Page 10 of Wilde Sanctuary

She nodded again, her arms relaxing so she was no longer hugging the cardigan tightly around her. Something loosened in Rhett’s chest as she returned his smile with a small one of her own.

“It’s ok. I can see how it would have looked.” She scoffed and looked away. “Though I’m the last one anyone would have chosen as a femme fatale to seduce you out of your property.”

Rhett’s confusion must have shown when she darted a look at him.

“I mean, look at you,” she waved her hand towards him, “and look at me.” She gestured down her own body.

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed almost immediately by a deafening crack of thunder that made them both flinch. Rain started falling and Rhett moved without thinking, dashing towards the doorway and ushering Charlie inside.

“It’s not safe out here. Let’s get inside,” he said by way of explanation.

Anybody who spent as much time as he did outdoors knew to seek shelter when thunder followed lightning that quickly.

He stooped to unlace his boots and pulled them and his socks off, leaving them by the door, more out of something to do than habit.

“You’re right, you know,” he said. “I’m not good enough for you.”

She blinked, her mouth dropping open. “That’s not what I meant.”

“You have money, Charlie. I don’t.”

She stepped towards him, her eyes shining. “That doesn’t matter to me. It’s never mattered to me.”

Rhett ran a hand through his hair. “You can’t say it doesn’t change things.”

She sighed and turned away, shaking her head slightly. “You never said what you were doing here.”

Rhett straightened and looked around the cabin. The floor plan of the cabin was roughly square, with one room for the living and dining area, shaped like the letter L. In the corner there was a bedroom that held a cast-iron bed big enough for two. Next to it was a small bathroom with doors to both the bedroom and the main area.

Charlie curled up in one of the two overstuffed armchairs, her feet tucked underneath her legs. She must have been reading when he arrived as there was a book face down on the side table next to her chair.

“To be honest, I was coming to kick you out.”

She barked out a laugh. “Considering this cabin is yours, I’m not surprised.”

He scuffed his bare foot on the floor and looked cautiously at her. “Yeah?”

The wind howled outside, rain lashing at the windows.

“Come and sit down. I can’t imagine you’ll be going anywhere for a while.”

Rhett went to the window and peered into the dark. “This storm has come in fast.” His phone beeped, and he pulled it from his pocket, swiping at the screen to open up a weather alert with a frown.

“What’s wrong?”

Rhett took a moment to answer. “I don’t like the idea of driving in this,” he said, his voice gravelly. He stalked to the French doors that open onto the small ocean-facing deck and stepped outside.

Charlie got up to follow him and gasped as she spied the sky over the ocean. Dark and foreboding, and she shivered as the wind picked up further, sending salty spray into the air. Her hair was blown around her face, as the trees were whipped into a frenzy by the violent wind.

“So you wait out the storm out here,” she said. Lightning streaked across the sky. A roll of thunder boomed so loudly she clapped her hands over her ears and shrieked.

Rhett ushered her back inside, pulling the doors shut behind them. He cursed under his breath and raked a hand over his face. “Yeah, I’ll have to wait here.” But he didn’t sound happy about it.

“This cabin has surely weathered lots of storms,” Charlie said.

Rhett barked out a laugh, lifting his head to the ceiling and shaking his head, hands on his hips. “That’s not the problem.”

“Oh?”

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