Page 46 of Always Be an Us

And also, I just want to see her.

When I get to the cottage, I knock on the door but there's no answer. I say her name but there’s no response. Twisting the handle reveals that the door is open, and I walk in, deciding to surprise her. The sound of shallow breathing leads me forword, and just as I turn the corner, I find her.

She's standing, wide-eyed.

Wearing nothing but a towel.

Chapter Thirteen

Emma

Whatever scream or protest I have dies in my mouth.

When the door initially opened, I froze on my way out of the bathroom wondering if it was an intruder.

Break-ins in Laketown are relatively rare. In a small town like this, where everyone knows everyone, it's pretty hard to commit a crime and come away unscathed. With all the gossips we have, the culprit would be caught by midday. Hence, it's a relatively safe town. It wasn’t until I went to school in California that I experienced a break-in.

And that was the single most terrifying event of my life.

It was so traumatizing that I then made the habit of always locking my doors and bolting the windows when I was home. The habit persisted even when I came back the Laketown, but the longer I stayed the more the safety made me complacent.

I started leaving my windows open again, during the summer.

And today, after my refreshing lakeside swim, I completely forgot to lock the door.

And now I am standing here in my towel, defenseless.

Oh God. My heart starts racing. As his steps get closer, I look around frantically for a weapon, but the closest thing is the knife in the kitchen. I would have to cross the living room to get it, which is where he is now. And even if I manage to grab a knife, what am I going to do with it? Stab him?

My scream threatens to drive out of my throat until the intruder walks into the light, and I get a look at him.

And he gets a look at me.

But even as I heave a breath of relief, Declan’s eyes flare with heat.

His gaze slowly trails down my toweled body to the tips of my toes, before coming back up to meet mine. His eyes are ablaze with a passion that grabs me by the throat and doesn’t let go.

"Um…" I swallow and try to breathe through the thickness permeating the air. He takes a few steps towards me, and his eyes seem trained on the part where I clutch my towel to my body.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

He takes another few steps, his masculine pine scent surrounding me, before his eyes meet mine.

I almost wish they didn’t, because the pure, dark hunger in them triggers a heat inside me.

"I came to..." His voice is deeper than normal, and gravelly like he has to force it out. And then when I expect more words from him, they're not forthcoming. He doesn’t seem to know what to say next.

"Apologize," he finally concludes after what seems like hours.

"Apologize?"

"Yeah. For how I….what I said…." He curses and then shuts his eyes. "Sorry. I can’t focus enough to breathe, much less think with you looking like that."

I glance down at my body. The towel completely covers all the important things except maybe the tiniest hint of cleavage. It cuts off mid-thigh too, dampened by the droplets of water on my leg.

Declan shifts slightly, and my eyes travel the short distance from my leg to the giant bulge at the front of his jeans.

I swallow, imagination besieged by dirty thoughts.

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