Page 8 of The Mountain Man's Christmas Bride
Like the hinges that seriously need to be replaced, or the security screen I’ve been meaning to ask Axel to put up.
But after the long hours going between vet clinic and ranches, all I want to do when I get home is curl up in bed and sleep.
The monotony has been great for avoiding my damage.
“You okay?” Rhett asks quietly, too gentle to not make me want to feel something good again.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask, raising a brow, and it all just spills out of me. Everything I’ve bottled up since getting here comes out like word vomit. “I left...that. Scott drained me of everything. And now that I’m here, I’m living for just me for the first time in forever. I’m the big sister, but I’m not needed anymore. She has a husband and a baby and a new life that doesn’t involve me. And now my safe space is tainted because hefollowedme here. God, who does that?” My hands go to my head as I take in the towering man still standing in my entryway.
Somehow, he doesn’t seem fazed. “Sage.”
“Is it ridiculous that I’m jealous of my sister?” I say, cutting him off. In my own ears, I sound desperate—sad. “I want what she has. When I first got here, I said: no more men. That was my motto. No more pining over scumbags and losing myself to their bullshit. I promised myself I was going to find myself andinstead I’ve been working my ass off for a clinic that may or may not be mine by the end of the month.”
I draw in a sharp breath, each crashing beat of my heart suddenly painful. “But now, Scott is back to ruin it,” I whisper, tears burning in a way they haven’t before. “He took my savings. Everything I put away for my own clinic in the city. He bought himself a SUV instead.Thousands,I put away. I was so close. I had a friend who was going to be my partner. We were looking at recruiting someone else. And then he flushed all those dreams down the drain when he bought himself a fucking car. And when I told him I was going to sell it and get the money back? He told me he’d havemearrested because the money was inhisaccount.”
The tears fall, and all I can do is suck in a breath. Wiping a hand over my face, I continue, and for some reason he lets me, “Delilah always told me he’d do something like this. Something despicable. I mean, I thought cheating on me with an escort after a miscarriage was bad. I should have left then. But I made all these excuses for him. I told myself he was grieving, too. That he’d also lost a baby. So, I forgave him. But I couldn’t make excuses for that, for some reason. Why couldn’t I make excuses for that?”
Something dark flashes in Rhett’s deep brown eyes, something that has me wanting to push him away and also fall into his arms.
Slowly, he takes a step towards me, the movement making me shudder. And yet I don’t move away, not even as he enters my space and takes hold of my upper arms.
“You don’t have to make excuses for him anymore,” he murmurs, voice so low it has me shivering. “He doesn’t deserve your understanding.”
I pull in a deep, shaky breath. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“I know.”
I should be feeling all kinds of stupid for crying to a man I barely know. Hell, I should have just kicked him out of my home and told him to forget about his offer—forget about the protection a fake marriage might offer, because it really is insane.
But there are two things I think I know for certain about Rhett: one, he’s much more caring and understanding than meets the eye, and he has a protective instinct that really calls to me. And two, I have a feeling he would have, if kicked out, stayed in his truck all night to make sure Scott hadn’t followed us.
We pull up to his cabin almost an hour after the word-vomit incident, kittens perched at my feet and a duffle of clothes on my lap. With it so dark here on the mountain, it’s almost difficult to spot the small cabin nestled in the trees.
It’s nothing like the one Axel has, which he built with a family in mind. This is more...creepy cabin in the woods. I press my lips together as Rhett pulls the truck to a stop in front of the small building. It’s your stereotypical log cabin, with a small deck in the front, a bump out, and large glass windows looking out into the forest. There aren’t any lights on, so it almost makes the place look abandoned.
Rhett kills the engine and sits back with a sigh. “I know it’s not much,” he says softly, “but he won’t find you here.”
I swallow thickly and nod. “I know. Thank you.”
My heart twists and stutters in my chest. This is more than I know I deserve. I still don’t know why he’s helping me—why he even cares.
Shaking my head, I turn to him fully. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
Our gazes meet, and heat flares in the depths of his eyes. “You can stay as long as you need to. I’ll protect you here.”
My heart skips a beat. I believe him. Completely. If Scott finds me, I know Rhett will be there to protect me.
Maybe that’s a lot to be putting on a complete stranger. I mean, here I am, at his cabin, and we’ve known each other less than two hours.
But Delilah married a man she’d known for a week because of a one night stand,I remind myself. She found love just by trusting herself.
I don’t think this will end up with love, but I might find someone I can trust in Rhett.
By the time we finally leave the truck, my heart—and head—are tangled messes wrought with unknowns and too many questions. I have to keep reminding myself that the old Sage would never have done this, but that woman is dead. Has been dead for months. And this new Sage, this new,aliveversion is living for herself again.
Rhett takes my duffle and tries to take the crate, too, but I shake my head. “I’ve got them. You’re already doing enough.”
He huffs before running a hand over his beard. It looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. Instead, he glances down at them once before turning back towards the cabin. “I know it looks small on the outside, but there’s space for us to set them up in the laundry room, so they have a place to roam.”
