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Gage walks away and gets on his radio, calling for some more help, including a bomb tech. Wildwood isn’t big so the bomb tech is coming from the neighboring town of Ashwood, it’s like our sister city.
Cassidy’s jaw drops open. She waves a slim hand at Gage’s pacing figure. “Surely he’s not serious.”
I shrug but I know he is. He’s serious and so is the possibility that that car might have more than one surprise to it.
Better to be safe than sorry. I’ve sure as hell dealt with what happens when you’re not and I don’t care to do it again.
CHAPTER6
CASSIDY
I glanceover at Franklin and wonder what he’s thinking. Probably that I’m a serious pain in the ass and he wishes that he didn’t move in next to me.
But he doesn’t say that. Instead he just silently paces beside me, his bright greenish blue eyes watching, darting around to light on everything around us, keeping an eye on me and our close vicinity like his life depends on it. Which I shouldn’t say bad things about. Franklin has been an absolute sweetheart to help me out. But I can’t bury him in my problems which seem to get bigger and meaner everyday.
All of them tied to the horrible disaster I made of my love life.
“So why did you move to Wildwood, Franklin?”
His blue eyes slew towards me and he smiles. “It’s a nice place. Quiet.”
“That’s not an answer! Come on. Tell me what brought you here. I’ve managed to get you involved in my issues. It will make me feel less naked if you tell me something as well.”
Groaning, Franklin looks over at me. “You really don’t have boundaries.”
“I don’t. It’s part of my charm,” I giggle.
He shoots me an answering smile. “Yeah, I can see that.”
I glance over at him and see his smile fade. “I can’t believe that Ash is messing with me here. The man doesn’t even like me! I swear he wanted out but now that he is, he doesn’t seem to want to go.”
“He’s a greedy, selfish bastard. He doesn’t want you but he doesn’t want anyone else to have you either. He’s a jerk. They don’t have to make sense and actually they usually don’t.”
He is a jerk and wants to mess with me but yet wants to be able to have another woman in other words.
A scuttling noise off to the left makes my head whip around with a gasp.
Franklin touches my hand gently. “Hey, trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Nodding my head, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. For some reason, I trust this giant of a man to keep me safe. To take care of me. It’s been a long time since anyone has taken care of me. I’m used to dealing with my own shit.
His mussed hair is wild around his head and my fingers itch to see what it feels like. Kind of like the well-trimmed beard that he has. It’s dark and close to his face, carefully groomed so that he looks less like a mountain man and more like a model. The dark hair frames his very kissable full lips and it makes me curious what it would feel like if he kissed me. His face is tanned and his eyes are such a bright green-blue that it’s like staring at a laser looking into his eyes, almost painful to see they’re so bright. The whole package is more like a fallen angel than a mountain man or even an ex-detective. If I wasn’t so dead-set against men right now, I’d probably be all over the man. Except I don’t think he’s interested.
His eyes never stray below my own face and he doesn’t really touch me except to make sure that I don’t fall. His hand catches my elbow when I trip over something but yet as soon as I’m steady on my feet, he backs off.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my cheeks reddening when I think about how obvious I’m being.
At least to me. Maybe to anyone else watching. Not Franklin though.
The sky is darkening and shadows are creeping closer to us. My heart starts to beat harder. I feel…wrong, somehow. I feel like there’s an animal watching me. A predator that wants to hurt me.
Franklin seems calm on the outside but I notice his eyes sharpening, his shoulders straightening just a little bit more.
“Franklin?” I whisper, my heart skipping a beat when I hear something rustling beside the road. Even though I squint, I can’t see what it is.
“It’s fine,” he whispers out of the side of his mouth. “Just keep walking.” His hand slips down and I see that he’s got his phone in his hand.
My brow crinkles.What the hell is a phone gonna do if something’s hiding out there?
