Chapter 14 Daisy
FOURTEEN
DAISY
It was barely dawn as I blinked my eyes open to the ceiling of Cash’s bedroom. Light pressed in to chase away the haze of sleep and memories and dreams.
I still felt disoriented. Trying to process. To catch up.
Cash finding us yesterday. Coming here. Asking him to marry me. Him leaving then…
Oh God.
A rush of flames consumed my flesh when my mind toppled back to what had to have been a few hours earlier.
Cash had been in his bedroom. His body concealed in that towel. The moan. My fingers. His stare.
What had I done?
Maybe I’d only been delirious. The exhaustion from the fear and the running and the sleepless nights before we made it here snaring me in delusion.
But I was pretty sure that had not been a delusion.
Was pretty sure I had…
I slammed my eyes closed and tried to breathe around the panic that wanted to take over.
I was only human, I tried to remind myself. And I was face to face with the man I’d loved for so many years. One I thought I’d never see again. One who’d been my every fantasy for so long.
Yeah, he’d demolished my heart, left me when we both needed each other more than we ever had before, but in that vulnerable moment in the safety of his room? I couldn’t stop the reaction.
It had to be a culmination of the fatigue and trepidation and the stunning relief at finally being here.
Blowing out the strain, I tossed off the covers and slipped from the bed. Lying here humiliated wasn’t going to help a thing, though I couldn’t stop myself from keeping my feet quiet on the rug as I tiptoed across the floor. I pressed my ear to the door, listening for any sounds on the other side.
There was nothing.
But I could feel it—the presence that swarmed like an intoxicating drug.
Dark and intimidating.
So different than the sheath of warmth I once knew.
I sucked in a cleansing breath and turned the knob, deciding I wasn’t going to shrink away.
I needed to be bold.
Of course, my footsteps faltered the second I stepped out and saw Cash was in the kitchen. His back to me as he nursed a cup of coffee, staring blankly out the window that was over the sink.
But I knew he could feel me. The way his muscles bunched in a bow like he needed to guard himself from my presence.
Or maybe he was only trying to block the image of me last night.
Now he had on a fresh white tee. The fabric was stretched thin across his wide, wide back. He wore a cap on his head, and his jeans were snug, only hinting at that insane body hidden underneath. He had almost a country vibe to him, though that casualness was written in a dark type of peril.
A pure dichotomy that I couldn’t make sense of.
The one thing I knew for sure?
The man was hot as hell.
A blaze I could feel rushing over my skin.
Far better than I’d even been able to express to Hadley.
All glowery and broody and…
“You shouldn’t be looking at me like that.”
Crap. I bit down on the inside of my cheek as he grunted it.
Flustered, I tried to come up with an explanation. Some way to tell him it had nothing to do with him.
Only he spoke before I had the chance. “We’re gonna pretend like what happened last night didn’t.”
“Oh, I…” I shifted from foot to foot.
“Coffee is ready,” he said like he never brought up the subject.
I hesitated for a beat before I floundered my way toward the kitchen.
Agony left me on a yelp when a sharp pain suddenly shot through my foot and up my leg.
“Holy frick,” I rasped under my breath, trying to hold it in.
Did I literally stub my freaking pinky toe on the edge of the island?
My knees buckled with the torment, and I grabbed onto the granite countertop to support myself, biting down on my tongue to keep from crying out.
I was convinced nothing in the world hurt worse than stubbing your toe.
Delivering three children had been a piece of cake compared to this.
Okay, fine, epidurals and all, but—
“Goddamn it, Daisy. Are you okay?” Cash bit out, suddenly in my face and taking hold of the outside of my arm.
“Stubbed…my…toe,” I gasped as I hobbled around, jumping on the other foot as the sharp pain spread out to a horrible throb.
“Of course, you did,” he grumbled under his breath. He almost sounded irritated by it.
“Yes, of course I did,” I hissed low. “What sane person would put an island right out in the middle of the room to trip over?”
Those hazel eyes narrowed, and he turned on his heel and rounded back into the kitchen.
It was fairly simple.
A long counter against the back wall with the sink in the middle and the dishwasher to the right of it. The refrigerator and double oven were on the left.
The large island ran perpendicular to it, and the stovetop was in the middle of that.
It was all done in brown wooden accents and raw stone, the same as the rest of the cabin.
“Okay, fine, your decorating skills are stellar. I’m just clumsy, remember?” I managed as I fumbled my way around into the kitchen, putting all the pressure on my heel as I went.
Cash didn’t humor me with a response.
He only moved for the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of creamer and set it next to the coffee maker.
A coffee cup was already there, along with a ceramic container of sugar.
Affection ballooned in my chest.
Foolish, I knew, but still…
I eased the rest of the way to where he left the items, and I poured coffee to halfway then dumped creamer in to fill the rest. Then I dosed it with three tablespoons of sugar.
The spoon clanked against the ceramic as I stirred, and I bit at the inside of my cheek since I could feel the heat of his gaze burning into me.
The man stoic and hard as he lifted his cup and put it to his plush lips.
His thick throat bobbed as he swallowed.
The air crackled around him.
I swore, every move he made hit me like a landslide.
A churning tide that rose too high.
I struggled for breath then lifted the cup to my mouth, peeking over at him as I did.
“You were out late,” I chanced. Maybe that would open a line of communication since the man basically refused to speak. Except for when he’d opened up to me for a flash last night.
When he’d called me his Wallflower and grazed the pad of his thumb over my wrist.
Gentle the way he used to be.
But apparently that man had walked out with Cash last night since right then his entire body tightened in a fist.
Like I’d delivered some sort of wound-inflicting blow.
He warred, his strong jaw tight before he finally rumbled, “Had some business to attend to.”
“At two in the morning?”
Damn it, I was about the shyest person around, but I never could keep my mouth shut around him.
He shifted toward me.
A tidal wave of animosity.
He leaned in my direction.
He smelled of the woods and fresh, clean soap.
I bet if I ran my fingers through his hair, it would still be damp.
“Don’t try to dig inside me, Daisy. You aren’t going to like what you find.”
I lifted my chin, hoping it wasn’t shaking. “I always liked everything about you.”
He barely shook his head. “I’m willing to bet that is about to change.”
He seemed…angrier this morning. As if something had cracked between when he left last night and right then.
Maybe it was me having the audacity to touch myself in his bed. What kind of houseguest was I?
“Never,” I rushed.
Cash might have been staring me down, but something in those hazel eyes shifted. Something soft cloaked in the hard edges that had shaped him.
Intensity billowed in between.
Uncertainty and old, old dreams.
He suddenly pulled away, and he shifted to plant both hands on the island counter. “Spent the morning trying to track down your ex.”
Spite poured from his mouth, while a gush of dread spiraled through the middle of me.
Terror at the thought that Ethan could be anywhere. Right here, lurking in this place that somehow made me feel sheltered and secure. Knowing he wanted me dead. Not sure the lengths that he would go to achieve.
But I was also caught up in wondering how in the world Cash would track him down?
I gulped, before I forced out craggy words. “Did you find him?”
The shake of Cash’s head was sharp, and his tattooed hands turned into fists against the stone. “No, but I will. I promise you.”
My brow pinched. “How?”
“Have my ways.”
My stomach tightened at the way he said it. It was almost a threat. An innuendo. Like he was trying to tell me something that he couldn’t.
“Did you think about what I asked you?” I choked it out, turning to what was most important.
The laugh he released was hollow. “It’s the only thing I’ve been thinkin’ about, Daisy. That and how when I’m finished it’s not going to be necessary. Until then, you and those kids stay here.”
It’s not going to be necessary.
What was he implying?
I should be scared of it.
Of him.
But I…wasn’t.
“Cash—”
He shot upright and turned his back to me as he started for the front door. “I have things to do.”
Right.
Okay.
He’d somehow lost his knack for deep conversation, and I guess that subject was closed.
Temporarily because I wouldn’t be swayed so easily.
“All right, then,” I said, as bright as I could when I wanted to press him for being a dick.
But I guess I had imploded his quiet little world then turned around and asked the world of him.
I needed to cut the guy some slack.
“I need to go into town and get some things for the kids. I’m going to walk to where I left my car then—”
I reared back when he whirled around. “You don’t go out that door without me.”
“I—”
He shoved out his hand.
I stared at it blankly.
“Keys,” he grunted.
Oh, right.
I shuffled around him and headed into his room, fumbled through my purse and found my keys, then came rushing back out.
I managed not to stub any toes going either direction.
One small miracle at a time.
I dropped them into his palm. “I parked it in the campground to the north of your land. It’s a white BMW SUV.”
“Is it your car?”
“No, it’s a rental. I didn’t want him to track me.”
“Good.”
A frown dented my brow. Cash seemed to get stuck on it, just staring at the spot, before he moved his head from side to side as if shaking himself out of something and strode for the door.
“I’ll get the things you need. You’re not going anywhere until I make sure it’s safe,” he directed as he disengaged the alarm and worked through the locks, and he didn’t look back before he stepped out then reset everything.
Turned out, my kids were totally right.
He was a big, grumpy giant. I just prayed somewhere inside him there was a soft, gooey middle.
I guess maybe there had to be because two hours later, he rolled into the drive with my car. He got out and pulled a ton of shopping bags from the back.
He came inside and set them on the dining table to the left of the door under the window.
There was clothing and toiletries and everything we could need.
But what stole my breath was there was also every sort of toy.
Nerf guns for Colin, a bag of pink and white large blocks that I thought he must have intended for Eva, and a beading kit for Addy.
The kids came racing down the hall, shrieking and laughing when they saw the haul.
“Whoa, is this all for us?” Colin peeped, his eyes wide.
“Yeah, it’s all for you.”
“No footballs?” I probably shouldn’t have asked it, but I couldn’t help imagining Cash from back in the day.
Only he bowed back when I said it, as if he’d been struck.
“No. No footballs.” Cash said it so low, it was barely heard.
With the pain that suddenly leached out of him, I thought he’d turn and walk away, but he set another bag on the floor and watched as the kids dumped out another bag.
It had three bears. Each the same though different colors. He peeked over at me, almost awkwardly. “For when they sleep.”
My chest squeezed.
“I think you bought the whole store.” Colin looked dazed as he gazed at everything. “I’m really glad we found you, Mr. Cash.”
Addy dug into another bag. One filled with boxes of snacks. She held up the box.
Red Vines.
“Hey, did you know these are my mom’s favorite?”
His throat bobbed as he pinned me with those hazel eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do.”