Henrietta made a cute little bock-bock sound. Chickens were delightful. No wonder Holly carried Mother Clucker everywhere.
“I get it now.” I rubbed my cheek against her silky feathers. “Don’t tell Holly.”
Jeremiah chuckled softly. “Your secret is safe with me.”
I peered up at him from the safety of chicken feathers. “Is it? Because I don’t feel very safe with you right now.”
Shocked pain crossed his expression. “Youaresafe with me, Lennon. I promise.”
I sighed. “You know, ever since I came here, something felt off to me. The whole ranch was…weird. It was nothing like the website, which makes sense now. I expected there to be other women around, but the only other guests are men. They’ve been nice, but they have this bond with each other, even though they all came here as strangers, that I just don’t have. Now I get it. I’m not supposed to be here. The thing is, though…” I rolled my lips, trying to make sense of the emotions roiling inside me. “You knew that all along. I didn’t tell you I wore a mask. Youknew. You knew I was a cam girl, not a first responder. You knew I shouldn’t be here. And you saidnothing. You kissed me, and you still said nothing. Why?”
“Because you kissed me, and I wanted it to be real.” He cupped my cheek, his thumb tracing my bottom lip. His blue-gray eyes bored into mine. “Fuck, Lennon. I didn’t tell you because I wantedyouto tellme. It never occurred to me you were tricked into coming here, and I didn’t look into you until after that night at Sundown.”
Some of the ache in my chest eased at his words.
He went on, “I didn’t trust you from the moment you arrived, that’s true, and I thought Miguel’s accident?—”
I jerked back. “What does Miguel’s accident have to do with anything? I’ve never even met him before.”
“Lennon.” His brows pinched as he stared down at me. “I don’t know how or why yet, but there is not a doubt in my mind that Miguel’s accident has everything to do with you. Sherwood thinks he was run off the road. It’s too much of a coincidence for me to believe your stalker lured you here the same week someone tried to kill him.”
“Oh my god.” I clutched Henrietta closer as the enormity of my situation finally sank in. “Oh mygod.”
My stalker had created an elaborate setup to lure me here. No one would go to all that trouble without a reason. I didn’t know who he was or what he had planned for me, but I sure as fuck wasn’t sticking around to find out.
“I have to leave. Right now. I have to…” Fuck, fuck, fuck. I didn’t have anywhere to go. Nowhere safe, anyway. “I have to go join a nunnery or something.”
He snorted a laugh. “You are not joining a fucking nunnery, Lennon. Give me the chicken.”
“No.” I dodged his hands. “She’s coming with me. For emotional support. And eggs.”
“Lennon.”
“Fine,” I huffed, handing her over. “She’d probably shit all over my car, anyway.”
Car. My eyes squeezed shut. The car wasn’t mine. It belonged to Benny’s friend’s ninety-year-old mother.
“I think you’re on the verge of another panic attack. Breathe, baby.”
I opened my eyes to glare at him. “You’re goddamn right I’m having a panic attack. I’m trapped at this ranch with my stalker, and I don’t even know what he looks like, by the way, so he could sneak up on me at any moment. I’m scared. I’m?—”
Whatever I was going to say next was silenced by the firm, gentle press of his mouth on mine. When my lips relaxed, he pulled back. “Safe, honey. You’re safe. I fucked up. It won’t happen again.”
I searched his face. He meant it.
He touched his forehead to mine. “From now until we find this asshole, you don’t leave my sight.”
21
LENNON
Hannah’s roomwas small and blue. Frothy white curtains hung in the window. The dresser, bed, and desk were made of pine—I couldn’t escape it, but it was growing on me. A small porcelain statue of an armor-clad knight on a white horse sat on the dresser, and a painting of a young girl in a pink dress reading a book by a stream hung on one wall. It was a tiny oasis of femininity in a ranch that solidly tilted toward rugged. Hannah and I were clearly very different people, but I had a feeling I would like her.
When Jeremiah informed me that I would be staying in his apartment at the lodge, I hadn’t argued. Honestly, I was relieved. But now that I was standing in the doorway of his sister’s bedroom, I felt like an intruder.
“Are you sure your sister won’t mind me staying here?” I gripped the handle of my suitcase, unsure if it was okay for me to unpack. Maybe I should shove it into the closet and leave it at that. It wouldn’t be the first time I had lived out of a suitcase.
“I already texted her. It’s fine. She said she’s only using the top two drawers. The bottom four are empty.” He opened and closed each drawer in rapid succession to verify, then nodded. “Go ahead.”
