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“He's fine. He doesn't seem sure I can do this. I guess he’s right to be worried.”
Bennet tutted. He was so close that one of his arms looped over my shoulders. It was nearly a hug. “Younger brothers are always like that. Of course you can do it. I'm just not letting you do it alone. There’s a difference. I want in, and you’re going to let me. Now, what's up with the generator?”
I shook my head, feeling weirdly strengthened by his words. An irrational laugh born of mild hysteria, confusion, lust, and relief bubbled out of my mouth. “I don't know. I need to look at it, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing.” The confession felt good.
Bennet’s voice was a rumble beneath my ear. “Let me have a look. You go inside.”
I nodded numbly. “Okay.” I felt like I could cry for a second. Why was I so upset?
Oh, yeah.
Because I'd failed. And now, Ben had caught me and he’d probably drag me back for the trial. I go to jail and Benji will be home alone with the monster who shared his blood and turn out just like him one day. Yeah, that was why.
“Laura.” Bennett’s voice suddenly broke me from my misery. His hand on my chin moved to cup my face. As he ran a thumb over the apple of my cheek, it felt oddly tender. And I leaned into it. It felt so good to be touched with something other than hate.
“It’ll be okay. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but everything will be okay,” Bennet said quietly. I stifled a sudden sob at his words. How could he say that? He didn't know. He didn't know anything. Yet, when he said it, I could nearly believe it.
CHAPTER12
Bennet
Getting the cabin fixed up wasn't too hard a job. I helped Benji bring in some dried wood, and we set a fire. The young kid’s excitement in his eyes and seeing the real-life dancing flames made Laura smile, which was good. She needed to smile because the look on her face was breaking my heart.
The generator started working again with fiddling, and soon enough, the cabin felt homey. I looked around the place, wondering where the hell Laura Lavin had figured to find this place from.
“So you're going to stay with us?” Benji asked, bouncing at my elbow. The boy looked energetic and excited. I resisted the urge to total his hair. But he was cute.
“Sure am. I'm going to help you and your sister figure all this out,” I told him. Benji beamed, and Laura snorted from the kitchen.
“You don't have to look so pleased. I could have done it too,” she called to her younger brother, who took absolutely no notice. He grabbed a comic book from the backpack on the table and went to read it beside the fire.
I wandered over to Laura. She'd been busy scrubbing down all the surfaces with some kind of lemony mixture, and the clean citrus scent filled the air. The cabin was really scrubbing up, and it felt good. Mostly, it felt good to be here with her.
When she'd finished cleaning, she threw down her rag and put her hands to her hips, chewing her lip.
“We don't have much in the way of dinner,” she said, opening the cupboard and staring hard at some tins inside. “Unless you fancy beans.”
“I brought some stuff.” I took the huge army backpack from the ground and set it on a chair. I pulled out a loaf of bread, some ham and cheese, and a jar of olives. Laura raised an eyebrow at me.
“I didn’t know what you and Benji liked,” I muttered, trying to explain my food fail. The truth was, I’d eaten whatever was on hand for as long as I could remember. I wasn’t a gourmet cook, and most of the time, it was hard to remember what regular folk thought of as suitable food. She smiled, and it felt like the sun came up and shone right on me.
“It’s great. We can figure out the tins tomorrow. Beans are postponed till breakfast,” she said, gathering the bread and ham up. I watched her prepare sandwiches with olives on the side, my heart thumping oddly in my chest. This woman should be paralyzed by fear. She should be a mess, trying to deal with all the uncertainty in her life, and yet, here she was, surviving, coping, being strong as hell. I respected that strength. I liked it. A lot.
I shifted at the counter where I was taking stock of what the cabin had to offer, at Laura’s request. My thoughts around this woman were moving quickly beyond interest and attraction and headlong into obsession. Following her out here, letting her escape so she could lead us even further from civilization? None of that was in my job description, but I hadn’t hesitated. I should drag Laura Lavin home, keep her prisoner in her stepfather’s home, and make sure she made her court date. That was what Sigma Squad Bail Bonds expected of me, what Emily, Diesel, Hunter, and Troy expected, and all the good people I worked with. I was endangering my business and their livelihoods right now, but I couldn’t seem to make myself care. Not more than I cared about being here, taking care of Laura right now. She had crowded out every other thought in my head.
“So, you’re a bounty hunter like the guys on tv? Do you have a gun?” Benji asked over our picnic dinner.
“I have a gun, but I’m nothing like the guys on tv. I’m the real deal, kid,” I teased him, giving him a grin.
“Cool. Wait, does that mean that you’re here to catch Laura?” Benji asked, his eyes going wide.
I shook my head. “Not catch. To help her. I’m going to help both of you,” I told him. Benji nodded and then broke into an enormous yawn. “I think it’s time for you to hit the hay. It’s been a long day.”
Benji stood up, and his sister urged him through to the smallest bedroom. The kid had barely gotten any sleep last night, while I was busy cornering his sister in the bathroom and trying to work out to fuck her against the sink without making a noise.
Had that only been last night? Shit, Benji wasn’t the only tired one, but I’d survived on less sleep before. Tonight, I had a score to settle with Laura, and she wasn’t sleeping before we’d solved it. Age gap, client relationship, woman on the brink of jail. I didn’t care about any of that. My hands felt an ownership over this woman as soon as I touched her. Exerting that claim was all I cared about. Everything else could wait.
CHAPTER13
