AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sariah,” he murmured.
It was her beautiful face, full of anguish. A hand grasped her chin and though Sariah looked furious with her dark eyes full of fire, she also looked beaten and disgraced.
The next text down was a book from the normally brief Griff, “Thought you should see these. The story is they almost drowned her before taking these pictures of her and putting the pictures all over the internet with a story about Tyler Whittingham burning her every time she cheated on him.”
Mack sat there, staring at the pictures. Someone had almost drowned Sariah? Someone else had burned her for cheating on him? That part had to be lies. The Sariah he knew was without guile, she’d never cheat on anyone. But if she’d had a boyfriend who had abused her like that … Mack’s fists clenched as venomous thoughts he’d never had before circled in his mind.
He wished he hadn’t seen this. It had been over two months, no, since he’d first seen her last fall almost eight months ago, that he’d been falling in love with Sariah, and hoping she’d tell him about what had happened to her. He didn’t want to find out like this, with partial facts and a sick gut. Why would Griff do this to him? He clenched his fist. This wasn’t Griff’s fault. Griff didn’t relate to things like emotion and love, but he protected and took care of his family. In his mind, he was protecting Mack by making sure he had all the facts.
He couldn’t respond though. He wanted to ask so many questions and that wasn’t fair to Sariah. When she was ready she would tell him the answers. He rolled his neck, wondering when she would ever trust him enough to confide in him. Only two more weeks and he’d be too busy to see her much, especially if she wasn’t willing to relocate to Georgia when she graduated from school in June. Would their relationship fizzle and die? His chest tightened at the thought.
He had this weekend. A weekend with only him and Sariah. His chance to really grow close to her, and pray she’d share her secrets. He didn’t want to force her into sharing. Yet how could he act like he didn’t know now that he knew and would that be worse for their relationship when she found out?
His phone rang. He glanced at it, not wanting to talk to anybody but Sariah and with no clue what he’d say to her. Navy.
He slid it open. “Hey, sis.”
“You okay?” Her usually flippant voice was full of concern.
“Griff told you?”
“I’m sorry. He’s still in Peru. I chatted with him a little bit about you and Sariah. I didn’t know he’d go and find those pictures. He said they were online. Big blow-up about four years ago with some guy who was hoping to get into politics and his girlfriend did that to Sariah while they were dating.”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear this from you. I want her to tell me.”
“How long have you been going to see her every weekend?”
“A couple of months.”
Navy said nothing, which was worse than her telling him how gullible he was. The pictures and disturbing story were making him sick and he knew it was reasonable of his family to think Sariah should have told him her secrets by now, but they didn’t know her like he did. Sariah was feisty, funny, beautiful, and smart, but she was also very private and guarded. If he forced his way past her barriers, it might be the end of their relationship. He couldn’t let that happen, but now that he had some of the information, how could he just act as if everything was normal?
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Sariah and Mack arrived in Crested Butte late Sunday. It was too late for her to play tour guide and reveal how gorgeous this mountain retreat was. They had three days together. She could show him the wonders of the mountains and share all her secrets as well. She’d promised herself that this would be the weekend. She’d finally tell him about her scars, what had happened with Tyler, and how much she loved Mack.
Last night, when he arrived to take her to dinner, and today things had been a little… uncomfortable was the only word she could think of, between them. She wasn’t sure what to pin it on. Her nervousness for him to see her scars and hear her story? It could be possible something was off with Mack. He’d seemed really excited when she agreed Monday night to go away together, but maybe he was nervous also. Maybe he had his own secrets he was nervous to share. She smiled to herself, knowing that probably wasn’t true. Mack was an open book.
They loaded up into the elevator after checking into The Grand Lodge. It was very nice but not over-the-top extravagant. She liked that. Mack was always real and down-to-earth. She knew he had plenty of money and was famous in his own right, but he never acted like that. Even when people recognized him and asked for autographs, he’d simply give them his irresistible grin, sign whatever they wanted, and then turn the conversation around and get to know them a little bit. He never bragged about himself.
They exited the elevator and walked to their suite. Sariah opened the door, as Mack had insisted he carry the luggage. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as they walked in. He’d promised separate bedrooms, and she trusted Mack implicitly, but they’d never been alone like this. The main part of the suite had a nice-sized living room with a kitchenette. She could see two bedrooms, with lamps softly lighting them.
Mack carried her luggage to one and his to the other. He returned to where she stood by the front door.
Smiling, he took the key from her hand and set it on a side table. Then he slid her purse off her shoulder and also set it down. He wrapped both of his hands around hers and asked, “Are you tired?”
She nodded, her throat feeling thick. This was going to be the time to reveal all and she was terrified. She should probably wait until the last night they were together. Then if he wanted some space it wouldn’t be as awkward. That was good reasoning.
He tugged her toward the bedroom where he’d put her suitcase. “You should rest then. I’ve got a lot planned for tomorrow.”
“Do you now?” She forced a smile and berated herself for feeling awkward. This was Mack. He was amazing. She could probably rip down her shirt and push her hair out of the way and he’d tell her how beautiful she was and hold her while she told him the whole awful story. Probably.
She looked up into his blue gaze as he stopped in the doorframe of her room. Not tonight though.
“But I do need at least one good night kiss to get me through until morning.”
She laughed, sliding her arms around his neck. “Do you now?” she asked again.
He grinned and his hands encompassed her lower back. His lips met hers and joy encircled her as he gave her a passionate kiss that displaced all worries from her mind. They’d kissed every Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for the past couple of months, standing next to one of their cars. Something about being alone, in this lovely room, took the intimacy of this kiss to a deeper level.
