Page 220 of Things Left Unsaid

“Every time. Why do you think I stopped coming into town?”

“I’m so goddamn sorry, Zee.” He runs his free hand through his hair. “Let’s go to Saskatoon?”

“For?”

“A real date.”

I don’t bother hiding my delight as I lean on tiptoe, my intent obvious. As his mouth presses to mine, I sigh into the kiss. One hand settles on his nape so I can hold him closer.

“Theycan hate me.Youcan’t.”

He cups my cheek. “Even when I thought you’d betrayed me, I didn’t hate you.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not. You broke something in me. But you fixed it. Wanna know how?”

“How?”

“By.” He kisses my forehead. “Being.” He kisses the tip of my nose then, against my lips, he rumbles, “You.”

Colt

Freak Me - Another Level

Our depraved date in Pigeon Creek wasn’t exactly a roaring success, so I take her to The Manchester again—it’s one of four hotels we own in Saskatoon.

Mostly, it’s my end destination because neither of us is dressed up enough for a swanky restaurant, and the perk of owning an establishment is you can use it however the hell you want.

She’s not as quiet as I feared she’d be on the ride into the city.

If anything, she’s chatty.

I have a feeling that this whole experience weighs more heavily on me than it does her, but it’s undoubtedly guilt talking.

I perpetrated her treatment, something I’ve witnessed for myself several times by this point. Sure, I gave her an alibi. I didn’t do anything else, though. Didn’t tell the town to leave her alone.

“I heard Ida say you were driving to the border on Saturday,” she says, breaking into my thoughts.

“Yeah. I go every now and then.”

“Why?”

“Ever heard of Dove Bay Sanctuary?”

“I have actually. Some CATSA agent at the airport gave me the number when Tee had this meltdown at security.”

“She thought you needed sanctuary from me?!”

“No. It was a misunderstanding,” she assures me.

“Should hope so. Jesus.”

“What about it?”

“I own it. The sanctuary, I mean.” I clear my throat. “Mrs. Abelman runs it, but I help with some of the more sinister cases. This weekend, there’ll be a drop-off. A politician’s wife managed to get away earlier this week.”

She sits taller in her seat. “Oh, my God! And you’re going to bring her to the ranch?”

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