Page 19 of Protective Assignment
“Thank you for coming,” Mary said on their way out the door.“River, hon, please keep in mind about the quilting.I’d love to see you again.”
“I will.Thanks,” River gripped the bag of supplies as she and Cade left the shop.
Once outside, he led her to the next shop, which looked like some sort of ladies’ store where she could get a few items of clothing and personal things.
“You think you can make me a new winter jacket?”he asked as he took the bag from her hand when they entered.“Sounds like you really know what you’re doing, if you’ve got Mary that impressed.”
“I could try,” she replied.“But fair warning, my favorite color to work with is pink.”
He chuckled.“Hey, I’ve been told it looks good on me,” he teased.“Besides, if you made it, I’d wear it with pride.A River original, right?”
She blushed slightly and grinned at him.She felt lighter than she had in a long time, even though she knew she should have been nervous, being out in public like this.But with Cade, it was as though nothing bad could happen to her—nothing could even come close.
They made their way around the town, picking up everything Xavier had asked him to get.He even introduced her to a few of the people he knew from his time living here.They all seemed happy to see him.A good sign, right?People liked him.He had clearly made a good impression on them when he had been staying in town, and they all treated her like an old friend because of him.
They grabbed lunch at a little place not far from the square.It was just a tiny hole-in-the-wall café, but after so long on the road having to live on whatever scraps she could find, it all tasted like gourmet food to River.She ate her toasted sandwich and soup like she had never seen food before in her life.She was still getting used to having three meals a day, her body recuperating all the lost calories from her previous lack of meals.
“Good?”Cade asked.
She nodded, holding her hand over her mouth to avoid showing him her mouthful of food.“Really good,” she replied once she had swallowed the delicious bite.
“I’m glad.”Cade chuckled.
He had a slightly crooked smile, but it lit up his whole face every time, as though he was genuinely glad to be with her.She felt that flutter in her chest again, and did her best to ignore it.
It wasn’t until their drive back up to the lodge with the supplies that it hit her—she hadn’t thought about leaving today.Not once.
It was all thanks to Cade.He made her feel so comfortable in a way she hadn’t in a long time—maybe ever.Thatwas making it more difficult to think about walking away when the time came.But if he knew who she really was and what she was running from, she was sure he would feel differently about her and her being at the lodge.
But she wasn’t going to tell him more than she needed to.He made her feel safe, but she was going to keep her mouth shut and focus on taking care of herself.She wasn’t going to get too settled into the lodge’s atmosphere.It was way too dangerous to do that.
“You okay?”Cade asked.
She nodded and forced herself to smile.“I’m fine,” she replied.“Thanks for bringing me with you and helping me get everything today.”
“No problem,” he replied.“You need any help getting your stuff out to our cabin?”
Our cabin.It was strange for him to say it like that.She supposed it was the right way to talk about it, but it still threw her a little hearing it.Staying with him was going to make it harder to steal supplies if she needed to run again, but she’d figure that out when and if the time came.
“No, I’m fine.I just had my backpack in my room and then what I got today,” she replied once the truck had pulled up at the lodge again.She jumped out of her side, not waiting for him this time.
“I need to run these supplies inside and check in with Xavier before heading to the cabin,” he volunteered as he turned off the engine and started gathering bags to haul inside the lodge.“You want me to take the sewing stuff with me?”
“That’s okay, I’ll take it with me and then just bring it up to the lodge tomorrow,” she replied as she turned andheaded to the cabin they were going to be sharing for the next little while.
“I’ll be down in a bit after I get all this settled, then,” he replied and she gave him a little wave as he walked away.
She’d have to work on getting used to having him around, in the same space.She’d been on her own for so long now, she wasn’t used to other people being so close.Especially someone like Cade.
Luckily his cabin had a second bedroom, so when she got inside, she went straight to it and closed the door behind her.She just needed a few minutes on her own, to decompress and settle her mind.Her head was a mess as she thought about how she was going to handle him, but she didn’t want to lose the flutter in her chest when he was around.
No matter how much harder it was going to make things for her.
Chapter Eleven
He stared at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the wind rustling through the trees outside, and wondered how the hell he was supposed to keep River off his mind.
They had spent the better part of the day together, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.No matter how much he tried to push her to the back of his mind, she was right there, insisting on taking up his brain space.If he was honest with himself, he didn’t really mind.
