Page 58 of Beginnings By the Sea

“What’s wrong,” I asked, feeling a sense of dread take over my stomach.

He nodded at my purse that was under the table. “Do you mind seeing if you can call anyone? I don’t have service.”

That wasn’t good.

Reaching into my purse, I pulled out my phone, thinking there would be a message from Miles, but there was nothing. My phone had no cell service. Still, I tried to dial Miles’s number, but all I got was that incessant beeping I had heard from Cohen’s a few minutes prior.

“I got nothing,” I said, setting my phone on the table. The time was ticking by, and I really wanted to get back on the plane to head home. “When is your driver supposed to pick us up?” I asked.

Cohen paced the floor and tried making another call, only for the same beeping to echo across the room. “That’s who I’m trying to call.” He focused on me. “If I can’t get in touch with him, he won’t know to pick us up.”

It felt as if my stomach had plummeted to my feet.

“That means we have no way out of here,” I snapped.

I could only imagine what Miles would think if I didn't make it home. Cohen ran a hand through his hair and sat at the kitchen table with me.

“Richard knows that if I don’t call him tonight, he’s to be here by six in the morning. I know you have patients scheduled, and I wanted to make sure you were back in time for work.”

His words made my blood boil and I stood, my chair scraping against the hardwood floor. “If you don’t call him tonight?” I spat, feeling the anger well in my chest. “Whatever made you think I’d want to spend the night here with you?”

All he did was stare at me with his penetrating green gaze. “Oh, I don’t know, Nyla,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he got to his feet. “I thought maybe you’d accept my proposal.”

And then afterward, we’d spend the night together.

Miles was right. Cohen did have something up his sleeve tonight.

Grabbing my purse from under the table, I quickly zipped it and stormed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Cohen demanded, following a few paces behind me.

“I’m walking down the road until I get a phone signal,” I snarled. “If I don’t get home tonight, it will make Miles think the worst.” When I got to the door, I stopped and glared back at him. “I’m assuming that’s what you wanted in the first place.”

Cohen held up his hands in surrender, but his voice was tinged with worry. “Nyla, I’m sorry for whatever you think I’ve done. Honestly, I thought there was a chance I could change your mind.”

But no matter how much he pleaded, my mind was made up; this dinner had been a mistake.

With a heavy sigh, I opened the door and peered into the darkness outside. We were in the middle of nowhere in the North Carolina mountains, and walking down winding roads alone wasn’t an option. Not to mention there were probably bears and other animals running around.

Huffing in frustration, I slammed the door shut and shifted my attention to the opulent staircase leading to the second level of the cabin.

“If I’m stuck here for the night,” I said with clenched teeth, “I’m going to need a room. Which one can I take?”

Cohen shrugged, his face a mask of guarded emotion. “Any of them. I’ll stay down here and keep trying to make calls. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”

Without another word, I went up the stairs and randomly picked a room. When I opened the door, I didn’t even turn on the lights to see what everything looked like. I lay on the bed and closed my eyes, my stomach churning with worry. I could only imagine the kinds of things that were going to go through Miles’s mind.

28

MILES

Midnight had rolled around and there was still no word from Nyla. All I’d gotten from her was that last text saying she would be home later than she thought. I didn’t know if she was okay or if something was wrong. Not knowing drove me insane. Every time I tried calling her, it would go straight to voice mail.

I’d paced the living room floor for the past two hours, my mind going to places it shouldn’t. I didn’t want to think of Nyla with Cohen and what was happening between them. I trusted Nyla with every fiber of my being, but Cohen? The man was a snake in the grass, always slithering around, trying to get what he wanted.

As I sat on the couch, my anxiety skyrocketing, my phone finally rang. My heart raced as I reached over to get it off the coffee table. I hoped to see Nyla’s name on the screen, but that wasn’t what greeted me.

Instead, it said Restricted Caller.

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