I was going to find her. And now that I unintentionally have, I’ve already fucked it up.
I tilt my head back, closing my eyes, thinking about all of the things I want to ask and hope to hear.
“I know,” she says in a whisper. I forget what she’s even responding to when her fingers glide along the side of my face and rake into my hair. The unexpected touch has me exhaling and hoping like hell that I’m not imagining it.
I keep my eyes closed, basking in the way it feels to be touched by her again. “Tell me something that isn’t a lie?” I say on a breath.
Her fingers fall away. “You first.”
Chapter Eight
Wyn
“I’ve been looking for you,”he says, swaying closer. The deep current of his voice is as distracting and smooth as the warm river roaring behind him. I wanted to touch him, glide my fingers through his hair and forget why this isn’t smart. Watching his eyes close like he’s been craving the touch as much as I had is what has me remembering myself. I close my eyes as the smell of oak and mint mingle in the air. I shake my head. I’m smarter than this. The red fucking flags that parade ahead of this man are too blatant to ignore.
With my heart pumping, I turn away from him and move toward the distillery, ignoring the fact that he’s following right behind me.
I like that he’s not so quick to give up.
I glance at the movement along the riverbank.“You may want to step up here; there’re alligators who feel very territorial living in that river.”
He tips his chin up, eyes on me. “Can we quit it with the bullshit now?”
“Nothing bullshit about being eaten by a prehistoric reptile,” I say, turning my back to him.
“Amphibian,” he says. “Alligators are amphibians.”
“You’re very wrong. They’re reptiles.” I squint my eyes closed and shake my head, frustrated. “You know what? I don’t care. What exactly do you want, Julian?” I ask in a huff as I shove open the sliding barn door to the distillery.
“You’re not serious,” his words echo as he follows me once again.
When I left Montana, I made an agreement. To return to the life I had before—it was safe for me now—but I had to forget where I’ve been for the past three years. I couldn’t talk about it or be in contact with anyone. It’s for everyone else’s safety, not mine. Make up a lie, embellish the truth, whatever it would take to preserve Hideaway, Montana as the safe haven it was built to be. It had been that for me. A place for people who survived the worst, but who still need to hide and be protected. I left Montana and every person who knew me as Naomi behind, including Julian Colton.
How am I supposed to tell him to leave, when the last thing I want is to see him go? I’ve been trying to feel like myself again, the old me who worked hard and earned my place. But nothing has felt right, not since I’ve been back. Not until right now...
