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“We’re on our way to my cabin in Lost Hills.”
“Have you lost your mind?”She screeches, vibrating with rage. “We have work to do. And I did not agree to go out of town with you. Who the hell do you think you are?”
Wincing, I try to keep my head. I hold up my hand. “Now hold on, Daisy, sweetheart…”
“Don’t fucking call me sweetheart,” she growls. “I absolutely refuse to let you call me that.”
“Fine. Daisy, I have a friend who’s on the police force. He and his partner were keeping an eye on your ex. Unfortunately, we think he made them and he snuck out of his hotel room last night. We don’t have a clue where he is and we decided it would be better if you went underground for a little bit. Just for awhile. Until we figure out where he is.”
She sits up straight and I swear it looks like her back could break, she’s so stiff. “You shouldn’t have decided all that stuff without me being involved. I’m the party that could be hurt here.”
I nod. “I know. That’s why we decided to do it this way. You needed to get away quickly. We couldn’t wait for you to see reason.”
Her cold green eyes slew to me and I shiver when I see the lack of any emotion in her eyes.
“Even if I decided to do nothing, you had no right to take that decision away from me. It’s my decision. I’ve been dealing with shit like that for years. It’s my choice what I choose to do with my future. If I want to find him, walk up to him and slap him on the streets that’s my choice.”
I take a deep breath, forcing down the panic I’m starting to feel. She’s lumping me in with her ex. I can feel it. I took her choice away from her. Pushed her into making a move that maybe she didn’t want to make. And that might be fatal for our relationship before it even starts.
“I didn’t mean to force you to do something you weren’t ready for. I just wanted to keep you safe.”
She glares at me. Her hand slices the air. “Don’t kid yourself, Mr. McKnight. You totally did mean to force me to do what you wanted me to do.”
“I’m sorry, Daisy. I really am. I just couldn’t bear for him to hurt you. I-I…” I close my eyes and gulp a swallow. “I cannot let you get hurt. Even if you’re so pissed at me that you never speak to me again, I cannot let you get hurt. It would fucking break me.”
Her eyes soften and then she looks away and sighs. “When we get where we’re going, I’ll call someone to come get me. I assume that your driver is not going to take me back.”
“No.” I shake my head, struggling to breathe. She can’t breathe. I can’t bear it.
“Right. So I’ll call a service myself. I will not be forced to do things against my will ever again.”
Nodding, I feel a wave of misery wash over me. If she leaves tonight after we get there, there’s no way she’ll ever speak to me again. She might even quit.
We travel the next hour in uncomfortable silence. There’s an almost palpable air of anger and fear in the backseat of that car.
When we finally pull up to the front of my cabin, I step out quickly and come around to open her door and help her out. There’s a rumble over the mountain and I glance up, surprised to see that there are dark, steely clouds moving in over top of us.
Daisy glances up and groans. “Please tell me that this doesn’t mean I can’t get out of here.”
I force myself not to smile because I know if I do, she’ll kick my ass for sure.
“Ummm. I think that nobody is going to come up here in the dark during a storm to pick up a fare.”
She growls under her breath. “Ridiculous. I can’t believe that you got me up here by kidnapping me and now I can’t even leave because of a fucking storm.”
She stomps up to the front of the house and waits at the door, tapping the tip of her high heel.
I don’t rush. Just grab the suitcases out of the back and then mumble to Max that he might want to get the hell out of here before she comes to enough to think of asking him to take her.
“Come on in, Daisy.” I push the key into the lock and open the door, waving her through first. She stops just inside the doorway and eyes me warily, her eyes dark and shrewd.
“I promise, I’m not going to push you into anything else, Daisy. You’re completely safe with me.”
She huffs out a breath and then steps around me, careful to keep every inch of her skin away from me. I follow her in and shut the door behind me. She’s turning in the room, her eyes big and wide, surprised.
“This is beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
