Page 41 of Devoted

CHAPTER10

Penelope

I makesome notes in my notepad and set it down. I can see the Viennese waltz routine I’m choreographing in my head, and I’ve gone through many of the steps. I can picture how I’ll look. I’ll give myself a crown braid. The dress will be a baby pink with red embellishments down the bodice and over the hip, and the tux will have a matching bow tie with a red gem in the middle. It’s all taking shape. Three minutes and forty-one seconds of natural and reverse turns, poise, and enthusiasm.

The only thing I’m missing is someone to dance with. That bothers me more than I anticipated. I like this house. I like being in the mountains. I don’t even mind being isolated from society. But not for every day of my life. I miss my students and Pierre, and I miss meeting Pierre and Myles for drinks. I miss going to Juan Pablo’s and getting fed like I haven’t eaten for weeks by his wife. I miss how his three-year-old cuddles me on the couch, and just feeling normal.

Do I even know what normal feels like? A lot like being with Cannon, but also being able to leave the house. Being able to socialize. Being able to go somewhere and not worry about being attacked.

Fuck Roman and fuck his greed.

I’m lost in my thoughts and getting angrier by the second, but an awareness makes me turn around.

Cannon leans against the doorframe, and I’m caught in the tractor beam of his presence. It’s those long lines. He’s crossed one foot over the other and is watching silently. It’s sexy as hell.

“You’re upset,” he says.

I nod and gesture around me. “I’m just getting really frustrated at this…” I wave my hand, searching for a word to describe my frustration. “Stasis. My divorce could take six months to two years. I guess it’s one thing to know that and another to live it day after day after day, just waiting.”

“It’d be different if you didn’t have to be in hiding.”

“Is there nothing else we can do?” I don’t know why I bother to ask. I don’t want to endanger myself or anyone else. “Never mind. There’re two hundred million reasons why I have to stay in this cabin.”

His eyes narrow briefly, like he’s thought of something. “Did Holland pack you any jeans and athletic shoes?”

I’ve been living in leggings and the one pair of slippers Holland included, like she knew that wherever I ended up I would dance no matter what. “Yeah, there’s a pair of jeans and shoes.”

He pushes off the frame. “Get dressed in them, and we’ll go for a hike.”

I follow him out, worry rising slowly, like a dog that’s been leashed so long it’s hesitant to venture far. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“There’re a million places to get lost in the mountains. We’ll stay away from the general population, and we should be fine. The trail that’s the closest isn’t used very much.”

With a grin, I jog up the stairs behind him and stop when a thought hits me. “Does that mean you’re going to wear jeans too?”

He looks over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “Yeah, why?”

My belly flips and my knees go weak. Wrinkled Cannon was hard to ignore. Dancer Cannon is captivating. I might not survive mountain man Cannon. “No reason. Just wondering how much sheer sexiness I can take.”

He barks out a laugh and disappears down the hallway.

I let him change first. We’re both sleeping in the bedroom now. We’re like a real couple in an unreal situation. If I watch him undress while I’m undressing, I don’t know whether we’ll make it out before dark.

I’m in the middle of the hallway when he walks out, stuffing a navy-blue T-shirt into a pair of snug blue jeans. The pants hug his powerful thighs and drape around his feet. They don’t hide how long and lean he is, but they accentuate the extra muscle he’s put on as an adult. I forget about hiking and stare.

He lifts a brow. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’re not going to get out of this house.”

Exactly why I was waiting in the living room. I scurry past him. “Sorry, not sorry.”

I grin at the sound of his laughter fading behind me. I find the clothing Holland packed for me, along with a hooded sweatshirt. It’s warm out, but underneath the canopy of the trees it’ll be cooler.

Cannon leads me down into the garage, and we hop into the red SUV I haven’t been in since the night he rescued me.

“Are you sure this car is safe?”

“Kase has been keeping an ear out. Both he and Jacobi have found no reason to think that this vehicle has been linked to us.” Cannon backs out of the garage and closes the door. It’s been weeks since I left the house, and anxiety flutters through my stomach. It is just a simple car trip.

We were attacked on a simple car trip. I flatten my hands on my thighs. Roman doesn’t know where I am, and I refuse to remain afraid.

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