Page 10 of Silent Threat
Her root beer–colored eyes widened, opening a window to a deep darkness that looked uncomfortably similar to his own cave of horrors. Pain flashed through her gaze. For a second, her serene expression turned ...stricken.
Cole felt as if he’d opened the door to a room he wasn’t prepared to enter. There was something deep and raw here, something that maybe scared him a little and scared her a lot. So he slammed the door shut and backed away. He didn’t know her. He didn’t want to know her.
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” she said at last. “And there’s nothing wrong with you.” She paused before asking, “Do you think there is something wrong with you?”
He shot her a warning look. “You can tell me about your trees, but stay out of my head.”
He went back to studying her. She was less complicated on the outside than on the inside.
Her only jewelry was a leather string tied around her slim ankle, decorated with seven golden brown beads that matched her eyes. If she was going for the earth-mother look, she’d nailed it.A born tree hugger.Cole was surprised her T-shirt didn’t sayMAKELOVENOTWAR.
If she brought up the subject, he was willing to do his part. His right arm and his ears might have quit, but his dick still worked. Even, apparently, when the woman was delusional.
The nonsense she could say straight-faced ...Our bodies absorb negative electrons from the earth through the bottoms of our feet.If she thought he was going to buy any of the smoke she was blowing up his ass, she was going to be tragically disappointed.
“I’m not here to mess with you,” she said. “Nobody at Hope Hill is. We’re here to help.”
“You got a time machine?”
Because the path narrowed, she pushed branches carefully out of the way so they wouldn’t break. “You’re being uncooperative.”
You haven’t seenuncooperativeyet,he thought.I’m here, aren’t I? I’d much rather be in my room, staring at the ceiling.“And you’re careless.”
He kept going, past the narrowing out onto a wider trail again, following her as she walked backward, all the while expecting her to fall on her curvy ass.
“How am I careless?” She didn’t as much as stumble. She could walk backward better than a crab, and she probably knew every inch of the trail.
“Being alone in the woods with me.” Cole gave his voice a deliberately dark edge. “Don’t you know all of us PTSD fucks are monsters? Barrels of gunpowder waiting for a spark. You never know what’ll set one of us off.”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t curse.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “It hurts the trees’ ears?”
He wasn’t a fan of the woods.No more than twenty feet of visibility.As an ex-sniper, he wanted wide-open places. The woods made him uncomfortable, and his senses had been tingling already, a strong feeling that they were being watched as they stood at the edge of the trees a few minutes ago. The odd sensation had been the only reason he’d agreed to go on her damn walk with her.
She held his gaze, her eyes clear and peaceful now, soothing like the surface of a hidden mountain lake.
Cole nearly stumbled over his own feet. Had he just thought that?No way.
The whole ecotherapy bullshit made him feel stupid and awkward. So he turned his demeanor menacing even as he knew he was being a jerk. “You shouldn’t be out here with me alone. I could do anything to you.”
She kept her gaze level. “Try it.”
“I don’t want to.” Or did he?
Sex was becoming a distant memory. The first batch of drugs the doctors prescribed had messed with his body. He’d switched to different pills but ... He’d never been into meaningless hookups to start with, and he couldn’t imagine spending enough time with a woman now to get to know her. Not to mention, who would want to spend time with him when he was like this?
But,hey, he had her invitation.
Maybe he’d get lucky and get kicked out of ecotherapy, which was a colossal waste of his time—made-up mumbo-jumbo science no sane person could take seriously. So he reached for Annie, not entirely clear what he meant to do with her once he had her. He wanted to put hands on her, he supposed, to prove that he could.
Next thing he knew, he was looking up at the sky, lying at her feet.
He blinked. Then blinked again.
In what universe ...
He was beginning to get used to not being able to recognize his life, but this took the cake.
