I grin. “See? Now come over here and kiss me.”
“Only because I like you so much,” she murmurs as she gets up and straddles my legs. I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer as she runs her fingers across my chest with a sigh. “You going to tell me what your bad dream was about?”
“It was about you.”
Surprised eyes meet mine. “Me?”
“Yep. I dreamed about you going missing and mystery black SUVs.”
“Oh,” she whispers with a nod as she stares down at her lap. “That.”
Reaching up, I cup her cheek and force her gaze back to mine. “Why won’t you tell me what’s going on, baby? Do you not trust me? Is it that bad?”
“It’s…complicated. And I am going to tell you as soon as we get back to Baton Rouge but I just want to enjoy spending time with you before things get complicated.”
I tighten my grip and sigh. “Are you in danger?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask, studying her as my mind spins.
“I told you it was complicated.”
I scoff as I turn to look out of the window. “Yeah, you did…”
“Sawyer… I hope you know that no matter what I have to tell you when we get back, my feelings for you are real. I want you. I want us.”
“Okay,” I say, nodding despite the voice in my head that is screaming at me that she’s lying. “Let’s just table it for now.”
She nods and turns to look over at her drawing. After a minute she starts chewing on her bottom lip and I can practically see the wheels turning in her head.
“What are you thinking about so hard? I thought we were gonna drop it.”
“Actually, I was thinking about doing your idea for the advertisement. I think it’d be gorgeous.”
I jerk back. “You absolutely will not.”
“Excuse me?” she hisses, her brow arching as she turns to glare at me. “What did you just say?”
“I said there’s no way in fucking hell I’m going to let you pose naked for the whole goddamn world to see,” I snap and her eyes widen. She stands up so suddenly that she almost knocks the chair over and before I can grab her, she stalks over to the bed and grabs a pair of shorts.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
She stands and pulls her shorts on, glaring at me the whole time. “I’m going for a walk.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Listen here, you fucking cave man, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m very likely going to kill you if you keep saying shit like you aren’t going to let me do this or that so I’m going for a walk. End of discussion.”
After slipping her feet into her tennis shoes, she marches past me and I try to grab her hand but she rips it from my grasp without even looking back at me. The screen door slams as she stomps down the stairs and a scream of frustration rips through the air, echoing through the trees around us. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I sigh.
Well, that could have gone better.
What the hell was I thinking? I know better than to try and tell a woman what to do but the thought of millions of men staring her naked body, especially after everything that we shared last night, made me fucking homicidal. And now I can't even apologize to her. Turning away from the door, I scan the cabin and stop on the refrigerator. I guess I could cook something for her. She did say she was hungry and maybe if I feed her she won't be so damn mad at me. Sighing, I get up and grab a few things out of the fridge. I’m not a great cook but I can fry bacon and whip up some eggs, at least and then when she gets back, we’ll talk this out. There is no other option because she’s right, I know how she feels about me and I know there’s no way in hell I’m walking away from her.
As I grab the pan from the cupboard, a loud bang rings through the trees and every muscle in my body tightens as I turn toward the door. That sounded like a gunshot… With my heart pounding in my ears, I throw on my jeans and rush out to the front porch as I scan the property for any sign of Juliette but the trees are blocking most of my view. Another bang echoes through the trees and my stomach drops as I jump off the porch.
“Juliette!” I yell, running into the trees before I stop to listen for her.
Come on, baby.
Let me hear you.
“Juliette!”
Silence greets me and I take off in one direction, hoping I run into her at some point. The forest is silent, too fucking silent, or maybe I can’t hear anything over the thrashing in my ears as I scan the area around me for any sign of her. Either way, it’s fucking torture.
“Juliette!” I scream, stopping and bringing my hands on my knees as I suck air into my lungs. My chest feels tight and my hands shake as fear runs rampant through me.
Please, baby…
Say something.
I remember she wanted to check out the lake so I turn in that direction and take off again, praying with every ounce of strength that I have that she’s okay but images of her bleeding out on the ground won’t leave me alone.
“Juliette!”
“Sawyer?”
I skid to a stop.
Her voice is a sweet relief and I turn toward the direction it came from before taking off again. Come on, gorgeous. Where are you? She bursts through the brush with tears in her eyes and crashes into me, almost knocking both of us over. As soon as she’s in my arms, a sob tears through her. I step back to look her over as I run my hands down her arms.
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes meet mine, full of fear as her hands shake and she struggles to breathe. “I heard the bullet… it hit a tree right next to me… I could have died…”
“Shh, baby,” I whisper as I pull her into my arms and close my eyes, thanking God that she is okay. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“The second one…” she continues, speaking quickly in between sobs. “I felt the air from it on my face… It was so close and… it just missed me.”
My stomach rolls thinking about how close I came to losing her. I rub my hands all over her body, wishing I could wrap her up so tight that she’d feel safe again as I scan our surroundings. My nearest neighbor is three miles away and for someone to come that close to hitting her, they had to be on the property.
“Why would someone be shooting a gun out here?” she asks, pulling back to look up at my face and I shake my head.
“I think we should head back to the city.”
Her eyes widen. “You think someone was actually shooting at me?”
“I don’t know but that’s the most likely scenario and I’m not okay with staying here if it’s going to put you in danger.”
“Why?” she whispers, shaking her head. “Why would someone shoot at me?”
“I think it’s time you told me everything, angel.”
She stares up at me for a second before nodding. Relief rushes through me that I’m finally going to get some answers but I won’t rest easy until I know for sure that my girl is safe.
Chapter Twenty
Juliette
My stomach is in knots as Sawyer sets our bags down on the living room floor with a sigh and glances over at me. We spent the drive back from the cabin in silence but he never once took his arm off my shoulder, holding me close to his body. I know we’re still really shook up after what happened at the cabin but he was there for me anyway. It was a relief, to be honest. Who knows how much of a mess I would have been after what happened in the woods if he had been cold and distant to me. Sinking into the couch, I stare at my hands, which haven’t stopped shaking since the shots started. Closing my eyes, I remember hearing that first bang and the way the bark on the tree right next to me exploded as the bullet made impact. I stood there, frozen in fear as my heart thundered in my chest and tears gathered in my eyes, unable to do anything as I cried out for Sawyer. When the second bullet ripped through the air, I felt the force of it against my cheek and my stomach rolls as I think about how close it came to hitting me. I’ve never felt fear like that in my life but I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that someone wants to hurt me.