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Arlow stops my panicked words by palming my face. “Everything is fine. I burned the clothes. No one has been here, and no one will be able to come for days with the storm. I talked to Lee. He did what he promised. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure we can trust him? How did he know what to do so quickly?” I’m not giving him a chance to answer one question before I fire off another but it’s terrifying that there’s someone who knows what we’ve done.
“Yes, we can trust him. His past isn’t mine to share or discuss, but I promise you he’s a safe person. He understands that sometimes you have to do things yourself.” Amusement seeps into his tone. “I think he was as proud as I was at your plan to shove him off the cliff.”
The heavy feeling on my chest lifts for the first time since I found my cabin ransacked. “We’re safe.”
He nods and plants a gentle kiss on my lips. “We’re safe.”
“Did you get any sleep?”
“A good eight hours that went by in a blink.”
I link my arms around his neck. “How are you doing with…everything?”
A small smile accompanies his response. “I’m good.”
For a long moment, I only look into those soft brown eyes, trying to find the right words. What do you say when thesweetest, most peaceful, kindhearted man in the world kills for you?
A man who once captured a bug in the bathroom to set it free instead of squashing it, who was broken hearted at the death of his bees, who has never shown an ounce of aggression in any situation, just shot a man while he begged for his life. Then buried the body on his property. All to protect me.
The sobs well up from so deep inside that my entire body shakes as I choke out the words. “Thank you.”
“Oh sweetheart,” he rasps, pulling me gently into his arms. “Don’t. You don’t have anything to thank me for, or to feel bad about. He was fucking with both of us and he was never going to stop. I did what I had to do.” He pulls back and wipes the tears from my face. “Wedid what we had to do. I have no regrets, understand?”
My emotions are all over the place, but I nod. “I’m glad he’s dead. It’s over.”
He holds me for another minute until we both compose ourselves, then asks, “Are you hungry?”
The question makes me chuckle because how can life just go on normally after such an eventful night? “Starving.”
“Good. Let’s go eat. We’ll watch the storm updates and see how long you’re going to be trapped with me,” he teases.
“Forever wouldn’t be long enough.”
The genuine smile that rises on his lips assures me everything is going to be okay. Not only with what we’ve done, but between us. He meant what he said last night in the heat of such an emotional moment.For what it’s worth, you’ve got me.
He’s ready to let me love him.
The next week passes in a blur. The sky dumps ice and snow on us—living up to the shutdown storm prediction. We lose power for a couple of days, but it doesn’t matter. Curling up together in front of the fire is all either of us wants todo. My aches and pains slowly improve. Arlow fusses over me constantly, trying to make me comfortable, making sure I eat, drink, and rest. We don’t talk a lot, and not at all about everything we’ve just been through.
We’ve always been comfortable with silence between us. Our actions speak for us while we sort through our own thoughts and come to terms with what we’ve done. His hand always finds its way into mine. I scratch at his scalp the way he likes, and he runs his fingers lightly up and down my arm. We can’t pass one another without some kind of reassuring caress or touch. If we’re sitting in the living room or lying in his bed, we’re wrapped around one another. The constant affection is healing in a way I can’t begin to explain.
There’s no more need for a security guard or anything like that. I let my private investigator know that he doesn’t need to look for Carl after all. He doesn’t ask why, and I don’t elaborate.
After the first week, my face is completely healed—good thing it was only a glancing blow—and the marks on my neck have faded considerably. A little makeup will cover them easily now when we’re ready to venture out again. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground, and plenty of ice under it, but the roads have been cleared. My plan to ask Arlow if he’d like to go with me to trade in my library books and pick up some snacks is stopped short when I spot him on the couch.
He’s absorbed in the book he’s reading, giving me an opportunity to drink him in without his notice. Dressed in jeans and a dark gray sweater, he sits with his long legs outstretched, his feet propped on the edge of the coffee table. The sunlight from the nearby window illuminates his white lashes and emphasizes the pale patch of skin on that side of his face. He’s so handsome.
He raises his eyebrow when he catches me. “What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
His book is set aside as I walk toward him. “You’re staring.”
I straddle his lap, and his hands land on my hips. “You’re gorgeous. I can’t help it.”
That sweet flustered smile never gets less adorable. I love catching him off guard with praise or a compliment just to see it surface. He presses a soft kiss on my jaw, keeping his lips there as he murmurs, “Are you trying to start something with me, beautiful?”
