Page 31

He’s rough and imposing, all hard muscle and quiet danger, but his hand rests carefully against my back, as though he thinks I might break… Or vanish.

“You could release me,” I say.

“I kept my promise,” I tell him.

“You didn’t run.”

“Maybe I’m learning.”

“Or the storm helped.”

“Or your oversized furnace of a body did.”

His mouth almost curves.

I should get out of bed. Instead, I remain against him, listening to the steady beat beneath my ear. A question has bothered me since yesterday. It followed me into the woods, sat beside me at breakfast, and kept circling through my thoughts while Samuel held me during the storm.

I push myself upright. His arm slides away from me, leaving a cold space behind.

“How did you know?”

Samuel’s brow furrows. “Know what?”

“That I was in danger.”

His entire body becomes still.

“The car,” I continue. “You said those men had been following me for days. How did you know that?”

“I saw them.”

“Where?”

“Outside the bookstore.”

“And outside my apartment?”

His gaze shifts toward the window. The movement is small, but I catch it.

My stomach tightens. “You saw them there too.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Samuel sits up. The mattress dips beneath his weight as he swings his legs over the side of the bed.

“Samuel.”

“I should check the perimeter.”

He reaches for his boots.

I catch his forearm. His muscles tense beneath my hand. “You already checked it before dawn.”

He looks at my fingers wrapped around him rather than at my face. “How do you know?”

“You let cold air in the bed when you came back.”