Page 9 of Ensnared
Aiden is silent. He doesn’t deny it immediately, which just proves that I’m right. He’s staring at me with disbelief etched on his face.
Yeah, that’s right, I figured you out.
I get up and inch away from him. We’re in the kitchen, so I could get a knife from the drawer… I curse myself for being such a useless witch—if I was better, I could shoot a fireball at him and fry him on the spot.
“Skye,” he growls. “Calm down.”
I reach behind me and find a drawer handle. Slowly, so slowly, I pull it open without looking down, and reach inside. My fingers find cold metal… It’s a fork. Frustrated, I glance down and rummage around for something useful.
Aiden gets up and closes in on me. I yelp and grab a random item, flinging it at him. He ducks, and the butter knife misses him by a foot.
“Skye!”
His voice is a command, and some rational part of me wants to obey, but my lizard brain is freaking the fuck out. I snatch another object and swing back my arm to throw it at him, but he’s right in front of me and captures me by the wrist to stop me.
I squeak. Then knee him in the balls.
It’s an instinctual reaction to having a stronger, larger man in my personal space. Aiden groans and doubles over, letting me go. I scramble across the room and brandish my weapon at him.
The wooden spoon trembles from how hard I’m shaking. “Stay away from me!”
Princess Penny wakes up and lets out several angry barks. I tell her to heel—I have no idea what Aiden will do. I fumble for the doorknob behind me because I don’t want to turn my back on him.
Aiden straightens, braced on the kitchen counter, and lifts a hand. “Will you please stop freaking out? We’re not fucking criminals.Fuck.”
The last word is a groan, and he breathes through his nose, his eyes screwed shut. Some of my panic ebbs away. I lower the wooden spoon, which is a ridiculous weapon in any case.
“You’re not?” I ask, my voice small.
He shakes his head.
“Oh.” But still… “Isn’t that what a criminal would say?”
He drags himself over to a chair and collapses on it. Then he looks at me, and I suddenly realize he’s tired. The bruises on his face are so stark, that’s all I noticed at first, but he’s exhausted. Had he stayed up all night with Jack?
“Do you really think that?” he asks, his voice low. “Did anyone do anything to give you that impression?”
I open my mouth and close it again. Then I shake my head just a tiny bit.
“We value privacy above all,” he continues. “Is that so hard to understand? I know everyone wants to be on Instagram and whatever, but is it really so unbelievable that some people just prefer the solitude?”
“No,” I admit. Heat spreads from my neck to my face. “No, I get that.”
Wow, I’m an idiot. I just kneed an innocent man in the balls and called him a criminal, when all he wants is not to be on social media all day. I mean, living out here in Alaskaispretty extreme, and I’m still not sure why they need that grade of protection, but he’s right. I haven’t felt uncomfortable here at all. In fact, with my police record, I’m probably the worst criminal of the lot.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He grimaces. “That was a good move back there.”
I pick up the butter knife and return it to the drawer along with the wooden spoon. Then I take the chair opposite Aiden’s and sink into it. Princess Penny trots to me, and I pick her up, needing comfort right now. She sniffs at the outdoor gear still piled on the table between us, then curls up in my lap.
I lean forward and catch Aiden’s gaze. “I’m really, really sorry for…” I wave in the direction of his crotch. “You know.”
The corner of his mouth ticks up. “I’ll live.”
With a sigh, I reach forward and gather the papers scattered on the table. Then I rummage through my backpack to find a pen. If he can remain calm after I attacked him for no reason, I can act like a professional and figure out how to best help Aiden and this entire village of really nice people.
I initial all the pages of the contract and scrawl my signature on the dotted line.
