Page 15 of Filthy and Dirty with my Captors

“The phones.”

“So, you don’t have a phone?”

He shakes his head. “Not a smart one. I have a phone for emergencies that I keep in my truck. If you need to talk to me, you’re calling my landline.”

A crow lands on a nearby branch and caws as though he’s trying to warn me of something.Is it a red flag when a grown man doesn’t carry a cell phone?Apparently, the crow thinks so.

“What about you? What do you do for work?” Well, we’re definitely making small talk. I think this is what I wanted.

“I ran a flower shop with my friend for a while. Now, I work as a barista, but I want to go to nursing school and live on a little farm. I always thought I’d be so much further by now.” I shake my head. “I guess that’s the way the world goes.”

“Further how?”

“Further like I’d be married with a couple of kids, a good job, a few chickens.”

“Aren’t you like… in your mid-twenties?” His forehead wrinkles as he talks.

Why do we keep talking about my age?“Yeah.”

“You’ve still got plenty of time. I didn’t have my shit together until I was over thirty. Even then, it’s a work in progress. That’s the thing about life. It twists and turns then gives you things you didn’t think you needed.”

I brush back a strand of hair as a breeze blows through. “You talk like I still have a life after this.”

“Youmost definitelyhave a life after this. Zee loves you. He’s protecting you from this whole thing.”

My stomach clenches as my gaze meets Hawk’s. I read about guys like this on the message boards before I signed up forFantasy Driver.The kind of guys who think they know you, who fall in love before they even meet you. “Who’s Zee? How does he love me? You can tell me. I’m not going to say anything.”

“Look, I already said too much. He’s not gonna hurt you. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

“So, Zee wanted me for himself. Is that it? He was outbid, and he wanted me for himself, so he talked you and Moose into kidnapping me? And you,” I turn toward Hawk, “you…were somehow convinced that taking a woman against her will was a good idea?”

“It’s not like that. Zee knows,” Hawk pauses as though he was about to say something he’d regret, “you’re going to be safe.”

Stomach tight, I roll my eyes and step forward without looking and catch my foot on the root of a tree. Hawk grabs for my arm, but I’m already on the ground with a sharp stick piercing through my skin.

Dear Lord, I’m not sure I could be any more idiotic.

I glance up at the handsome man in front of me, then down at my leg that’s currently dripping with blood and clear fluids.Maybe I can use this in my favor.

“Shit!” He bends down next to me, closing in on my space, his strong shoulders focused on my knee where the scrape is the worst. “Don’t move, okay?”

I want to be a nurse, but I have no official training, and though I know how to clean the cut and cover it, I don’t know much else. Plus, this thing is huge. I’d guess it’s at least three inches across and the swelling is out of control.

Hawk unscrews the cap on the water bottle from his backpack, and spills water over the top of the gash until the debris is flushing clear from the mark, then he wraps his shirtaround the bleeding center and ties the knot tight before looking toward me.

His hand lands on the side of my face and he brushes away a strand of hair. “How bad does it hurt? One to ten.”

I don’t know what’s happening out here, but the way he looks at me, the gentle way he touches me, the way he jumped into action when I was hurt, it’s…nice.He’s big and strong and kind of sweet.

“Umm… it’s actually not so bad right now. Maybe like a four.”

He sighs and wraps his big hand around the shirt, where blood is soaking through at a rather quick pace. “I think you might be in shock. The adrenaline is probably pumping right now. I’m going to carry you back to the farm, okay?”

“How do you know all that?”

“Know what?”

“Know about the adrenaline thing, how to wrap my cut…”

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