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“That's not the point. We need this creep dealt with before you leave.” Mom speaks sternly.
“Did you call the police?” Scott asks, resting back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the table. It earns him a look from his father that makes him sit up straight again.
“Yes, there’s nothing they can do. Guess they have to wait to find my body before there is,” I bite back sarcastically at him.
“Oh, c’mon, sis. It ain’t that bad. It’s just some loser with a crush on you.”
“Your mother’s right, you shouldn’t be going to California. You should put your trip on hold until all this is dealt with,” Jeremy speaks up, and his words instantly piss me off.
“This isn’t atrip, this is me making alifeformyself. One thatIchoose.”
I get up and storm out of the room, leaving them all to discuss my life and how they think they can manage it. When I get to my room, I close the door and lie on my bed. I close my eyes and try to escape reality by thinking about the man I met in the rain. I remember his dark, alluring eyes and the danger inside them. The way his stubble scratched my skin, and his fingers imprinted into my flesh, and as I let my fingers explore my body, imagining they belong to him, I let my mind replay the day that changed everything.
“This is where you’re staying?” The guy I bumped into in the street pulls us to a stop as I lead him toward the revolving door of the Four Seasons.
“Yeah, this is where I’m staying.” I shrug, wondering what the problem is.
“They even gonna let me in here?” He looks down at himself, reminding me of the fact that this is crazy. I don’t know this guy; he could be a murdering psychopath for all I know. He’s tall and broad, with huge tattooed hands that don’t look work-shy, and despite the danger in his eyes, when I look deep enough, I see kindness too.
“Of course, they will.” I drag him through the door, out of the rain, and into the hotel foyer. Soaked through to his skin, the huge brute of a man almost looks vulnerable as he stares up at the crystal chandeliers and takes in the ornate decor. And luckily, he’s far too intrigued by it all to notice the stares we’re attracting.
“Come on.” I take his hand again, dragging him into the elevator, and before the doors have even closed, I grab the front of his hoodie and bravely pull him back onto my lips.
His big, strong hands crush into my ass-cheeks as he holds me tight to his body, and as our tongues dance around each other’s, I feel the adrenaline pumping around my body. I came to this city looking for adventure. I’ve been here almost a week and seen every landmark. I’ve visited the Louvre and admired some of the finest art the world has to offer. But this, right here, is the adventure I never knew I was looking for.
The elevator doors open, and the strange man I’m about to take to my room lifts me off my feet and curls my legs around his hips so he can carry me.
“Room number?” He growls into my mouth as he steps out onto the corridor.
“604,” I manage, pressing kisses along his stubbled jaw and loving the element of danger that vibes from him.
“Keycard?” When we reach the door, he slams my body hard against it, and I reach inside my purse and fumble around. I finally locate it and keep one arm anchored around his neck while I reach behind me to put it in the slot.
The guy keeps a firm grip on me as he carries me inside, and I gasp when he throws me onto the mattress and stares down at me. I watch him lift the hoodie he’s wearing over his head, and when I lay back, he throws it at the floor with a wet thud, then crawls his huge frame over my body and presses his lips back onto mine.
“Wait.” I press my palm into his chest to hold him off. “I don’t usually do this. I…I don’t know your name, and this is crazy.” I contradict myself when I stop talking and kiss him again. “I just don’t want you to think I’m—”
“I ain’t thinkin’ ‘bout anything other than bein’ inside ya.” He tells me in that low, deep voice that hums in my chest, and when his mouth moves over my neck and lowers down my body, I look up at the ceiling and wonder how the hell I got here. I’m not a spontaneous person. I dated the same guy for three years because I was too scared of hurting his feelings to break up with him, and in the end, it turned out he was cheating on me.
I came here to get over that mess, and this hot stranger whose head is now between my thighs seems to be the perfect distraction.
I hear a noise coming from my balcony, and as I turn my head, I see the curtain move. Quickly, I remove my hand from the waistband of my yoga pants and stand up to check it out. There’s no one there when I pull back the curtain, and when I crouch down and pick up the piece of paper that’s on the floor, I gasp in horror. It’s a drawing of a girl with dark hair like mine. She's hanging from a tree branch with a rope around her neck, and there’s a black hole where her heart should be. More disturbingly, there's blood dripping from between her legs and a bloody knife on the ground by her feet. I feel my whole body start to shake, and as much as I want to scream, I know Mom can’t find out about this. It’ll freak her out even more about me leaving. I screw up the drawing and toss it at the wastepaper basket, and when I hear that low, gravelly voice in my head again, I know exactly what I have to do.
“You ever find yourself in trouble, Princess, you come find me in Springdale, Utah.”
It wasn’t just the buzz of excitement I felt when I was around him, I remember the way the world shut out, and how safe I felt. Now feels like the right time for me to be spontaneous again, and as I drag the suitcase from under my bed and start to pack, I’ve only got one destination in mind…Springdale.
“Time to celebrate,” Declan slaps me on the back as we step into the clubhouse. Mia’s squeal deafens us all as she runs for Jekyll, throwing herself at him and anchoring her legs tight around his body.
“Get a room,” Dec utters under his breath as his sister kisses the hell out of our prospect’s face. I shake my head and laugh as I head over to the bar to get a drink.
“How did it go?” Wendy pops the cap on a beer before placing it in front of me.
“About as well as it could,” I keep it brief; Wendy’s still pretty new around here and remains at a need-to-know-only status.
I look across to Levi and Beth, he’s got her pulled onto his lap and is kissing her neck, and I wonder what it might be like to have someone to come home to after a run, the way him and Jekyll do.
We’ve just got back from Colorado, and there,everyoneseems to be settled down. Some brothers have even started up families.
