Page 18 of Craved By the Mountain Man

I shut that down hard.

She is scared.

She is under my roof because she needs somewhere safe.

Whatever I want from her is my problem.

She eats, and the tension slowly leaves her shoulders.

I let her make it through half the plate before asking the question that has been bothering me since she walked through my door.

“Why here?”

Her fork pauses.

“I told you. I thought you were away.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

She knows it.

“Kaden mentioned the assignment. Nobody who knows Declan knows about this place. I figured I could hide here for a night or two until Kaden called me back.”

She came because I was supposed to be gone.

I do not like that answer nearly as much as I should.

“And tomorrow?”

“I figure something else out.”

“No.”

Her head comes up.

“No?”

“You’re staying.”

Her eyes flash. “That is not your decision.”

“No.”

I hold her gaze.

“It’s yours.”

That takes some of the fight out of her expression.

“You can walk out that door whenever you want. I’m not keeping you here.”

Her shoulders loosen a fraction.

“But until I know who those men are, where they are, and what Declan gave them besides your name and address, this is the safest place you’ve got.”

She watches me.

“And if I decide to leave?”