Page 78 of Smolder

When she lifted her eyes back to meet mine, the emotion in them struck a chord deep in my soul.

“For making me feel like I’m worth something. That … that I deserve to be wanted for more than just how I look.”

I set the brush down and held out my hand to her. “Come here.”

She stood, and I took her hand to pull her onto my lap.

“Baby, you’ve got a face and body that can stop fucking traffic. But that wasn’t why I watched you that night. It was the intelligence shining in those eyes of yours. You were crafty and cunning and damn adorable, all at the same time. I couldn’t look away. Anyone who doesn’t see all that, who doesn’t cherish the beauty of the wildly ingenious, loyal, determined woman that you are, doesn’t deserve to know you. I’ll also happily ki—uh, cause pain to the bastards who don’t treat you the way you deserve.”

Her eyes were watery as she looked from my chest to my face. A small smile tugged on her lips. “That was the sweetest, nicest thing anyone had ever said to me … and then you had to threaten to maim and torture.”

I ran my hand up her back. “Eh, no one is perfect.”

She let out a small giggle, then a full-blown laugh before laying her head back on my shoulder. “I don’t expect perfection, just don’t hurt anyone for me, okay?”

A little too late for that, but at least I hadn’t killed her father.

•Thirty •

“What is it you need, baby?”

Royal

Every day that passed with just me and Sebastian in that cabin, I lost a little more hold on my good sense, and my self-preservation had gone to hell. It was impossible not to fall for a man who said all the things I’d always needed to hear. Slowly, he was healing the damage my father had caused me, growing up. Giving me the belief in myself that I was worth being loved. That I was someone to be proud of, not hidden away and embarrassed, like the way Merce had made me feel.

When Sebastian watched me across the room, even if I wasn’t looking at him, I’d feel it, and my heart would start to race. Stopping myself from going to him and curling up in his lap was something I’d just given up on. He didn’t seem to mind me doing it; in fact, he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.

He’d begun reading to me while I sat in his lap. Listening to his deep Southern drawl was my new favorite pastime. Scratch that. It was my second favorite. Sex with Sebastian was my first. That was something else I couldn’t get enough of, and thankfully, he seemed to be as needy for me as I was for him.

Our days went by much quicker than I’d expected, and by the fourth day, I was starting to dread the end, although I knew it had to come. I stood at the window, looking out over the vast land outside, while Sebastian brought wood onto the small, covered porch from a shed that was out back. He’d said the thick, dense clouds meant the first snow was coming. He doubted it would be bad, but the electricity often went out, and there was only so much fuel for the generator. He hadn’t considered it could snow.

The idea of getting snowed in so we could stay longer was appealing, but then there was Grams. If it wasn’t for my worry about her, I’d not ever want to leave. Her memory might be going, but she would remember me and wonder where I had gone. Where Dad had gone.

Sebastian stopped and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a phone. It wasn’t his iPhone, but I hadn’t realized he had any phone at all. Why had he not told me?

His eyes swung to the house, and I stood there as his gaze locked with mine. The tense stance of his body and the way his jaw was set were signs he was angry. With me? I hadn’t done anything but find out he’d not told me he had a phone.

He started toward the house, and I stepped back away from the window, crossing my arms over my chest, hating this feeling. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was something he hadn’t told me, which meant he didn’t trust me.

The door swung open, and he scanned the area until he found me. Then, he closed the door behind him, shrugging off his coat and taking off his boots, not looking away from me. I couldn’t read his body language, but I knew it wasn’t what I had gotten used to this week with him.

When he began stalking toward me, I lifted my chin in the only defiance I could muster. “You have a phone.”

He stopped, his brows drawing together. “Did you think I wouldn’t have some form of communication? It’s a burner phone, and I don’t use it much, but I need it to check on things. Like your Grams.”

Honestly, at some point in the midst of our sex and reading time and me falling in love with him, I hadn’t considered he might need or have a phone. I had been living for the next moment I could be close to him. Just admitting it made me feel pathetic.

“You didn’t tell me,” I pointed out.

He tilted his head to the side, just an inch. “I assumed you knew. What’s wrong? It can’t be the phone?”

He reached out to brush my hair back, then cupped my cheek, which he did a lot. It made me feel special. I soaked it up like the emotionally hungry female I hadn’t known I was. Not until him.

“Who called you just now?” I asked.

The tic in his jaw worried me. Had he gotten bad news? Was it my dad?

“They’re closing in on us,” he said. “Not sure how much time we have left.”

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