5. Audrey
5
AUDREY
Sleep doesn’t come easy in the guestroom. The bed is comfortable, the fire warm, and even the pain in my wrist has subsided a little—but I can’t stop thinking about Weston. I can hear the occasional creaking of bedsprings from across the hall as he turns in his sleep, and knowing he’s so close keeps me stubbornly awake, blinking up at the ceiling.
I seriously need to get a grip.
This man is making me feel like a blushing schoolgirl. I’ve always been confident—never the type to be shy—but whenever Weston looks at me, I feel like a quivering mess. Now it turns out he was in the Navy, too. I mean, seriously, why does everything about this man have to be so hot? Why couldn’t I have been rescued by an elderly couple on an evening stroll or something?
The thoughts swirl around my mind for over an hour before the crackling fire finally lulls me to sleep. It feels like I’ve barely just drifted off when I jerk awake, sucking in a breath.
What was that?
Something woke me up. A sound. I stay very still, my ears straining to hear it again. There’s a noise outside my window…the sound of something scrabbling at the wall.
Or someone?
My airway suddenly feels too narrow, and I lie frozen, unable to move.
Somebody is trying to get in.
Fear bubbles in my veins until I can’t bear it a second longer. I push myself out of bed and hurry toward Weston’s room, ignoring the twinge in my knees. His door is slightly ajar, and I tiptoe into the darkness.
“Weston,” I whisper, my fear overcoming my awkwardness about intruding on him. “Are you awake?”
In a flash, he sits up. “Audrey?”
I hear the click of a lamp, and the room is lit up to reveal Weston in bed, his naked torso rising beneath the covers.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice even more gravelly than normal, tinged with sleep. “What happened?”
It takes me a second to speak. My eyes are still processing his thick, muscular body—so broad that he makes his king-sized bed look more like a single.
“Uh…I…think there’s someone trying to get into my window,” I say, the words rekindling my fear. “I can hear something.”
Weston is already up. He’s wearing a pair of dark boxers and nothing else, but before I can ogle him too openly, he strides past me, eyes burning with intensity as he heads out the door and into the guestroom. I follow. His muscles ripple as he looks back at me, making sure I’m far away from the window before he wrenches it open. A squeak of fear tears from my throat. Then Weston’s shoulders relax.
“It’s a raccoon,” he says.
I swallow hard. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. It ran away when I opened the window.”
Heat rises to my cheeks as he pulls it closed again.
God, I’m such an idiot.
I can’t believe I woke him up because of a raccoon.
“I’m so sorry.” Shame floods me as I bury my face in my hands. “You must think I’m nuts.”
Tears sting my eyes, completing my embarrassment, and I feel Weston’s hand on my shoulder. “I don’t think you’re nuts. You’re just not used to all the weird noises out here.”
I sit on the edge of the bed, facing the fire. Weston sits beside me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders as a sob escapes my throat.
“It’s okay, Audrey.”
I shake my head. “It’s not okay.” A surge of anger floods me, a frustration that I can’t put into words. “I—ugh, this just isn’t who I am. All jumpy and scared of my own shadow. It’s not me.” Sniffing hard, I wipe my eyes and say, “Somebody broke into my apartment last month. And I’ve been trying so hard not to think about it, but when I heard that noise outside the window, it just—” I taper off, the words dying on my tongue.
“Shit.” Weston’s arm squeezes me reassuringly. “I’m sorry. That sounds scary as hell. Especially for a woman living alone.”
“Yeah.” I hug myself, closing my eyes tight. “I know I need to get over it. It’s not like I was even there when it happened, but it’s just left me feeling so…vulnerable, I guess.”
“Hell, I don’t blame you. Did they take anything?”
“All the cash in my apartment, which wasn’t much. My camera. My laptop. I had all my work stuff backed up, luckily.” I sigh, my stomach roiling as I remember that day. “It’s not so much what they took. It was knowing that a stranger had been in my apartment, rooting around in my stuff. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, and it left me with this fear that I just can’t shake.”
I’d been feeling crappy that morning, missing Lila, so I went out to treat myself to a coffee and a slice of cake at a nearby cafe. Then I took a walk in the park. I was only gone a couple of hours, but when I got home, the whole place had been ransacked. It felt so violating. So scary. What if I’d been home? Would the thief have hurt me?
“Did the police ever find him?” Weston asks, a steely note in his voice. “The bastard that did it?”
“No. I filed a report and everything, but I’m not holding out much hope. You’re the only person I’ve told besides the police.”
Weston raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell Lila?”
“No…” Despite my good intentions, I feel a pang of guilt. “She had just moved away to be with Ridge, and I didn’t want to rain on her parade with my crappy news. I got the locks changed and just tried to move on with things.”
Weston is quiet for a moment, his hand rubbing my back almost absent-mindedly. When I chance a glance at him, his eyes are fixed on the fire, his rugged features taut with rage.
“Makes me sick,” he mutters. “You shouldn’t have to live in fear because of some asshole. Goddammit, I wish I’d been there to meet him. I’d make him regret it.”
I don’t doubt Weston’s words for a second. There’s something protective, almost primal, in the way he’s scowling at the flames. It makes me feel safe. Even if it had been something scarier than a raccoon at my window, I know Weston would have been a match for anything. A wave of affection washes over me, and I relax against him, savoring his touch.
“Thanks for being so understanding,” I say. “It must have seemed pretty weird, the way I reacted to that raccoon.”
“It’s not weird at all, Audrey. It’s totally normal to feel scared and vulnerable after something like that.”
I can’t help smiling. “It’s pretty hard to imagine you being scared of anything.”
Weston makes a noise in his throat. “Everyone gets scared. I’ve been scared plenty of times. It’s how you know you’re human…still kicking.”
His words hang in the air between us for a moment, mingling with the spitting fire. It’s hard to believe I felt so terrified only a few minutes ago. Now, with Weston’s arm around me, I feel like nothing could ever hurt me.
“I guess you don’t get much crime out here,” I say, “apart from determined raccoons.”
“Don’t even bother locking my doors. Perks of living in the woods.”
“Sounds nice.” I smile, catching Weston’s eye. We stare at each other, and it hits me all at once—the intimacy of this moment—the two of us on the bed together, his arm around me, all alone in this secluded cabin in the middle of the woods.
Anything could happen…
My heart skitters, the guestroom dissolving as Weston’s eyes flicker to my lips. Our faces are so close I can feel his beard brushing my chin. I swear he’s about to kiss me. There’s a hunger in his gaze, and I feel the warmth between my thighs, the ache of longing in my chest. His face moves closer, so close I can feel his warm breath on my bottom lip, and I’m about to surrender to him…
A sound makes me jump—the same scrabbling beneath the window. All at once, the moment is gone. I pull back from Weston.
“Damn raccoon,” he grunts, glaring as he stands up and opens the window again. “Go on, get out of here!”
Once he’s satisfied the critter has disappeared, he closes the window once more.
“I better get back to sleep,” I say, purely to fill the tense silence.
Weston nods. “If he gives you any more trouble, you know where I am.”
“Thank you. And thanks for listening to me…”
He nods again and heads for the door, looking almost reluctant.
“Goodnight, Audrey.”
“Goodnight, Weston.”
With one last look at me, he closes the door behind him.
“Wait, what?!” Lila asks, her voice so loud that I hurriedly turn down the volume on my phone.
After a restless night, dawn has broken at Weston’s cabin. I sent Lila a message telling her to call me as soon as she woke up, and my best friend obliged much earlier than I was expecting. I don’t think Weston is awake yet, but I keep my voice quiet all the same, not wanting him to hear the conversation.
“You’re saying he was going to kiss you?” Lila continues.
“Yes! We were leaning in and everything, but then the raccoon?—”
“Ugh, that dumb raccoon!”
I suppress a giggle. “Yeah, that’s what he said, too.”
The near-kiss with Weston has been on my mind ever since he left my room last night. It’s turned everything upside down. I’m meant to be leaving his cabin today and heading for Lila’s, yet as much as I want to see my best friend, the thought of saying goodbye to Weston feels like a punch to the gut.
“I don’t know what to do,” I groan, running a hand through my hair. “This was never meant to happen. It’s stupid to get my hopes up when I’m going back to Denver in just a couple of days?—”
“Audrey, are you kidding me right now?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
To my surprise, she laughs. “Don’t you remember what happened when I met Ridge? I called you and said exactly the same thing, asking for your advice. I said I was going back to Denver and that it would never last, but you told me to live in the moment and go for it!”
“Did I? Doesn’t sound like me.”
Lila laughs again. “You really need to learn to take your own advice.”
“Well, it’s easier said than d—” I cut off, sucking in a breath when I hear Weston’s door open. His heavy footsteps stop in front of the guestroom for a moment before heading into the living room.
“Audrey?”
“Sorry. I said it’s easier said than done. Getting attached when I’m about to leave this place doesn’t sound like a smart thing to do.”
Lila is quiet for a moment. Then she says, “I’m retracting my invitation.”
“What?”
“You’re not invited to my place anymore—not until tomorrow. You’re going to have to stay another night at Weston’s.”
“Lila—”
“If you need an excuse, tell him there was a family…thing. I don’t know, something came up.” She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Sorry, Audrey, it’s out of my hands.”
I don’t know whether to smile or tell her off. But another day with Weston sure sounds appealing right now. I know I’m putting off the inevitable, but I’m not ready to leave him yet. One more day…surely that will be enough to get these crazy feelings out of my system?
“You’re a bad influence,” I tell Lila.
“You’ll be eating your words when you marry him.”
I laugh, ignoring the butterflies that erupt in my tummy. “Just because you got engaged to a mountain man and moved to the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean I’m going to.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, but here I am.”
“Okay, I’m hanging up now.”
“You’re in denial.”
“Bye, Lila.”
“See you soon! And tell Weston I’m sorry about the family thing, but hey, what can you do? These things happen.”
“Okay, seriously hanging up now.”
“Love you!”
I end the call, trying to suppress a grin as I get out of bed. Lila’s words have given me a burst of encouragement, and I want to see Weston so I can ask to stay another night.
Hopefully, he won’t mind.
Part of me worries that I’ve misread this whole situation—maybe he’s waiting for me to leave, praying I’ll be gone soon. Maybe he wasn’t really going to kiss me at all. Maybe…but no. The look in his eyes, the desire. That was all real. I’m sure of it.
I can hear Weston clattering around in the kitchen, the smell of bacon wafting beneath my door. A moment later, he knocks.
“Audrey? You up? Breakfast’s ready if you want it.”
My pulse flutters when he says my name.
God, that voice. It’s like thunder.
“I’m up,” I call. “Breakfast sounds awesome!”
“Hope you like bacon and eggs.”
“Love it! Thank you!”
I take a steadying breath and head for the door, mentally shoving aside all the confusion and complications, all the reasons I shouldn’t be getting attached. I can worry about all that later, because right now, the hottest man on earth just cooked me bacon.
Something tells me this is going to be my kind of morning.