Page 81 of Perfect Cowboy

I flick the lights on and strip out of my clothes, rooting through my suitcase for something comfortable to sleep in. I should be able to rest for an hour or two before starting what will be a very busy morning.

I’m just pulling a tank top over my head when an overwhelming sense of being watched makes me shudder.

It takes longer than it should for me to realize that anyone standing outside in the darkness can see me clearly, even though I can’t make them out.

I yank the shirt down to cover my breasts and dive for the light switch, flicking it off. Crawling on the floor, I make my way toward the biggest window and dare to peek out.

My eyes adjust after a few blinks, but no one is there.

I repeat the process at all the windows and don’t see anything out of place.

Chances are, no one was there to begin with and I’m just unsettled, but I can’t shake the dread and fear.

The first instinct I have is to text Gavin and warn him, so I dash over to my phone and frantically type out a message.

Ashley:I think someone was outside the window watching me. Be careful. Might have been imagining things, but wanted you to know just in case. Can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.

He doesn’t reply and is probably asleep considering his workday starts in a few hours. I’m still trying to get my breathing under control when the front door flings open.

Only now am I realizing that I didn’t lock it because I didn’t think there was a need to on the property.

A scream is trapped in my throat and I wonder if this is how I die.

The lights flick back on and it’s Gavin, not a mass murderer.

He must have rushed over from being in bed because he’s only wearing low-slung jeans and boots with a T-shirt.

“Are you okay?” he demands.

“Yes… I… I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” I say, reasserting what I texted to him.

“So, now you understand how I feel about you.”

Tears fill my eyes because I have no idea what I did to deserve him, or how I ever convinced him to give me another chance to be in his life in any capacity.

I don’t want to blow it, but I also can’t stay here with him.

I’m still sitting on the floor, my body shaking from shock and stress and God knows what else. And as much as I order myself not to cry, I can’t help it.

A sob escapes as guilt and anxiety squeeze my chest in a vice that won’t let go.

“Come here,” Gavin orders, opening his arms.

Chapter 21

Gavin

Thelossofthecabin isn’t what haunts me.

It was a bare-bones structure that wasn’t worth much. But Ashley’s life certainly is, and there’s no way around the fact that someone set fire to the cabin thinking she was inside it.

Her SUV was still there, but my truck was gone. Maybe whoever showed up the night we were there together came back and took what they saw as an opportunity.

To kill her.

Or maybe they just wanted to scare her and assumed she would get out of the burning building and leave town.

But it was a massive risk to take if that was the plan.

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