Page 38 of Exit Strategy

She felt so small, and so warm against me.

14

Callie…

I woke with a soft jolt as we rolled to a stop along a gravel drive. I blinked and stared up at a large cabin in slight confusion, then fright as I wondered if I had lost time. I could have sworn Kurt had said we had at least two more days before we reached his cabin and yet, here it seemed, we were.

“Is this it?” I blurted in surprise.

“What?” he asked, hand on the inside doorhandle of his truck.

“Your cabin?” I asked, still fuzzy from my restless sleep. It was hard napping in the truck. While I slept, it was far from restful.

Kurt chuckled. “Ah, no… afraid my place isn’t half as nice as this.”

“Oh,” I murmured, vaguely disappointed. I just wanted to be done. The miles wore on me, and I just wanted to know what it was to be still.

“Callie?”

“Hmm?” I asked, dragging my eyes from the looming cabin outside the windshield.

“You alright, Love?”

“Huh?” It took me a half second to process his question. “Oh, yeah! I’m just tired is all. Ready to be still.”

“I see.” His gaze flicked over my face, his blue eyes deep with concern, and I tried a wan smile. His brow crushed down under the weight of a fresh surge of worry, and I leaned back against the bench seat.

“I’m alright, Kurt,” I said gently. “I promise.”

“Wait right there,” he said, popping open his door. A wave of humid air, like from the inside of…shit,what do you call that thing? Um… the glass house thing that you grow plants in.Greenhouse!Yes, humid air scented with green and growing things pushed into the cab of the truck along with frog and insect song. The warmth and natural music were just about instantly soothing to the soul.

I closed my eyes and listened as he left his door open and came around to get mine. It was something he did, insisting on getting my door for me, standing close, walking with me to and from anyplace we happened to stop or be, keeping me in the shadow, the shelter, of his much larger frame.

Instead of intimidating or imposing like it had been with Arik, it was something almost completely different with Kurt.

Intent, I believe, had everything to do with it.

He put a gentle palm to the small of my back and guided me to the door downstairs. Entering a code into the lockbox hanging from the door’s knob, he retrieved the keys to let us in.

The cabin was fancy, large, and had a wraparound porch and a balcony above it that wrapped around too.

“A nice change from roadside motels,” I murmured as he closed the door behind us. Vaulted ceilings awaited us, a large river rock fireplace with the horns of some great beast mounted above it. The light hanging over the living space was likewise a tangle of antlers, and it was all very rustic chic.

“I think we could both use a real bed tonight rather than a concrete slab, yeah?”

I groaned and said, “Absolutely, you absolute gem of a man.”

“You can have your own room if you like,” he said casually, and I hesitated.

“Do I have to?” I asked softly. “I mean, is that whatyouwant?”

Kurt searched my face and I felt like anxiety radiated off of me with an almost radioactive glow. I don’t think I could or would blame him for wanting a break from me. I chewed my bottom lip with nervousness, and he reached out, head slightly cocked and gently used the pad of his thumb to pull my lip from between my teeth, slightly grazing my chin with a light touch that almost made me shiver.

“We can both take the master suite,” he said gently.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

He broke eye contact with me and said, “Go get comfortable, Love. I’ll bring in your things.”

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