Page 6 of Falling for the Beast

I feel my brows draw together. It’s screwed up. This whole situation is messed up, but all I can focus on is why this beautiful woman would even be facing a lonely holiday.

“You answered a stranger’s ad to spend Christmas with them?”

“Yes,” her voice is soft. It touches me. I haven’t been touched by anything feminine in three years.

I swallow hard. “Who does that?”

Her eyes search mine and I feel my jaw clench. She makes me feel exposed. I don’t like it.

She pulls in breath, squaring her shoulders like she’s going into battle. She’s cute. I hate that I think it.

She’s too small for battle of any kind. She’d be crushed.

I wouldn’t let anyone crush her.

What the fuck?

“I’m lonely.” Her words hit me like a bullet to the chest.She’s not the only one.

Still, she’s insane. She has to be to answer an ad like that.

And what does that say about my mother?

“You should be more careful. Trusting people you meet online could get you killed.”

Fear flashes in her eyes and she takes a quick step away from me, on guard. “Areyouplanning to kill me?”

She doesn’t need to be afraid of me.

I'm not going to kill her. I would never hurt her. But I could.

She's tiny enough. She's so small, she should know better than to do shit like this. She’s old enough to know better than to trust a stranger. Than to come to a strange house and agree to spend her holiday with someone she's never met. Anything could happen. She could have been led to the door of a serial killer, and nobody would know. Nobody would know where to look for her. Stupid.

I'm mad. I don't know why. I feel protective of her. Maybe it's because she's so small. Her jacket is puffy, and it makes her look bigger. But her face is tiny. Her features are delicate.

She feels like she needs to be protected.

But I'm not safe. I'm not anyone's protection.

“I won't hurt you. But you should know better than to do this kind of stuff. You shouldn't trust people you meet online.”

“I did more than meet Lucy online. We spoke for six weeks. We emailed. We talked on the phone. We even Face Timed. I know what she looks like. It's a simple mistake that I was dropped off at your house instead of hers. If you could, I don't know—you know what?” She shakes her head quickly, her cute little nose scrunching. “I'll just call her. I'll call her, and maybe she can come pick me up.”

I shake my head. “She's not going to pick you up.”

She peers up at me, uneasy. “Why not?”

“Because she doesn't live on the mountain. She lives in the valley, in town.”

I watch, amused, as confusion plays across her face. She's beautiful. Everything about her.

Jesus, what's wrong with me?

“She lives in town?” she repeats, denial in her eyes. “That can't be right. Her driver brought me here, and she said she lived up the mountain.”

“She lied.” My lip curls around the word.

“There's been a big mistake. Something is wrong. We'll figure it out. I'll call her.I'll call her.”She's frantic now, as she digs into her purse for her phone. She lifts it and I reach out to stop her, to explain, but her eyes on me are filled with fear and warning.

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