Page 28 of Abdominal Snowman

“How do you feel about the cold?”

“Besides trekking through the woods and fearing for my life, I like it. I would like to have a less… traumatic memory to go along with it. It’s beautiful here. It would be great to add to my portfolio.”

Right. She wasn’t only a journalist, but a photojournalist. In fact, he still needed to give her back the—

“Speaking of, Soren, I seem to be missing a few thousand dollars’ worth of photography equipment,” Sage commented pointedly, glaring as he finally rounded the island to take a seat next to her.

Skies above, just being next to her was intoxicating. Her berry scent made his mouth water and...

“Yeah, the camera. It’s safe, I’m keeping it in the garage with my things. I just had to be sure you wouldn’t use it against me.” He’d discovered the camera when he’d brought her bags in from the car, spotted it hidden against the far side of the couch where she’d passed out. When he’d gotten the chance, he’d snooped and found no evidence that she could use to prove his existence. Even the one on her phone was so grainy and blurry that it could be passed off as something other than a footprint. But he still had wanted to be safe.

Now they were past that point.

“I wouldn’t do that, Soren,” Sage murmured, staring down at her plate as she pushed food around. “Even if I had hard proof of your existence, a good reporter always collects all the facts first. I do have some integrity, and you still haven’t answered any of my questions.”

“I didn’t want to risk it, Sage,” he said, voice low and soft, but unapologetic. His lips parted again, and Sage waited for him to speak, but he shook his head. “There are a lot of people who would pay good money to have proof of my existence.” Soren’s heart shivered at the thought.

“Are you going to risk it now?” she asked carefully. Her amber gaze burned into him.

He listened to her pounding heart, studied her, frozen as she awaited his answer. His first instinct was to tell her no. To turn away and keep his secrets to himself and possibly even pack a bag and run because it wouldn’t be long before she betrayed him and he was left with nothing anyway.

But that could also be the bitterness of his past waiting.

He suddenly didn’t feel hungry anymore.

But he met Sage’s gaze again and it… changed something.

It was her gaze. She wasn’t looking at him like a bug under a microscope, betting to see what his next move would be. Sage wasn’t going to pull out tweezers and ask for hair samples or anything.

The only thing in her gaze was vulnerability and curiosity. She truly just wanted to know him.

Now the question was… would he let her?