Page 24 of Protecting Her Secrets

If I didn’t have a metaphorical gun to my head, I’d leave him in a heartbeat. Since that’s not possible, I’ll stick to my plan. If only Mother Nature could get with the program because Klutch won’t allow me to be gone much longer. A shiver runs down myspine thinking about the threats he spewed after I told him I was snowed in. Apparently, he’s embarrassed his bride-to-be isn’t at his side so he can show me off. It’s all about image to him; he wants everyone to envy him and fear him in equal measure.

I must’ve zoned out for too long because the next thing I know, Walker is in front of me, his hands on my elbows as he crouches to get my attention. “Where’d you go, Sunny?” he asks, using his old nickname for me. It’s not very original, but I loved it because he was the only one who called me that. “You okay?”

“Fine,” I say, even though my hands are shaking and dread has settled over me like a thick blanket, suffocating and dark.

“No, you’re not. Come sit down.” With a hand on my lower back, he leads me to the ugly recliner. I don’t know why he keeps insisting I sit on this thing. Once I’m sitting, he lowers himself onto the ottoman and spreads his legs wide, caging my knees. His warm, calloused hands rest on my outer thighs. If I were paying attention, I’d notice the zing of attraction from his touch, but I’m too lost in my own thoughts to fully appreciate the situation. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s obviously something big going on here. You’re scared, and the longer you have to be here, the more afraid you become. Combined with your reaction to those bruises I saw, along with everything I know about yourfiancé”—he spits the word like a curse—“it doesn’t take a genius to know what’s going on here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Against my will, tears leak from the corners of my eyes, and my nose starts to run.

“Bullshit. Quit the lying and tell me.”

What can I even say? The truth?My dad died and left the only thing I love in this world, my house, to Klutch, and the only way I can get it back is if I follow through with this sham of a marriage.There’s no good way to spin it to makehim understand that if I walked away, all my memories of Mom would be gone. All the times we danced in the kitchen making dinner, ran through the sprinklers in the yard on hot summer days, put together puzzles on the coffee table as we watched movies from the eighties—all of that will be gone. And then there were the final days when a hospital bed took the place of the dining room table, and I sat by her side, soaking up every last word of wisdom she had for me before she died.

How can I possibly walk away from that?

I draw in a breath, only to realize there’s no air in the room. Pain shoots through my chest, and my vision narrows to pinpoints. My head doesn’t feel like it’s attached to my head, and holy shit, I can’t breathe. I’m vaguely aware of someone calling my name, but it’s echoey and distant. I can only vaguely hear over the loud gasping sound I make each time I try to suck in some oxygen. I claw at my chest and throat, desperate for a full breath until, without warning, darkness takes over, and I fade into nothingness.

“Sky! Fuck, fuck, fuck. Sweetheart, snap out of it, please! Shit.”

Is that Walker? He sounds so worried and scared. I wonder why. Maybe I can help. Blinking my eyes open, I see a vaulted ceiling with exposed wooden beams and a wagon wheel chandelier that has Edison lights hanging from it. It should be ugly, but it’s actually kind of cool.

“There you go. Open those beautiful eyes for me. You know what a sucker I am for your green eyes. How many times did you get what you want just by giving me a look? Do you remember?”

I smile faintly because I do remember. When he wanted pizza but I wanted Thai, I’d bat my lashes at him a few times and an hour later, I was eating Pad Thai. It worked with movies too.

“That’s it. Just like that. Now, can you look at me?” he asks.

I turn my head, and his look of concern has me worried. “What’s wrong?”

“You just passed out. Jesus, I thought you were dying and we’re up here on this hill with no way to get down.” He runs a hand through his already mussed hair, letting me know it’s not the first time he has done it today.

“Passed out?” I’m somehow on the sofa with him kneeling in front of me. I sit up, and a damp washcloth falls off my forehead and lands on my lap. “Why would I pass out?”

Walker slides onto the sofa behind me and hefts me onto his lap as if I weigh nothing, holding me as if I’m the most precious thing in the world to him. “I don’t know, but I’ve never been more scared in all my life. Has this ever happened before?”

“No.” I rest my head on his shoulder, still feeling a little woozy and unsure.

“Don’t you ever fucking do that again.” His tone has a threatening edge that would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t still confused and disoriented. He pushes my unruly curls off my face. “I think it was a panic attack.”

Then I remember what we were talking about right before I lost consciousness. Fuck, I need to figure out how to get off this mountain. There has to be someone with a vehicle that can get up here. I refuse to believe I’m stuck because I refuse to accept the consequences of being found out. I move to stand, but he tightens his hold on me, making it impossible to get away.

“Just hang on a minute. You’re still shaking like a leaf, and your breaths are too shallow.” Because I’m no match for his mountain man muscles, he easily turns me until I’m straddling his thighs, our pelvises an appropriate distance away for this to not be sexual. His large paws cup my face and force me to look at him. “Tell me the truth: did he hurt you? Are you in danger?”

Instead of answering, I try to change the subject. “This is a small town, right? So maybe you know someone who has a snowmobile or one of those big plows to come get me?”

He shakes his head, his brows pinched together in concern. This close to him, I can see tiny freckles across the bridge of his nose that his time out in the sun has given him and the nearly imperceptible gold flakes in his brown eyes. God, he’s handsome. “No, there’s no way off until this system moves out.”

His words register, and my mind dismisses the man in front of me, trying to think up a plan B. It’s not like he can find me anyway, right? That’s not a good plan though, because if I don’t get back soon, he’ll start digging. His first stop will be to Dee, and his interrogation tactics will include threats to her family. She won’t hesitate to spill all my secrets, and I wouldn’t even be upset. Her family is more important than my lies.

“Goddamn it, Sky. Tell me what’s going on or I swear to God, the second we can leave this house, I’ll follow you to Bakersfield to find out for myself.”

I search his eyes for any hint of a lie, finding none. Having Walker on Klutch’s home turf would be far worse than him coming here, which means I have to tell him something. “It’s no big deal. It’s just that I didn’t tell Klutch I was married, so he doesn’t know I’m here to have you sign the papers.”

Without missing a beat, he asks the one question I can’t answer. “What will he do if he finds out?” Whatever he sees in my expression tells him all he needs to know as his hands drop to my bare thighs, which reminds me I don’t have pants or panties on.

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