Kane (Arizona Vengeance 8)

Suddenly, I hear something from within the guest room, sounding very much like Samson jumping off the bed. I start to get up, thinking he needs a potty, but then I hear her door open. Mollie exits with Samson at her heels. Her hair is a complete and utter mess. While she had put it in some type of knot on top of her head to go to sleep, the hours upon hours of tossing and turning back and forth have made it into a tangled mass I’m quite concerned she might not ever get a brush through. I sure as shit would hate to see all that brown, caramel, and honey-colored hair have to be cut.

Mollie yawns, her blue gaze drifting into the living room before landing on me. She scratches at her stomach, then sort of stumbles her way toward me.

With a sheepish grin, she flops on the opposite end of the couch and kicks her legs up, planting her feet down so her knees are bent. She glances down at her legs, bare from the shorts she’s wearing, then runs her hands along her calf with a grimace. “Gross… I need to shave.”

Samson lays down on the floor beside her, giving a “chuff” as if he agrees.

I glance at her legs, and yeah… she needs a shave. She also needs a shower and a good toothbrushing by my best estimate, but I keep those thoughts to myself.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go back to bed and sleep another twenty hours of your life away?” I tease.

She nods again, laying her head against the cushion. “I had no clue I was that tired. Thanks for taking care of Samson so I could sleep.”

“Are you sick?” I blurt out. I had talked myself out of that being a possibility, but fuck… I’d like to know sooner rather than later if that’s the case.

Mollie rolls her eyes. “Of course not, dummy. If I were sick, I would be at some world-renowned medical facility getting life-saving treatment.”

“Then why the long hibernation?” I ask.

She shrugs, her gaze going down to the hem of her T-shirt where she picks at it with her fingers. “I think it all just caught up to me, Kane. I’ve been on the go for so long, living so hard and fast, taking care of myself and battling the great unknown, I feel like I’ve just walked into a brick wall. Is that weird?”

Reaching out, I take her hand in mine, which forces her eyes to come back up to me. I shake my head. “Not weird. I think your body might be telling you it’s time to rest for a bit. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

Mollie smiles with such gratitude it makes my heart skip a beat. She doesn’t need to be thankful to me in that way. It’s a given I would offer her anything she needed.

“I want you to go take a shower,” I order. “Brush the fur off those teeth. Put on something that’s at least clean, but wrinkles are acceptable given your nomadic lifestyle. And then I’m going to take you out for a good meal.”

Her smile appears brighter, and she nods. “That sounds nice.”

I smile back.

What I don’t tell her is we’re going to talk, because as much as she would like to believe I’d buy that vague shit that she walked into a brick wall and just needs a rest, she seems to have forgotten I know her probably better than anyone in this world.

And she’s hiding something from me.CHAPTER 3MollieFor the first time in a long time, I feel like my old self. A woman who can smile easily, secure in the fact I don’t have a single worry hanging over me. I felt that way just before I went off to Boston College when I was eighteen. It was so hard leaving the bosom of my close-knit, small-town family to move across the country to a big, loud city full of strangers.

I chose Boston College for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted an adventure. That was something that had always been an integral part of my being. As much as I loved the security of my home life, I yearned to see the world, and Boston was a good choice. The second reason was because my father went to Boston College, so there was a family legacy there.

And when I got there, I was just completely lost. Alone, afraid, and feeling like I’d made a mistake. It was the first time I doubted whether I could genuinely be out on my own and take care of myself.

Kane Bellan changed all that when I met him. While he may never know the depths to which he helped build my confidence back up, I can truly credit him with changing my life. Over the years we spent there together, and in the summers back home, he helped validate I am an adventurer. The simple way in which he did it made me believe in myself.