Page 261 of The Professor's Wife

“I’m not allowed to set traps for a cougar,” Oliver returned. “I got my hunting rifle, though.”

“Ah, yes. Well, if you’re hunting, watch yourself. That cat’s still out there, I’m sure of it. If you got some game, that big bastard will smell it from a mile away.”

Oliver’s jaw tightened, but he kept his voice pleasant. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Tom chuckled. “With him constantly prowling like he is, you’d think animals have a natural tendency to just drop dead on your land, huh?”

“If you have a cabin in the woods, you must live among the wild.”

They spoke some more. Tom led the conversation while Oliver played nicely. Then Tom gave him another hearty pat and wandered off toward the kitchen.

Oliver watched Tom disappear, then turned back to me. The pleasant expression drained from his face like water slipping off glass.

“People talk too much,” he said softly. “But he’s made me realize I’ve lost track of time. If you’re going to ask for permission to perform, he’s the owner. I’m sure seeing me with you will gain you some approval.”

Before I could respond, he stood up. “Come outside with me. Let’s clear the air a bit.”

We dropped some cash on the table, and out we went into the early morning air. Oliver walked to his car, and I kept a good distance away. My body roared not to get close to him. My legs felt heavy and shackled. I glanced back once at the pub and then back at Oliver.

He popped open his trunk and opened a large cooler.

“It’s going to be a hot day, isn’t it?” Pulling out a cold bottle of water, he turned to face me and tossed it.

I caught it quickly, my gaze still firmly fixed on him.

What now?I wanted to ask. But my lips remained sealed. Something in me felt off. Despite the encroaching heat, my body shivered.

“I regret my conduct,” Oliver said suddenly, wincing. “I wasn’t myself in there just now.”

Bullshit,I wanted to say. I had a feeling he was perfectly himself, but I didn’t state that. I just watched him as he ran a hand through his thick hair.

“I’m going to be candid. There’s something about you, Tristan, that bothers me,” he explained. “You feel threatening. Maybe it’s to do with my wife.”

His stare intensified.

“I saw the way you looked at her. And then I saw the way she looked at you. My bride. My fucking wife. Looking atyou.Maybe I’m more upset with her than you. She’s… hard sometimes.”

He looked distant, his teeth baring with a heavy emotion.

“Her nature is to be submissive, but there’s a side of her… this part of her she keeps from me. I’ve tried everything to reach it.”

His face had gone a light shade of red. I couldn’t tell whether he was pissed or frustrated, but his eyes found mine again, and they chilled me.

“It would be best if you moved along, Tristan. You should jump inside that van of yours and drive, and don’t stop driving until you’re far enough away. I don’t want to catch you in my rearview mirror again.”

Then he rounded his car and climbed in.

Moments later, he was gone, leaving me under the morning sun with a bottle of water and the uneasy sense that I had come too close to something I didn’t understand.

CHAPTER SIXTY

TRISTAN

I went back to my van and sat behind the wheel. I didn’t move. I couldn’t understand my feelings. I’d had breakfast with a man who, for all intents and purposes, was normal and calm. Unsettling and intense, but some people were like that. Even when I’d gotten annoyed, he didn’t get flustered or pissy. Was I wrong about him? How could I shake the unease in my limbs? Why was I jittery, hair raised, like I was still under some threat? Oliver hadn’t threatened me. He’d told me he didn’t want to see me in his rearview mirror, but I’d said his wife had bewitched me, too.

Fucking bold, but I did it. I didn’t even regret it. She bewitched me, and I wanted her, and I fucking hated that she wasn’t mine.

Oliver had said some fucked-up things, though. I couldn’t imagine him being that open with just anyone. Had something about me put him on edge enough to say all that shit out loud?