The soapy water is too hot, turning my skin pink, and bubbles stick to my arm when I place another plate on the rack.
My hand plunges back into the scalding water, and I furiously scrub another plate. “Mom, have you met Wilfred Miller yet?”
“Wilfred, who owns the farm next door?” she replies, wiping the table behind me.
“Yes.”
“No, not yet. Why do you ask?”
As I place the plate on the dish rack, soapy bubbles slide down the porcelain. I glance back out the window at the tall oak tree that sways gently. “I saw someone in the forest today. A young man.”
“Oh?”
“He was chopping wood. I wondered if Wilfred had a son or a grandson, maybe?”
“Most likely.” She hesitates. “We should say hi to the neighbors, right? It’s the polite thing to do.”
We are from the city, where no one speaks to their neighbors, but things are different here.
“Right?” she asks as she comes up beside me to shake bits of stray rice off the dishcloth. She rinses it clean, then places it over the faucet. “I’ll knock on their door tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget the gift basket,” I tease, making her laugh on her way out of the room.
I finish the dishes, wipe my hands on the towel, and look back at the woods. The sun has almost set, and the shadows grow longer as the branches tremble in the evening breeze. It could be a beautiful view—in fact, it is beautiful—but something about this place gives me the creeps.
A hand wraps around my elbow and spins me around. I gasp, caught in Dominic’s stormy eyes.
“What the hell is this?” he all but growls as he yanks me closer to inspect the bite on my arm.
His thumb swipes over the dried, smeared blood and red skin in a deceptively tender touch that sets me on edge more than the hardened glint in his eyes.
Dominic doesn’t have a kind bone in his body. Faced with a choice, he would pick violence every day, no questions asked. So, to see him glare at me with such intensity sends my heart sprinting down a hill to escape the fire in his eyes.
“It’s just a bug bite,” I reply, then yelp when he grabs me by the throat in a ruthless grip.
He leans in close and bares his teeth. “What were you doing out in the woods by yourself? You could get lost. We’re not in the city anymore, Camryn.”
I open my mouth to reply, but startle when the kitchen door slams shut so forcefully that a picture on the wall crashes to the floor. Dominic stiffens and looks behind him, his thumb stroking my throat. I don’t even think he was aware of the action, but then the moment passes, and he levels those dark eyes on mine.
All oxygen seems to get sucked out of the room when he’s this close.
Close enough that I can feel his heat through his clothes. Every ridge of his muscles.
I can’t look away, my pulse thundering beneath his fingers. He has always disliked me, but the sheer force of his ire dampens my palms as I clutch his T-shirt. It’s on the tip of my tongue to provoke him to see how far that darkness runs. My fear begs me to try, but I don’t have a death wish, so I remain silent.
Door forgotten, he tightens his grip, and my heart takes off at a gallop. I tug on his T-shirt, creasing the soft fabric. His heart thunders beneath my hands. Just when I think he’s going to kiss me or kill me, he steps away. “Don’t go walking in the woods by yourself.”
“Is that concern I hear?” I bite out as he turns to leave. “You never talk to me, so why start caring now?”
Instead of replying, he walks up to the door and crouches to pick up the broken frame, his T-shirt stretching tight across his shoulders as the muscles shift in his broad back. Not that I’m checking him out. Okay, so maybe I am. Sue me. He is attractive, even though he is an asshole.
As the seconds tick by, I frown.
What is he studying so intently?
Intrigued, I step closer. “Dominic? Everything okay?”
At the sound of my voice, his shoulders touch his ears, but then he relaxes and continues collecting the pieces of glass. I lower myself beside him, careful not to kneel on pieces of shards, and we clean up in silence.
