Chapter 4
Sean
I swear my heart slams against my ribcage harder with every step she takes away from me. Fuck. I shouldn’t have let her go, but something told me she was going no matter what I said to stop her. I would’ve had to tie her to a tree. Maybe I should’ve.
I wanted to hold on to the morning we had together. Getting arrested, or worse, could really put a damper on the day.
Peeking through the gap in the foliage, her orange sweater is easy to spot as she prances over the river of sand that flows between us. When she reaches the public restroom area near the food trucks, she stops. Is she…talking to that woman? Damn, I think she is.
My stomach churns with unease as she stoops to speak to the child in the stroller with the lady she was just conversing with. Shut up and come back to me, Louhi.
When she waves to the woman and her kid, and they both return the gesture, my eyes widen. For fuck’s sake, why couldn’t we just be hungry today?
I frown when she disappears from view. I can’t tell if she’s behind or inside one of the food trucks, or if she’s ducked into the restroom. Gritting my teeth, I glance down at my watch.
I decide to give her three minutes before I’m prowling over there like a hungry, deranged wolf who’s been separated from his pack. It’s not that I don’t trust her. I do. But I’d feel better if she wasn’t in a blind spot.
This is a stupid thing to get caught for. My eyes flick back to my watch and find that a minute and fifty-two seconds have passed since I started tracking. I hold my breath as I rub a hand over my shorn hair, the short, blunt ends stabbing the pads of my fingers.
Fucking fuck. I’m not that hungry.
Just as I’m about to spring forward, oxygen rushes out of my lungs as I spot her striding back in my direction with a brown cardboard box in her hand.
Gait casual and unhurried, she lifts something to her mouth.
Are those…French fries? She would be sure to get sides with her meal.
There’s something stuffed under her arm, but I can’t make out what it is.
Knowing her, I’d bet money on it being wine.
I hope she brought a beer for me. God knows I could use one, even if it’s probably too early for alcohol.
Move your sexy ass, Lou.
When she’s halfway to me, we both hear the masculine shout at the same time. She stiffens as my heart sinks to my stomach. Shit. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, but what will it mean for both of us if something happens to her here?
While I still can’t make out every detail of her expression from my vantage, I log the moment her face shapeshifts. The faux warmth visible even from here isn’t something I’ve seen before, like she’s just donned an old, dusty mask she’s pulled out of the back of the closet.
Her feminine tone is sugary as she turns toward the man hurrying after her.
To an untrained eye, her body language appears disarming, but I can tell she’s primed for a fight.
Her boots are shoulder-width apart, and there’s a steady set to her shoulders.
I reach for my own gun and clutch it tightly.
My eyebrows furrow, though, when the older man holds out a wad of napkins.
She nods at something he says, and he beams broadly back at her. What the hell?
He walks away then, and Louhi continues to make her way toward me. I scan the surroundings and no one else is paying us any attention. When she slips back among the trees, she winks at me. Fucking winks.
“I hope you like burgers.”
I can only blink as she peers at me with irises like a glimmering chocolate fountain.
Her mouth curls at one corner. “I didn’t even have to steal them.”
She opens the top of the container and, sure enough, there’s French fries and two burgers.
Bewildered, I reach in and grab a burger, passing it to her before grabbing one for myself. We both sit down across from each other with the fries still in the box between us. “You didn’t have to steal them?”
“No, a lovely man named Koa gave it to me.” She takes a bite, and her eyes light up like a neon sign before slamming closed as she moans obscenely. “Oh my God,” she says with her mouth full.
My lips curl slightly at the joy on her face over this simple pleasure. “How did you manage to talk him into feeding you?”
Sinking my teeth into my own burger, I understand why she was so…vocal about how delicious this is. Damn, if I’d known this spot was here, I would’ve gone nearly every day of my leave.
“I asked him really nicely.”
I level her with a flat, cynical expression, and she shakes her head blithely.
“Seriously, I politely requested that he make me two burgers but told him I didn’t have any money. He said beautiful women should never go hungry.”
Great. Now, I want to kill the guy. The me from a year ago wouldn’t have thought twice about a kind stranger telling a woman I was with that she was attractive, but today? I’d like to reach into his throat and rip out his trachea.
Louhi has changed everything for me.