Page 48 of Seducing Sasquatch

Arden’s voice echoes in my mind as I stand beside him in the shed. My eyes still sting from the number of times I’ve rubbed them, and the back of my throat aches too.

I haven’t felt like such a failure in a long time. Not since before I ran away from home. All year I’ve been chasing freedom without realizing what real freedom is.

Not until Arden explained it to me. I’m not perfect. And I don’t have to be. Just like that dish he showed me, it was broken but it’d been fixed with gold.

“This should work.” Arden steps around me, his huge form casting a shadow across the wall.

He’d held me for hours after I calmed down. Soothing me with sweet words and soft touches. The fur on his chest is still a little knotted from where my tears have dried but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Between his hands, he picks at a roll of black tape. Unraveling an edge, he leans over the engine and I watch with avid attention at the damage I’ve caused.

Collecting the little wires between his fingers, he connects them to the ignition coil and wraps the length of tape around it. “There, that’ll hold until we can go into town for a new connector chip.”

My stomach tightens. “I’m sorry.”

I can’t look at the engine and I definitely can’t look at him. I know he has to be disappointed. I got too excited to help. I should have been more gentle. But instead, I hastily pulled the chip too hard and crunched it.

“Look at me.” Arden’s finger pinches my chin, tilting my head back so our gazes meet. “I’m proud of you.”

What?

My confusion must be written all over my face as he smiles kindly at me, his golden eyes glowing against the faint light that hangs from the roof. “Now you know how to fix a broken connector chip.”

My lips quirk despite the way my insides clench with despair. I didn’t want to break it. I just wanted to help.

“This is life, baby. There is always another option. Another way to fix or mend something.” Da-Arden crouches so he’s eye level with me. “And even if you broke something far more important, I’d find a way to fix it.”

I feel the way my face heats and I sink against his body, hiding myself into his fur, hearing the way his body vibrates with a pleased hum. His arms wrap around me and mine clutch at his sides.

“Guess what?” He asks over my head, yet I don’t pull away.

“What?”

Arden’s foresty scent fills my nose as I suck in a breath.

“The snowmobile is ready. We can go sledding.”

My heart jolts as excitement explodes in my stomach. “Really?”

Petting my hair and letting me go, Arden climbs over the seat. His size makes the snowmobile shrink and I giggle at the way I’m now going to have to get used to watching a Sasquatch drive a snowmobile.

Turning the key in the ignition and flicking a few switches, Arden clutches the break. Nothing happens.

My stomach sinks. So I have broken it…

Vrr…Vrrr…Vroom!

The entire shed shakes with power as the snowmobile comes to life. Arden cheers, throwing a fist in the air and letting out a pleased howl that has every hair on the back of my neck standing on end.

“It’s working!?” I yell over the growl of the machine.

Giving me a toothy grin, Arden reaches for me, clasping my hand in his. “We did it, baby! It works!”

We did it.

“Go get a pair of gloves and my beanie from inside, baby!” Arden yells over the noise. His command doesn’t give me enough time to ponder on my thoughts as I jump to action, his laugh chasing me all the way out the door and across the clearing.

Rushing inside I sprint down the hallway, diving into his drawers for what I’m after. The grumble of the snowmobile echoes through the cabin as I rush to sink my fingers into the gloves and dig through a few layers of clothes to find the beanie.