Seek and Cherish: A small-town rockstar rom-com (Sanctuary Book 5)

CHAPTER FIVE

Jaxon

Ishut the door on Honey and go back to my coffee. I don’t care that she looked sad on the way out of here or that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I actually heard her voice for the first time yesterday.

There’s a window right next to the front door, and I don’t have drapes covering it. It’s just a coincidence I see her grab a bag from her car and start off into the woods.

I’m not watching her.

I don’t care what she does.

The only reason I’m racing up the stairs to get my Bigfoot costume is because I was already planning on scaring some tourists today. It’s not because I want to make sure she’s okay.

I mean, Clover would kill me if something happened to Honey and I could have prevented it.

I should probably follow her into the woods and make sure she’s okay. It’s self-protection. From Clover. That’s it.

As quickly as I can, I put on my Bigfoot costume, but there are a lot of zippers and snaps and the fur needs a good brush so I don’t get a reputation as a poorly groomed Bigfoot. I hurry, but there’s still a good chance I’ll lose her in the woods.

Going out without the costume isn’t an option. Even with a baseball hat and sunglasses, the risk I’ll be recognized is too high. If I’m spotted out in the woods here, the paparazzi will be the next to show up and my aunt will hear about me being in town. I’ll have to move on and give up playing Bigfoot, and I’m not ready to do that.

Grateful once again that an actual Hollywood costume designer made this suit, and it isn’t impossible to move around in, I’m still careful going down the stairs. Once I hit the first floor, though, I race through the house to the front door.

I throw it open and stumble back a split second before I run into Honey, who is standing on my porch.

She screams, stumbles back, and falls down the three steps, landing on her ass at the bottom.

“What the hell?” I yell, beyond frustrated at this whole ridiculous situation.

And scared I’ve hurt her.

There’s no time to take off my Bigfoot head, so I hop down the stairs and bend over her. She’s on her back, staring at the sky, her eyes wide.

“Are you okay? What hurts?”

She moves her eyes to the right to look at me, and she winces. Then she bursts out laughing.

“Did you hit your head? Are you delirious?”

She laughs harder. “You…” she sputters.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She sits up, still laughing, and shakes her head. “No… Bigfoot… Why?”

I don’t want to go there. Especially not when she’s already laughing at me. “Who cares? We need to make sure you’re okay. What hurts?”

She manages to stop laughing. “I’m fine. What were you doing running out of the house in costume?”

I offer her a hand up and she takes it, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. “What were you doing on my front stoop?”

She glances back at the forest, her smile vanishing. “I heard something in the woods.”

“What did you hear?”

“Something gigantic stomping through the forest. You haven’t seen another Bigfoot out there, have you?” She’s pale and shaky, gaze darting toward the trees as she speaks.

“I’m the only Bigfoot. I promise. Everything sounds bigger than it is out there with the dry, dead leaves. It was probably just a squirrel.”

She glares at me, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. “I know the difference between the noise a squirrel makes and the noise a human-sized monster makes.”

I don’t back down. “Do you? You said you’re afraid to go into the forest. How much experience have you had?”

She looks down at her feet. “More than enough.” She speaks so quietly I barely hear her.

This is a vulnerable side I haven’t seen of her and it softens my resolve to keep my distance. I want to pull her into my arms and offer her whatever she wants, but I still don’t trust her and I’m not going to get emotionally involved until I do.

“You should probably give up on this wild goose chase. Get back in your car and go home. If there even is a treasure out there, I doubt it’s worth all this.”

She looks up at me, determination in her eyes. “I’ll show you the map and the riddle. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, and I promise I won’t lie or try to manipulate you again.”

I take a step back, more scared of her than of anything out there in the woods. She is so fierce and beautiful and I’m not totally over the last woman who broke my heart. The safest thing for me to do is push her away.

“And how can I believe you?”

She glances back at her car like she wants to leave, to forget this day and me. But when she turns back, the determination has moved from her eyes to the firm press of her lips and the tightness of her jaw. “You see through me in a way no one in this world ever has before. If I try to manipulate you again, you’ll know.”

Unless she gets under my skin, into my heart, and engulfs my soul. When I fall for someone, I don’t just hit the ground, I drown. When I drown, I lose perspective. I knew from across a field this woman could pull me under. Standing here in front of her, I feel the water rising to meet my toes.

“I shouldn’t have to be on guard,” I say. “I’m here to get away from all that. I’m sorry, but I’m out.”

She’s a threat to me in a time when I need to be clearheaded and get back to the life I know. I can’t afford to get lost in anyone when my career is on the line.

She stares me down, silent, waiting for me to change my mind or give in. She doesn’t know me. Doesn’t understand my willpower is the steel of guitar strings running through my veins.

I’ve been walked over and viewed as an object for too much of my life not to have learned how to stand up for myself. Maybe too late, but without looking back.

Defeat creeps over her slowly, starting in the fall of her shoulders and rising to the wobble of her chin and the dark despair in her eyes. “Okay. Fine.”

She turns and walks away. I don’t watch to see if she goes back into the forest. I don’t think about Clover or what she’ll do to me.

I go straight to my office, and I write about a woman with dark hair and sad eyes.