Chapter 2
WILLOW
Ifeel his eyes on me as I walk away, and I put a little extra swagger into my step, making my hips sway.
I’ve seen the cute veteran with the uptight attitude checking me out, and I don’t mind playing it up for him.
If he wants to check out my ass, I’ll make sure it swings.
Getting laid would probably do him good. It might make him relax.
I hate letting the team down, so I raced all the way here to try to be on time. But I’m not going to let him know that. It’s more fun winding him up.
Through the foliage, I spy bright orange overalls, and I follow the path that leads to an open area next to the main building.
“Hey, Janelle,” I greet my roommate. “Let me help.”
I rush to take a handle of the wheelbarrow she’s pushing. Inside are tins of fence paint, brushes, and other painting paraphernalia.
“Heard from the kids today?” I ask.
She shakes her head, and her lips form a thin line. “I don’t know what he’s poisoning them with.”
Janelle’s kids are staying with their father until she works off her community service. They’re fourteen and sixteen, and they’re all she thinks about. For the last two nights, they haven’t picked up her calls, and she’s worried their father will try to claim custody once she gets back.
I wish I had some reassurance to offer her. But we both know there’s nothing we can do.
“You want a chocolate bar?”
I pull the bar out of my pocket, and she gives the first smile I’ve seen from her in days. I stopped by the store on my way in to get them. They’re her favorite and what she used to crave when she was pregnant.
You share a room with someone for a few weeks, and it’s surprising what you talk about.
“Thanks, Willow. You’re an angel.”
She takes the bar and breaks off a piece, offering it to me.
“You have that. I’ve got my own.” I pull out my favorite, a bag of gummy bears, which reminds me of being a kid. When Mom would give my brother and me our dollar pocket money, we’d run straight to the corner shop and spend it on candy and chocolate.
Popping one in my mouth, I close my eyes, savoring the memory. Bare legs swinging on the bench outside the drugstore. Tyler pulling faces and making me laugh.
“Hey!” My eyes snap open to find Sergeant Serious striding over to me. “It’s not break time.”
He’s right. I haven’t lifted a paintbrush since I’ve been here. But there’s something about the way he’s coming for me that makes me want to wind him up. I want to see how mad I can get him and what happens when he bursts.
“Want one?” I hold out the bag of gummy bears. “You could use a bit of sugar,” I say with a smile and a wink.
He stops in front of me, and his nostrils flare as he looks at the bag. I keep the smile on my face, my neck tilted and my lashes lowered. Yup, I’m flirting with him, and the uptight ex-whatever he is has no idea how to cope with it.
He leans forward so his breath tickles my ear, and I gasp as heat skitters over my skin. When he speaks, it’s so low I think I’ve misheard him.
“And you could use a good spanking.”
When he pulls back to look at me, our eyes lock. His flash for a moment, and it’s enough to make every fiber of my body zing. Heat spreads up my neck as I stare at him.
Then, with a smirk, he turns away.
I watch, stunned, as he marches over to a group wrangling a tree from its pot into the earth.
Damn, he does know how to flirt, and he’s good at it too.
“Thanks, Willow.” The bag rustles, and I snap my attention away from the image of the hot veteran and his rough hand connecting with my bare ass.
Blaze, a scary-looking tattooed dude with the heart of a pussycat, takes a gummy from the bag.
“Share them around.” I murmur.
By the end of the day, I’m sweating through my clothes, and there’s brown paint all over my hands and some on my overalls, which is fine. They’re already splattered from my efforts this morning.
I help Janelle wash the brushes, and then we store the paint in the shed. I don’t mind the work. It’s nice to be outdoors, and they’re a nice bunch of people to work with. Well, most of them. Boxy is an asshole who thinks it’s funny to make sexist comments. But mostly everyone’s good.
“You want a ride home? I’ve got my car,” I ask Janelle once we’re done.
Janelle shakes her head. “Nah, I want to get back to the hostel, see if anyone’s tried to call there.”
She has a theory that the kids’ father has taken their phones, and they don’t know her number, so they might call the hostel to get hold of her. It’s far-fetched, but hope is currency, so I smile and promise I’ll see her for dinner.
Everyone trails off to catch the minivan, but I hang back. I like the peacefulness of the retreat. Nestled at the base of Wild Heart Mountain, a pine forest surrounds it, and the mountains loom behind.
It’s so different from the concrete and glass of the city. The sounds are different, with bird calls instead of car horns. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, enjoying the fresh air instead of car fumes.
I hope you’re somewhere as nice as this.
I offer up a silent message to my brother, wherever he is. I hope the wind carries my good thoughts to him.
My phone buzzes, and in my haste to pull it out of my pocket, I almost drop it. For an absurd minute, I think it’s my brother, and he’s somehow heard my message.
It’s an unknown number.
You owe us
My blood freezes in my veins. The phone shakes in my hand as I stare at the screen, the words burning into my retinas.
You owe us
There’s only one “us” it can be from.
Cold sweat breaks out over my body, and I gasp for air.
They don’t know where I am, I tell myself. It’s a scare tactic. Those fuckers are trying to scare me, and I won’t be intimidated.
But I can’t stop the trembling in my fingers.
I glance up, and the hot veteran is staring at me. He’s frowning, but it looks more like concern than anything.
“Everything all right?” He strides over, and I pocket my phone.
My heart’s racing, but the last thing I want to do is let this guy know. He’ll probably turn me over to the police.
“Just my dealer.” He already thinks badly of me, so I might as well play up to that.
His eyes go wide, and if I keep this up, he might explode.
“I’m just fucking with you. Relax.”
He puts a hand on his chest and lets out a long sigh. “Are you ever serious?”
“Not if I can help it.” I give him a sweet smile. Flirting with him helps me forget the text, forget the out-of-control feeling.
But apparently the distraction only works one way.
He indicates the pocket where I slipped my phone.
“But is everything okay?” He seems generally concerned, and I start to think there might be a beating heart under his uptight exterior.
My mind whirs with all the things in my life that are far from okay, but I’m not willing to share any of them with this stranger.
It’s better to flirt. Flirting is fun, and I need all the fun I can get right now.
“You know, you’ve been bossing me around all day, and I don’t even know your name.” I put on a smile, hoping for deflection, but he continues to peer at me suspiciously.
“I’m Hudson.”
I put my hand out. “I’m Willow.”
He takes my hand, and it’s so big it engulfs mine. His handshake is firm but not too tight, and it’s warm. Like, making my arm tingle kind of warm.
“I know who you are, Willow.” His voice is a low purr, and the way it rolls over my name makes heat jump through my entire body.
Then I realize what he said, and I jump away. “What do you mean?”
Could they have found me here? Is Hudson working with them?
His eyes go wide, and he puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Your name’s on my checklist.” He waves the clipboard he’s been carrying around all day.
On his checklist. Of course, that’s what he means. My heart starts beating again, and I try to pull up a smile but fail.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” There’s a gentleness about him that I haven’t seen previously. But he’s still a stranger. I know nothing about this guy, apart from the fact that he’s a veteran of some sort and he might like spanking.
“Yeah.” I tap my pockets for my car keys and hold them up. “I have to go. I’m making dinner for the girls tonight.”
Before I can leave, he captures the top of my arm in his strong hand. A reassuring warmth travels down my arm, making me jerk back in surprise.
“If you need anything, just ask.”