“Wait, we’re staying here?”
I tear my attention from the sea and turn it to the building we’re parked beside.
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that a clubhouse or something?”
“It’s their honeymoon suite.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh, you owe Julian averybig thank you.”
I hop out of the car, but as I gain my feet, I discover the surge of energy I felt from excitement doesn’t extend to my body. I catch myself on the door as I stumble, my legs threatening to give out.
“Whoa. Hey.”
Jake hurries around to my side and scoops me up in his arms.
Eyeing the steps that lead inside, I say, “I can walk. I just need a moment.”
“Honeymoon suite, remember?”
A lump lodges in my throat as he carries me toward the front, which I can now see is a solid wall of opaque glass. This place is unbelievable. Gorgeous. Magical. Romantic. And here I am feeling like a pile of matted fur that baked in the sun for days before being scraped off the side of the road and not looking much better.
As if he can read my mind, Jake says, “You need a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Tomorrow,” he says, handing me the keys so I can unlock the door. My relief and disappointment collide as he carries me over the threshold and I see the inside, where the view is no less breathtaking.
As soon as he sets me down, I find myself drawn to the glass wall, still entranced by the view. Jake follows, wrapping his arms around me. Leaning back against him, I release a happy sigh. We watch in silence as the sun sinks below the horizon and the night sky darkens. Then I look up at him and smile.
“Go start the water. I’ll bring the toiletries in first so you’ll have what you need.”
I grab his arm as he releases me to keep him from leaving.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you. For everything. I’m really glad that we’re here together.”
“Me too.”
My eyes stay on him while he returns to the car as I try to fix this memory—this man, this place, this feeling—in my mind forever. Then I force myself to turn away.
I’m going to do my best to enjoy our time here. To not do the me thing and get trapped inside my head amid the dark thoughts. But I can’t let my guard down, either, not even for a second.
Because there’s danger out there in the darkness, lying in wait. I can feel it. No matter how much I want to pretend, I can’t. It’s a lesson I’ve learned too many times the hard way—bad things happen, even in the places you’d least expect them to.
CHAPTER 31
The sound reaches inside my dream. At first, it’s just there in the background, a gentle stroke, easily ignored. But it gains the insistence of a poke. Then the momentum of a shove, until I’m fully awake, eyes peeled wide against the dark, covers clenched in my fists as I struggle to control the rapid pounding of my heart.
Slowly I sit up, and yet the noise persists, the tap, tap, tapping of a finger against the glass. Then, with a sigh of relief, I place it. Rain. And I must finally be rehydrated, because the sound of it has my bladder begging for release.
Swinging my legs over the side of the mattress, I peer into the shadows of the unfamiliar room around me, noting the location of the furniture before I stand. The nightstand beside me, a chair in the corner, a dresser by the bathroom door—the place where I’d watched Jake set the phone to charge as I was falling asleep.
