Page 17 of Sweeter Than Honey
Cara was terrified.
Chapter Nine
“You’renottakingmybaby.”
Cara pulled out her cell phone and quickly unlocked it. Fuck! No service. She’d forgotten. Pulling in hard breaths, she considered running for it. But he was a freak of nature, and she was an out of shape human who may or may not have failed gym class. Twice.
Something about the tone of his voice set her off. It was rigid, a little threatening. Cold.
“What are you going to tell Allie, huh? When she asks about me? She’ll know if you lock me up somewhere. She’s going to know if you show up in a few months with a—a baby.”
Her hairline tingled. Unless… Allie was in on it, too.
No. No, no, no.
“What are you talking about? No one is taking your baby.”
“Sure, because that’s what someone would say right before they pounce on you and growl and slobber and—and—lock you in a cave for seven months and force you to give birth on a nest of leaves and moss and then toss your body in a swamp somewhere.”
She was going to hyperventilate. Any… second… yep, there it was. Her chest hurt like someone punched her and she couldn’t stop gasping. Great, now she didn’t have a chance in hell of getting away.
Jett slowly set down the toolbox he’d taken from his truck and put his hands up like she was holding a loaded weapon on him. “I don’t slobber.”
“W-what?”
“I mean, I growl… maybe I pounce. I guess I’ve never noticed. But I don’t slobber. And if I’m going to lock someone in a cave and force them to give birth, I’d at least bring them a mattress or maybe a camping cot.”
“That’s n-not fun-funny.” She hiccupped. “Camping cots are v-very uncomfortable.”
Cara put her hands on her knees and doubled over slightly. The burst of panic that had made her react so strongly began to fade. What was it about him that made her feel safe? Even as she’d begun to overreact, something inside her said not to. But she hadn’t been able to help it.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to go stand over here, and you’re going to take some slow, deep breaths. And then we’re going to start over.”
Jett backed up to the rear of his car, keeping his hands where she could see them. She wanted to tell him it was okay, that he didn’t have to prove himself to her, but this little voice in her head said that she had to protect her baby, no matter what. Ah, was that the Mama Bear coming out? There was a pun in there somewhere, but she was too oxygen deprived to think it through.
“I’m fine,” she said, straightening. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? You don’t look fine.”
Cara smoothed her hair and ran her hands down the front of her hoodie. “First you imply that I’m fat, and now you’re implying I look like hell. You’re a real charmer, Beard.”
“Annnndddd, you’re back.”
“Ha. Ha.” She smiled and he smiled back. They stared at each other a moment before she looked away and relented. “You don’t have to stand over there, Jett.”
“Good because it’s a little hard to check your car from here.” He gave her a wide berth as he grabbed his toolbox and looked under the hood. Cara took a moment to compose herself while watching him work. How was this man so good looking? And handy? And fun to banter with?
He tinkered for a moment. “How about this? You talk while I work?”
Crossing her arms, she moved closer to see what he was doing. Was she ready to talk about everything? Wow, it seemed like she’d been on the run for a long time instead of less than forty-eight hours. When she didn’t respond, he tossed her a look.
“Okay… how about I ask a few questions and you answer if you’re comfortable doing so.”
She shrugged one shoulder reluctantly in agreement.
“Where’s the father?”
“Wow, going right for the dirty details, huh?” Cara scratched beside her eye. “He’s, ah, he’s deceased.”
