“You think so?”

“I don’t think they’re still watching the house,” she said. “They probably think I am far, far away by now.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “The guy that came after you seemed pretty intent on getting to you. If I hadn’t shrugged him off on the road, he would have followed you here. You think they would just give up because they missed you once?”

“They want me to be scared,” she said, a bit of a temper flaring. She didn’t like that I wasn’t just giving in, and I understood it was important to her to get things from her place, but I wanted to protect her. If I just let her go back there and get hurt, then what was the point of me trying at all?

“Well, they accomplished that goal,” I said. “They have me spooked too. I don’t like the idea.”

“There’s no way they’re still in town. It’s too small. They can’t fit in. They would stick out. It’s way easier to go back to New York and wait to see if I pop up there. They’re probably just waiting for me to show up at Sammi’s. Christmas is right around the corner. They probably figure I’ll go back to celebrate with her family.”

“What’s at your place that’s so important you need to risk your life to go there?”

“I’m not risking anything,” she said. “I told you that they aren’t there. Besides, it would be super quick. In and out. Will you please take me?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “They saw my truck. They know what it looks like.”

“In and out,” she repeated. “Super quick. Please?”

She wasn’t going to give up. This was going to be an all-day argument, I could feel it. And I understood it too. Having a few other comforts from her own place, things that help her feel more at home, could make hiding away in a snowy mountain more bearable. When I first moved to the cabin, I had very little of my own. It was already furnished, and it felt like a hotel.

It took months before I felt like I was at home in Ashford. When I finally did, it was because I sent for things from my old hometown’s storage unit and bought other new things to make it my own. Even though we didn’t know when this living situation would change, it made sense that, at least for the time being, she would want some things to make her feel more comfortable.

Besides, she was stubborn, and I could use some fresh air myself.

“Alright,” I said. “But quick. Super quick. Get ready—it’s better if we go early than late.”

We got dressed quickly, making sure to bundle up well, and got into the truck. The drive down was uneventful, and being a weekday, the town was pretty empty. I circled the house a few times, going up and down the roads around it to see if I saw anything weird, then pulled in backward. I hopped out, dropped the door on the back of the truck and got Desiree out of the car.

With her following behind me, the keys to the truck in her hand in case she needed to run, I opened her door and did a quick sweep. It was empty and looked like it had when we left it. The cups we had been using for our drinks were still on the coffee table in the living room. I ushered her in, and she went to work grabbing the things she needed. I took the opportunity to clean up the mess we had left and kept an eye on the windows for any movement.

Desiree gathered everything she needed and stacked them at the door. When she was done, I opened it up, loaded it all into the back of the truck, and we locked up, heading back up the mountain quickly, my eyes peeled to the mirrors to see if we were being followed. I didn’t let myself breathe until we had everything that she packed stacked in the living room of the cabin, and I knew we were both safe.

20

Desiree

We spent most of the day just hanging out together. The tension that had built up between us had turned, and now it was less like something was wrong and more like something was building. I no longer felt the urge to run away from everything. But I also didn’t feel forced to stay out of fear either. I was there because I wanted to be. Because he wanted me to be. Because I was supposed to be.

Aiden offered to let me put a few of the things I brought from the house up at his place to make it feel more like home for me. Considering neither of us knew how long this might last, I appreciated him wanting to help me feel more comfortable. Besides, I was starting to really enjoy being there, and making it more like somewhere I would choose to live seemed like it was helping me adjust. To be less afraid.

Tags: Natasha L. Black Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net