Page 19 of No One But You
I worried she might need help showering, but she managed on her own while I tidied away the dishes.When she emerged, her movements were a little looser, and a haze of herbal-scented steam followed her.
Her teeth scraped over her lower lip.“Do you mind if I keep the doors between our bedrooms open overnight?”
“Not at all.”My heart squeezed at her hesitancy to ask for something so minor.“Whatever makes you feel safe.”
I studied her for a moment, cataloguing the dark smudges around her eyes, how bloodshot they were, and the way she didn’t seem to know what to do with herself.
Perhaps it would help if we shared a room.Sometimes just being able to hear another person breathe and move around took the edge off silence.But there was also a possibility that having a man so close would only make it worse, so I kept my mouth shut and hoped I wasn’t doing the wrong thing.
ELEVEN
Reason #9 why Max Braddock is husband material:
He’s steady as a rock, which is sexier than it sounds.
BAILEY
When I logged into my main social media account the following morning, it wasn’t a surprise that I had a lot of new likes, follows, and comments.That was normal.Whatwasa surprise was the number of times I’d been tagged in other people’s posts.
I tapped on the first tag, and my stomach dropped.It was a screenshot of a news article with the headline: “Influencer Attacked While Hiking at Popular Tourist Destination.”There was a link below the image, so I clicked on it, my gut churning and flipping uncomfortably.
I’d hoped to keep what happened quiet.I’d planned to scrap the video—obviously, since I no longer had it—and just let it go.But if someone had gone to the media—presumably someone from the hospital because I knew that none of my friends and family would have—then that plan was out the window.
I scrolled down and, sure enough, I’d been named in the first paragraph of the article.I read the text, but it was blessedly brief.It seemed the reporter hadn’t known much more than my name, the fact I’d been in the Destiny Falls area, and that I’d been admitted to Queenstown Hospital on Sunday before being discharged several hours later.
Returning to my account, I checked out a couple of the other tags.They were mostly more of the same, and there were a slew of comments from well-wishers.Under other circumstances, I might have enjoyed the attention—after all, it was good visibility—but I had a sick feeling that this was very, very bad.
Grabbing the arm of the chair, I edged off the cushion and levered myself upright.My pain was more of a dull all-over ache than it had been yesterday, but moving still wasn’t pleasant.
“Max,” I called over the rain drumming on the windows.It wasn’t cold, but I was glad I’d packed my cozy comfort clothes yesterday because not only were they easier on my sore body, but the weather definitely called for them.“Look at this.”
He glanced up from his breakfast—granola with fruit and yogurt, yum—and took the phone when I thrust it at him.
“It’s in the news,” I said, needlessly, since he was already reading the article.“Thenationalnews.”
He set the phone on the table, his lips pursed.“How do you feel about that?”
Ugh.Why did he have to be so good at the neutral face?I couldn’t tell what was going on inside his head.
Leaning on the back of the other chair because sitting sounded like too much work, I said, “Normally, I’d be glad about anything that got me into the headlines, but I have a horrible feeling about it.”
He tilted his head consideringly.“Do you think it’s because someone did this to you and now everyone knows?It’s understandable that you’d want to keep it private.”
I thought about that for a moment.My brain was working a little better today, thank God.Yesterday just getting my thoughts straight had been like wading through a swamp.
“Not really.It’s more like….”I tried to find the words to describe the sense of dread that was creeping over me and refusing to be ignored.“This is going to sound crazy because I don’t remember what happened, but I think the people who hurt me wanted me to”—I swallowed—“to die.”
Something dark flickered through his gaze.“What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know,” I said helplessly.“I can’t remember the details, but my instincts are telling me it’s not good that they might know I survived.”
“Then we’ll trust your instincts.They’re sending up warning signals for a reason.Let me call Nate.”
My left foot cramped, and I hissed, shifting my weight to the right leg while I extended my toes and tried to stretch it out.
“Are you okay?”Max asked, pausing his search for Nate’s number in his phone.
“Fine.Just a cramp.”
