Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
S avannah rolled over, blinking against the sun streaming in on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut again, smiled, and stretched.
She knew exactly where she was. Theo Taggart’s cabin. On the bayou.
Holy shit.
But her smile grew. Last night had been… amazing.
And not at all what she’d expected when she’d gotten into that airboat.
Oh, she'd expected Theo to be hot and a dirty talker and to give her one of the best nights of sex she'd ever had if they ever got to that point. And she wasn’t shocked that they had finally.
But she hadn't expected any of that to happen last night .
But wow…it had.
It had definitely made the night go faster. She hadn't felt a bit of anxiety the entire time.
She laughed softly to herself and rolled to look at his side of the bed.
It was empty.
Well, Theo seemed like the type to get up and make coffee. If not breakfast. She would definitely not mind having that hot man serving her breakfast in bed.
She also wouldn't mind having breakfast with him in his cute little cabin kitchen.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked around. She hadn't been wearing any clothes when she'd come over here. Her towel was draped over the chair in the corner, and while it was probably dry by now, she needed a little bit more than that to wear at this point.
There was a t-shirt hanging over the other arm of the chair, so she grabbed that and pulled it over her head. It hit her mid-thigh, the sleeves hanging to her elbows, covering everything necessary for the time being.
She lifted the front of it to her nose and took a long inhale. It also smelled like Theo. It was soft, worn, and was the deep hunter green that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries used for their non-uniform garb.
While this had the insignia of the department on the back, it was for more casual wear rather than what they wore when on the clock.
She might have to steal this.
She ran her fingers through her hair as she headed for the bathroom. She scrubbed her face and swished some mouthwash she found in his cabinet around in her mouth. Then she went out to the kitchen to find him.
But the cabin was empty. Completely empty. The note on the counter simply read, I’ll be back later, T .
He was gone. Until later. Whenever that was.
Okay.
She took a breath. Then made herself walk calmly to the window.
His truck was gone.
He was gone .
And the only way for her to leave was gone.
She took another deep breath, pressing her hand to her chest.
What was going on? Why had he left without waking her up? He knew how she felt about being here without a way out. And she was supposed to leave today. He was supposed to take her out of here. Today.
But…she had the keys. He'd given them to her. Either he had another set, or he'd gone next door to the other cabin to get them.
He’d made the choice to go clear over to the other cabin, find the keys, write her a note, and leave without waking her up.
And now she was stranded here.
Her heart rate continued to accelerate as her thoughts spun.
He said he’d be back later. Of course, he would be. He lived here.
But he knew that she felt stuck here. She’d told him about her anxiety and why she felt that way. Then he’d given her those keys so she’d feel like she could leave if she needed to.
What about now?
What about how she felt now ?
He’d taken those keys back after he’d seemed to understand. Those keys had felt like a symbol. A symbol that he was a safe person to be vulnerable with.
But he’d taken them back.
She felt tears stinging her eyes.
She was vaguely aware that she was overreacting. Of course, he would be back. It wasn't like she was going to be here for days and days with no way to leave or contact anyone.
But just like the keys had touched her heart last night, now the idea that he'd left her with only a simple note, no explanation, and not bothering to wake her and talk to her about it, stung. She’d known she shouldn’t let herself get attached to a guy she had no future with but she’d let herself open up to him. And now she was reminded why that was a bad idea. She should probably be grateful for that.
She looked around. She literally had nothing here except for a towel and her vibrator. Her phone wasn't even here.
She stomped into the bedroom, grabbed her towel, then realized that it was Theo’s, and tossed it back down on the chair. She grabbed her vibrator from the bedside table—another way he’d made her vulnerable, and there was no way he was keeping that .
Then she stomped out of the cabin, down the steps, across the road, and back into her cabin. She went straight for her phone.
Dammit, it was hot in here. The power outage had cut the AC, and the air in the cabin felt downright oppressive. Her phone was down to only one bar because it hadn't been charging overnight. Seeing that also made her heart race.
She could leave today. She’d fulfilled the agreement of staying overnight. But she had to be able to fucking call someone to come get her since the truck was gone.
Savannah forced herself to breathe evenly as she called Becca and listened to it ring. She didn’t even know what time it was. It didn’t matter. She could not stay here.
Becca answered right away. “Savannah? What’s up?”
“Hey, can you and Beau come and get me? Right now?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
Savannah took a deep breath. See, Becca didn’t even know where she was, and she was willing to come immediately.
“Down at that damned cabin. The one that Theo made me stay in.”
“Oh, isn't he bringing you back?”
“He’s not here. I don't know where he is or when he’s coming back. And I have to get out of here.”
“Okay. Are you all right?”
“There's no power in the cabin. There's no electricity, the AC isn't running.” That seemed like a great excuse.
“Oh crap,” Becca said sympathetically. “Yeah, we’ll be right there. It'll take a little bit.”
Savannah knew that. Not only would they have to get down to the bayou where they could grab a boat, but then they’d have to drive all the way down here. But knowing they were coming was enough. “That's fine. Just get here as soon as you can.”
“Of course. We’re on our way,” Becca said, her voice softening.
Becca knew about Savannah's issues. She was the one friend that knew what actually went on with Savannah’s family. “Thank you.”
“See you soon.”