Page 66 of Hell or High Water

I nodded. “That’s what I meant.”

Her cheeks had a pink blush on them, and I needed to look at something other than her.

“After we eat, why don’t we get out of the cabin? Maybe ride into Jackson, go see a movie,” I suggested, deciding that the stables were still too secluded. I needed people around to keep me from touching her.

“Okay,” she said. “But I need to get some schoolwork done first. And don’t you need to work?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m off until we catch the fucker leaving you notes. My job is to protect you,” I told her while sitting down on the sofa.

She didn’t say anything for a moment, and I fought the concern warring in me to turn around and check on her. I had to keep a line somewhere. Not kissing her was a start, but not worrying over her feelings all the time needed to be part of it.

I heard her pull out a barstool and realized she was going to eat in there. I should let her. No reason to tell her to come sit by me. In that sundress, there was a good chance, before either of us could finish our meal, we’d end up like we had been when Gathe showed up.

Dropping my gaze to my hard dick tenting my sweatpants, I knew if we were going to get out of this cabin today, I had to let her eat at the bar.

Thirty

Montana

For the first time in nineteen years, I wanted my momma’s advice. She hadn’t been able to help me with most life choices, but this time, she’d have known. Momma hadn’t known how to help with homework, but men she’d learned all about the hard way. Especially the ones like Than, who weren’t asking me out on dates, bringing me flowers, and making a big presentation of asking me to be his date to the prom. That was all I knew of the opposite sex. Well, that and Jericho. The father I never had.

I fought the urge to chew on my thumbnail. It was a terrible nervous habit that I’d worked hard to stop, but right now, it was tempting.

Than had treated me…the same and yet different today. He was nice. He made me smile. It was friendly.

But he hadn’t been flirty. That was where I was confused.

This morning, when he had been touching me, he’d looked at me as if I were beautiful. As if things had changed between us.

I knew when a guy was interested in me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t dated. With Than, there was no opening of doors, the truck, or any other we might come upon. He didn’t try and find ways to touch me. He didn’t stare at me with interest in his eyes. In fact, he rarely looked directly at me for long.

Then there was the one thing that had been bugging me. Something that hadn’t occurred to me this morning when he was giving me the best orgasms of my life. He hadn’t kissed me. Not once. Not even a peck on the lips. He’d only been interested in what was between my legs and, well, my boobs.

I glanced at him in the driver’s seat. God, he was sexy. It was effortless for him. He didn’t seem to notice when females turned their heads to watch him walk by, but they did.

At the theater, the girl giving us the popcorn and sodas he’d ordered almost spilled everything as she handed it to him—she had been so nervous. Then our waitress had made sure to only speak to him and batted her lashes at him so much that I was worried that one of the fake, glued-on strips might fall off into our food. He’d sure flirted with them. But me? Nothing. None of those slow, sexy smiles he had to know made panties wet.

Just…friendly.

Sighing, I turned to look back out of my window as we turned left instead of right toward Linc’s. I had thought we were going back to the cabin, but this wasn’t the way.

“Where are we going?” I asked, reluctant to look at him again.

“I need some things from my room,” he replied. “I’m running out of clean boxers.”

“Oh, okay.”

I was curious about where he lived. Everything about him interested me. Which wasn’t a good thing. If I felt like this now, then how would I feel when it was time for me to move on with my life?

The reminder that I would have to leave the cabin in a few months and find my way in life alone caused my stomach to knot up. What if they never found who had left me the letters? He could lie low until I was on my own again. I would have to register for my classes in the fall next month. My last email from them had said to look for that email coming mid-May. The scholarship was my only chance at a college education.

But if it wasn’t safe to live in Monroe…

“Anything you need from the store while we are still out?” he asked.

There were several things I wanted, not necessarily needed, which meant I could do without them. I needed to save my money.

“No, I’m good.”

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