“I would love it too.” She flopped her hand and blinked rapidly. “I mean, if I was an almost hairless ten-pound dog.”
The image of scooping up Claire and holding her for warmth flashed through my head before I quickly pushed it away.
Ripley rested her head on the lip of her cocoon and sighed, almost already asleep. “She’s a hearty fifteen pounds. For the record.”
Claire smiled again and stepped closer. I looked away. “I can’t believe not five minutes ago, I worried you were a serial killer. Nooffense.” She brought both her hands to her temples, pressing her thumbs and forefingers to the corners of her face, eyes wide and head shaking.
I grumbled. I didn’t do easy banter. This wasn’t me. Time to set those clear lines.
She rubbed up and down her arms and moved to the side, revealing the cabin’s interior. The wood stove sat dark and unburning.
“You’ll need to start a fire.” My voice sounded angrier than I meant. The shift in my tone was not subtle. I’d never been good at hiding when I was upset. I stepped forward, then stopped when she tensed and straightened.
I had been about to walk into the house.Herhouse. Cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck.
This whole interaction had caught me by surprise. This wasn’t who I was. She tricked me. She stole my dog and disarmed me with her soulful eyes and raw vulnerability. Okay, that wasn’t entirely fair. Ripley really was a ho for hugs. But I felt off of balance, out kilter. Flip that. Whatever. I needed to get out of here and think. I didn’t want someone living here. I didn’t want to talk to people. I definitely didn’t want to go into that house.
“Like I said, I just lost track of?—”
“I have to go,” I said suddenly, spinning on my heel to leave. “Make sure you open the flue. There’s kindling and matches there too,” I said over my shoulder as I retreated like a coward.
“Okay. Thanks.” I didn’t need to look at her face to feel her confusion.
This was the image I was protecting. The grumpy mountain man. Best to keep things as they were.
No more coming down to the guesthouse.
No more interacting with Claire.
And most importantly, no more making her smile.
Just after I delivered a few essentials to get her through the night.
Chapter 8
Claire
I blinkedawake to the sun slanting through a single crack in the curtains directly onto my face. At that first moment, I couldn’t connect to the unfamiliar room around me. It took several nanoseconds of my poor brain working at full sleep-addled power to remember the past few days’ events and how I ended up here in this new space. A weight like regret sat heavy on me as I tugged the comforter over my head and debated staying in bed.
I hid my face in my pillow and groaned loudly.
Levi.
It felt weird to think of him as a person with a name. Obviously, he had a name, but why did it feel so weird to refer to him as that, even in my head? Thinking of an amorphous nonhuman entity that spewed rules and grumbled at joy felt more natural.That had been fine with me. But to know Levi was the man in the grocery store had been a rough blow. But also karmically sort of perfect. Because if I didn’t want one person to know about the tragedy that was my life, it was the man renting me his home. But alas, what was done was done.
I’d have thought that realizing Levi was the man from the store would cause some sort of humiliation, but since I’d hit peak embarrassment, there was really nowhere else to go. He’d seen me at my worst. There was a freedom with him now. He’d seen me unmasked, unfiltered, and he’d helped. I didn’t need to pretend to be a normal person around him. And in fact, this almost guaranteed I wouldn’t need to interact with him at all. I had all but ensured that.
No wonder he left in such a hurry last night. I had accosted him, then had a maniacal breakdown when I put two and two together. I moaned again.
I froze in place when I heard something thump outside the door. The shuffling sound of something being dragged and dropped on the porch finally got me moving from the bed. I sat straight up, ears pricked in the quiet cabin.
Another loud smack of something heavy, then Ripley barked. Levi’s deep rumble in response wasn’t discernible but sounded less grumpy than he had last night.
Well, not at first. At first, he had been funny. Andsweet. Not at all what I expected. Plus, the obvious fact that behind that overgrown hair was a man who was, by any measure, incredibly attractive. I’d been too lost in my suffering to notice during ourfirst meeting. And without the protective glasses, his eyes were piercing and soulful—somewhere between brown and green, hard to tell. He’d been decent about showing his ID, and then, as I studied his picture, a wave of sudden shyness hit me. I had meant to be grilling him, ensuring that he wasn’t some weirdo watching me through the window, but I found myself getting flustered as he patiently let me study him.
Thankfully, I’d never been a person moved by conventional attractiveness so that reaction was neither here nor there.
I let out a long breath through pursed lips as I pressed my cold fingertips to my flushed cheeks. The fire had gone out, but the small space wasn’t uncomfortably cold yet. It was a good chilly temp while sleeping, but I might need to start another fire if I want to get to work. My stomach growled loudly. I hadn’t remembered to eat anything but a protein bar. I had to get to town and get food.
