Page 11 of Deserving Lara
“So? It’s not real. It might help take your mind off other things,” Owl said with a small shrug.
“True,” she mused. She looked over at him as they walked.
Owl loved that they were the same height. He didn’t have to look down and she didn’t have to crane her neck up when they were talking. He’d also dreamed more than once about how well their bodies would line up in other, more intimate ways.
“All right. You can teach me to become a Nightrider then.”
He chuckled. “Night Stalker.”
“Whatever,” she said with a grin she didn’t even try to hide.
Owl liked this side of her. The fact that she was actually teasing him was such a good sign. She wasn’t like her friend Cora. Even before she’d been kidnapped, apparently, she’d been the quiet one of the two. More laid-back. So her teasing was a welcome surprise.
“All right, after breakfast, I’ll teach you to fly.”
“I can’t wait.”
And it actually sounded like shewaslooking forward to it, not just trying to placate him.
If someone had told Owl even a month ago that this is where they’d be today, he wouldn’t have believed them. But he’d underestimated Lara. She was stronger than evenhe’dgiven her credit for—and he already thought she was damn strong. She’d not only agreed to talk to Henley, but she’d gone on a hike outside the cabin, had opened up to him a little more, had agreed to eat up at the lodge, and had actually smiled more than once.
This was a good day. Agreatday.
And even though her getting better meant their time together would end even sooner than he’d like, Owl would do whatever it took to keep her on the path to regaining her confidence and getting her life back.
CHAPTERFOUR
“Pull up! Bank right! Higher! Oh, shit!”
Lara did her best to follow Owl’s directions, but it was no use. The chopper went into a flat spin and she flinched when the screen turned red.
She pushed the goggles up onto her forehead and sat back on the couch, letting the joystick drop to the cushion. “Let’s face it. Isuckat this. I’m not coordinated enough to use the pedals at the same time as the joystick and the other thingy.”
Owl chuckled. “It’s only been a week. Give yourself some slack.”
Seven days had gone by since their first walk out to Table Rock. Since then, a lot had changed in Lara’s life.
She was still scared out of her mind that Carter Grant would appear out of nowhere and snatch her away, but she now wanted her life back more than ever. She missed her old self. Not that the old Lara was all that exciting, but at least she wasn’t a hermit who refused to go outside.
What gave Carter the right to mess up her life the way he had? Why did he think it was okay to abuse her and scare the crap out of her? It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair. And this week, for the first time, she gotmad. At the situation. At Carter. At how unfair life was.
In addition to that first stirring of anger within her, she’d gone hiking every morning with Owl, eaten at least one meal up at the lodge each day, and had gone over to Pipe and Cora’s cabin and sat on their rooftop deck with her best friend—while Pipe and Owl actually visited inside.
She was taking baby-steps to reclaim her life.
She’d even attended a self-defense session that Pipe ran, but that hadn’t gone as well. She’d left early, memories coming too close to the surface while she’d listened to Pipe talk about hand-to-hand fighting. She might’ve been out of her mind with fear and the drugs coursing through her system at the time, but she’d seen the brutal fight between Pipe, Owl, and Carter.
She wanted to try the self-defense lessons again…but not quite yet.
While she’d hoped to wean herself off her dependence on Owl, that was going slowly as well. Just a few days ago, he’d gone down to the barn to help Tonka with the animals, and a strange sound against one of the windows of the cabin had Lara retreating under her bed in the guest room, where she’d had a full-blown panic attack.
Owl had almost lost it when he’d returned and couldn’t find her. He was two seconds away from calling all the guys to tell them that she’d disappeared when she’d managed to find the courage to crawl partway out from under the bed and call his name. It turned out to be a stray branch that was hitting the window and making the noise, but it had shown Lara that, despite some milestones this week, she still wasn’t very far along in her recovery.
To her relief—and confusion—Owl didn’t seem to mind that she was still using him as a crutch. He never made her feel bad for needing him nearby. The more time she spent with him, the more Lara’s shields lowered with the man. He was everything she used to want…considerate, patient, attentive, and he definitely spoiled her.
After the panic attack, she’d been forced to admit to herself…she was falling for him. But she knew a deeper relationship was doomed to fail. There was no way he’d want to be with someone so needy. He deserved a woman who could stand by him when life went sideways. Not someone who would climb under a bed and hide because a freakingbranchwas banging against a window. He was an honest-to-God hero, and she was…not.
But while she was here, she selfishly decided to soak up every ounce of friendship and support he was willing to give. Eventually, he’d get sick of being her crutch and she’d have to figure out what to do, but for now, she was going to enjoy the feeling of safety that Owl provided.
