Page 70 of Never Let Me Go
“Yep. I dreamed about you going missing and mystery black SUVs.”
“Oh,” she whispers with a nod as she stares down at her lap. “That.”
Reaching up, I cup her cheek and force her gaze back to mine. “Why won’t you tell me what’s going on, baby? Do you not trust me? Is it that bad?”
“It’s…complicated. And I am going to tell you as soon as we get back to Baton Rouge but I just want to enjoy spending time with you before things get complicated.”
I tighten my grip and sigh. “Are you in danger?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask, studying her as my mind spins.
“I told you it was complicated.”
I scoff as I turn to look out of the window. “Yeah, you did…”
“Sawyer… I hope you know that no matter what I have to tell you when we get back, my feelings for you are real. I want you. I want us.”
“Okay,” I say, nodding despite the voice in my head that is screaming at me that she’s lying. “Let’s just table it for now.”
She nods and turns to look over at her drawing. After a minute she starts chewing on her bottom lip and I can practically see the wheels turning in her head.
“What are you thinking about so hard? I thought we were gonna drop it.”
“Actually, I was thinking about doing your idea for the advertisement. I think it’d be gorgeous.”
I jerk back. “You absolutely will not.”
“Excuse me?” she hisses, her brow arching as she turns to glare at me. “What did you just say?”
“I said there’s no way in fucking hell I’m going to let you pose naked for the whole goddamn world to see,” I snap and her eyes widen. She stands up so suddenly that she almost knocks the chair over and before I can grab her, she stalks over to the bed and grabs a pair of shorts.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
She stands and pulls her shorts on, glaring at me the whole time. “I’m going for a walk.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Listen here, you fucking cave man, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m very likely going to kill you if you keep saying shit like you aren’t going to let me do this or that so I’m going for a walk. End of discussion.”
After slipping her feet into her tennis shoes, she marches past me and I try to grab her hand but she rips it from my grasp without even looking back at me. The screen door slams as she stomps down the stairs and a scream of frustration rips through the air, echoing through the trees around us. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I sigh.
Well, that could have gone better.
What the hell was I thinking? I know better than to try and tell a woman what to do but the thought of millions of men staring her naked body, especially after everything that we shared last night, made me fucking homicidal. And now I can't even apologize to her. Turning away from the door, I scan the cabin and stop on the refrigerator. I guess I could cook something for her. She did say she was hungry and maybe if I feed her she won't be so damn mad at me. Sighing, I get up and grab a few things out of the fridge. I’m not a great cook but I can fry bacon and whip up some eggs, at least and then when she gets back, we’ll talk this out. There is no other option because she’s right, I know how she feels about me and I know there’s no way in hell I’m walking away from her.
As I grab the pan from the cupboard, a loud bang rings through the trees and every muscle in my body tightens as I turn toward the door. That sounded like a gunshot… With my heart pounding in my ears, I throw on my jeans and rush out to the front porch as I scan the property for any sign of Juliette but the trees are blocking most of my view. Another bang echoes through the trees and my stomach drops as I jump off the porch.
“Juliette!” I yell, running into the trees before I stop to listen for her.
Come on, baby.
Let me hear you.
“Juliette!”
Silence greets me and I take off in one direction, hoping I run into her at some point. The forest is silent, too fucking silent, or maybe I can’t hear anything over the thrashing in my ears as I scan the area around me for any sign of her. Either way, it’s fucking torture.
