Page 72 of Forbid It

“And I take it we’re still denying we’ve ever met you when your parents call?”

“Who are you again?”

He laughs as he hangs up, promising to text me when he’s on the road.

I slide my phone back in my pocket and rest my arms on the fence, inhaling deeply as I take in my surroundings. We’re in the base of a valley, luscious green mountains and fields sprawling as far as my eyes can see. It’s so peaceful. The crunch of footsteps behind me alerts me to Ian’s arrival, but I can’t peel my eyes off the view.

“Hello, trouble.”

31

ROBBIE

Cassie whirls around so fast her hair whips her in her face. “What the fuck?”

“I could say the same thing to you.”

It took me less than five minutes to wheedle out of my brother where Cassie was, and even less time to load all my shit in my car and drive over the speed limit to get here.

Cassie flicks her hair over her shoulder as she straightens. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m a musician.” She waves her hands in the direction of the barn I barely spared a glance at as I stormed across the gravel. “This is a recording studio.”

I take a deep breath, resting my hands on my hips.

Cassie pushes past me, her body so close to mine it’s easy to put my hand out and catch her hip. My thumb brushes against the hem of her t-shirt, and all I want to do is tug her to me fully. She keeps her head down even as her chin tilts towards me, as if she needs to be as close to me as I do her.

“Is everything okay, Miss Hamilton?” a whiny voice echoes from behind me. I grind my jaw at the interruption. I catch Cassie’s gaze with mine, her green eyes drinking me in.

Cassie shrugs out of my hold. “All good, Ian.” She walks away from me, hips swaying in her jeans as she climbs the gentle incline to where the guy is waiting for her. “Can you show me the cottage now?”

Ian glances over at me and then speaks to Cassie, their conversation too quiet for me to hear.

I wait where she left me, hands on my hips until she disappears into the house behind Ian.

My jaw tightens. How could she just walk away from me like that?

I return to my car, almost ready to climb back inside and drive off. This was a wasted trip. I open the door, eyes catching on the seat, and I’m reminded of Cassie in my passenger seat scrolling through my music and filling the interior with her strawberry scent.

I slam the door and lean back against the car. She’ll come out again, and when she does, we’ll talk. Properly.

I wait for nearly half an hour before the door finally opens. Cassie’s laugh echoes through across the drive as Ian stumbles out into the sunshine. He hands her the key and gestures once to me. Cassie’s reassuring nod tells me all I need to know. I’m not a problem for her.

Ian waves at me as he passes, sliding into a beat up Land Rover and driving away. The cottage door stays open, Cassie propped against the frame like it’s her home, and I’m the annoying mailman taking too long to deliver her parcel. Her eyes narrow, and she slams the door closed.

I settle further back against the car, crossing one leg in front of the other. I have a plane to catch, training to return to on the other end, but I’ll wait right here for—yep, there she is.

The door swings open, and Cassie storms across the gravel. “When are you going to leave?”

She stops a few feet from me, eyes blazing with an avenging fury.

“After we’ve talked.”

“Talked about what?”

“How about why the hell you ran out of my parents house without so much as a goodbye?”