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I was sitting on the floor tending to the cut on my shin. I had quickly come to the conclusion that once I cleaned up the blood and patched it with a bandage, I’d need to ice it. My shin was super sensitive to the touch, and a bruise had already started forming.
But at the sound of the knock on the door, all of my movements had ceased.
Because I knew that if I opened my front door, I was going to find Jack standing on the other side.
I didn’t think I could face him. Not yet. Not this soon. Not when I was still horrified about what happened and embarrassed by what I’d done. I knew better, and it still didn’t stop me.
The worst part about it was that this was all on me. I couldn’t even blame it on Jack. I was the one who knew about those women before I slept with him, and in the moment, I chose to forget about them.
Yep.
I had nobody to blame but myself for getting caught up in this mess.
When I made no move to get up off the floor to go and answer the door, I heard another gentle knock.
Before I had the chance to react to that, the door started to creep open.
Shit.
In my hasty retreat from Jack’s cabin back to my own, with all of the emotions moving through me, I forgot to lock my front door. Now, Jack was going to barge right in, and I had no choice but to face this whole situation head on.
“Dakota?” he called out, the door barely opened a crack.
If I didn’t know better, I might have believed the genuine sound of concern laced in his tone.
But I did know better. I knew this was probably just his way of making sure he covered up whatever he needed to cover up, so that he could add another woman to the mix. It just broke my heart to think about all that he’d done to prove to me that he was a good guy.
Of course, that set off a whole slew of questions in my mind, and at the forefront of it all, I wondered if he took care of those other women when they were sick the way he took care of me. I wondered if he cleaned out their chimneys, offered them firewood, and rescued them from bison the way he had with me.
Unfortunately, with my door open that slight crack and Jack standing on the other side, I had no choice but to ignore all that was in head, so I could respond.
“I’m here,” I rasped, unsure if he’d even be able to hear me.
Faster than I expected it to happen, the door swung open. Fear and worry were etched into every handsome feature on Jack’s face. I knew it was all just a front for his grand scheme, but why did I wish so badly for it to be real?
It took Jack a matter of seconds to locate me in the middle of the floor, where he immediately assessed the situation and acted.
He closed the front door to the cabin, moved in my direction, and knelt down in front of me. “What happened to your leg? Are you okay?” he questioned me as he wrapped one of his strong hands around my calf while the other came to the side of where the cut was.
Jack began inspecting my shin, giving me another glimpse of that compassion I’d liked so much about him.
When he attempted to take the cotton from my hand that I’d been using to clean the cut, I yanked my arm away.
He seemed surprised by my reaction and brought his gaze to mine. “Is something wrong?”
The concern was growing by the second, and I had to admit that I was impressed by his ability to do that. Maybe Jack shouldn’t have been living in a cabin in the woods of the Teton Mountains. Maybe he should have been living in Los Angeles working in front of a camera, because there was no question that he was an incredible actor.
“I can’t do this,” I finally rasped.
Jack didn’t hesitate. “It’s okay. I can help get you all patched up. How did you do this to yourself?”
Of course.
Of course, he thought I needed help.
Maybe that was my whole problem. Maybe Jack believed I’d be a willing participant in his game because I was this helpless woman who’d do anything for a man who could handle all of the tough stuff for me.
Well, he was wrong.
