Chapter 31
31
ASPEN
I t was the stiff silence, the almost palpable tension suddenly filling the truck that jerked my focus from the camera to glance between the two men. The question asking what was wrong never left my parted lips when I tracked their pointed stares to the decked-out Escalade parked in front of the path that led to my cabin.
The single parking spot was reserved for my cabin. The only time it was occupied since checking in was when the guys came to pick me up or drop me off.
Odd.
My stomach rolled with the rush of nervousness flooding through my veins.
I carefully set the camera on my lap. “Wonder who’s SUV that is?” I asked, my voice shaking from my heart slamming into my chest. Something was wrong, very wrong, but I didn’t have the faintest clue what. That was almost more nerve-racking.
“No idea. Looks like a rental,” Aiden murmured, leaning forward and squinting like that would help us identify the owner. His sharp whistle pierced through the truck. “A fancy rental. Who knew something like that even existed in Anchor Bay.”
Miles parked the truck directly behind the SUV, blocking it in. I shot him a confused look when he turned off the engine.
“If it’s the same person who broke into your cabin, I don’t want them to leave until I talk to him or her first.”
“And by talk, you mean…” I arched a questioning brow, though I had a feeling I knew exactly what he meant based on his fierce tone.
Miles’s lips curled upward in a knowing smirk. “That depends on them.”
“Miles,” I protested, but that was all I got out before he shoved open the door and stepped onto the plowed asphalt. His command for Jubie to stay in the truck’s bed rang out before the door shut.
Shaking my head in exasperation, feeling this was getting blown out of proportion all because of someone parking in my spot, I swiveled to face Aiden, hoping he’d be the reasonable one. “Please don’t make a big deal out of someone taking my spot.”
His honey-brown eyes cut my way before focusing on the SUV once again. “What if it’s more than that, Aspen? What if the person in that Escalade is here for you, knew this was your cabin?”
I blinked at Aiden, my mind suddenly going blank. “Why would someone be here for me?”
“Let’s find out before we all get worked up over this.” Interlacing our fingers, he lifted my hand to press a kiss to the back and shoved the door open with the other, guiding me out of the truck after him.
Miles stood at the driver’s side door, hands cupped around his eyes to peer into the SUV. Stepping back, he shook his head to let us know no one was waiting inside.
Aiden’s hand tightened around mine, squeezing until I let out a hiss of pain and attempted to yank free. He flashed me an apologetic expression before tugging me down the path, following Miles.
Pulse racing, blood pounding in my ears, I kept my head on a swivel, glancing every which way for the owner of the SUV. The memory of the night I felt followed on the way to the main building had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
At the base of the stairs that led to the closed front door, we stopped at Miles’s back when he held up a hand. Holding my breath, I waited, listening for whatever froze him in his tracks. From the other side of the cabin door came a muffled male chuckle followed by a loud voice, though the words were too distorted to make out.
Before I could even come to terms with the idea that someone was in my cabin, both men had their sidearms drawn and pointed at the closed door.
“I’ll lead. You cover.” Miles glanced down at me over his shoulder. “Aspen, stay between us until we know who we’re dealing with and what they want.”
Eyes wide, I turned to Aiden but couldn’t get a word out. Features firm and emotionless, the happy and mischievous man I had hopelessly fallen for was nowhere to be found.
Despite Miles’s size, his boots didn’t make a single sound as he moved up the steps and reached for the door, testing the handle. Lips pursed tight, he sent a clipped nod back to Aiden, who shifted behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Holding up three fingers, Miles slowly ticked them down.
Shoving the door open, he stormed into the cabin, gun raised immediately, causing surprised shouts to cut through the tense silence. My ears perked up, the tone and cadence of a voice catching my attention.
I knew that pompous and arrogant voice. All too well, considering I’d heard it almost every day for the last few years. Anger quickly replaced the bubbling fear, sending raging heat burning through my veins.
“You’ve got to be kidding me right now.” Shrugging off Aiden’s hold, ignoring his barked demands for me to wait, I barreled into the cabin, knowing exactly who I would find inside.
Weaving around Miles, who stood blocking my view, I stopped beside him, crossing both arms over my heaving chest, and glared at James fucking Peoples, who stood in the middle of the room with both hands in the air.
The happy bubble keeping reality at bay the last few days popped, my past and present colliding in the tiny cabin.
“What the hell are you doing here, James?” Movement from the other side of the room snapped my gaze toward the couch. I scoffed with an eye roll at the creepy asshole Charles sitting with his hands raised. “Now we know how you got into my cabin when I know for certain I locked it yesterday.”
Charles’s gaze narrowed as he slowly lowered a hand to gesture toward James. “Mr. Peoples said you were expecting him, and he would be more comfortable waiting for you in the cabin. A celebrity like him, of course, I accommodated his request, and him being your fiancé, I allowed him access to your cabin.”
My arms dropped to my sides like deadweight while my jaw hung open.
“Her what ?” Aiden practically growled at my back.
With one more scathing glare at Miles, who had yet to lower his gun, James shifted his attention my way. In a flash, the annoyance and anger were gone, and his famous fake mask that had fooled the world was in place. His bright blue eyes, which had drawn me in at one time, softened as a wide smile spread across his face.
“I’ve been worried sick about you, Aspen. Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you to return here at the resort since yesterday.” His mask slipped a fraction, some of his arrogance showing through, as he eyed Miles and Aiden. “Who are these two men with guns? Come over here where it’s safe, sweetie. I’ll protect you.”
A humorous laugh escaped as I shook my head in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing here, James?” I repeated.
His features hardened. I knew it was because I didn’t immediately follow his orders. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? I came to retrieve you and take you home.” Pressing his lips into a tight line, he looked over his shoulder at Charles. “You were a big help, and I thank you for being so very accommodating, but I need to talk to my fiancée alone. This is a private conversation.” His blue eyes flicked to the two men at my side, a minuscule sneer curling his lip. “That goes for you two as well.”
“Not going to happen,” Aiden responded at the same time Miles snapped, “Fuck off.”
James’s nostrils flared with annoyance, clearly not liking their responses. “This is between me and Aspen. As a known name, I don’t want anyone else hearing about my private life only for you to run off and sell the story or post it on social media.” When I didn’t say anything, his narrowed gaze landed on me. “Sweetie, this is insane. It’s time to stop all this.”
Hands back on my hips, holding on tight to keep from wrapping them around his throat, I met his glare and arched a challenging brow. “Stop what, exactly?”
Back pressed to the wall, Charles inched his way around the room. Miles’s alert gaze tracked his every move until he turned and bolted out the door. A fraction of the tension in my shoulders eased when he disappeared from view. The man made me uncomfortable in a way I couldn’t describe, and I hoped it was the last time I saw him—which was probably wishful thinking, considering how small Anchor Bay was.
“Aspen,” James snapped, grabbing my attention away from the open doorway.
“Don’t you fucking raise your voice at her,” Miles barked, taking a challenging step toward James. My heart squeezed at the steel in Miles’s tone.
“Why don’t you leave like I told you to,” James retorted, crossing his arms defensively over his chest.
Like a thousand-pound weighted blanket wrapped around me, exhaustion from the last twenty-four hours had me stumbling to the couch on trembling legs. Falling onto the stiff cushions, I leaned forward, elbows pressed to the top of my thighs, resting my face in both palms.
“Stop acting like you have any authority here. Just say what you came to say, James.” My weary voice carried through the silent cabin.
When no one responded, I peered through my fingers. Across the room, Aiden leaned against the front door, concern lining his features as he studied me. Miles still stood across from James, but his gun was now lowered, though not holstered, and James had covered his earlier anger and annoyance with the fake mask he wore so well.
“Sweetie—”
I tossed up a hand, slicing it through the air. “Don’t call me that. Ever again.”
With a quick, assessing glance at the tense Miles, James took a hesitant step toward the couch, hands raised as if approaching an upset animal. “I came here for you, sweet—” I leveled him with a scathing, narrowed-eyed glare, stopping him before he could finish. He nervously cleared his throat. “I came here for you, Aspen.”
“Why would you do that?” I groused.
His perfectly shaped brows rose a fraction, as much as all that Botox would allow. “I know why you left.” Gaze flicking between me and the guys, James inched around the narrow coffee table to sit on the couch next to me. I immediately leaned the opposite way to put distance between us. “I came to tell you in person that I understand what you’re doing and to bring you back to Seattle, where you belong.”
I gaped at him. “What exactly do you understand I’m doing?”
His gentle laugh and pat on my knee were all kinds of patronizing. “Leaving without notice, flying to Alaska—it was all to regain my attention.” Somehow, my jaw dropped even lower in utter disgusted astonishment. What the what? “Listen, I know I’ve been hyper-focused on my career as of late, but I did that for you, for us. Don’t you see? I was building a life where you didn’t have to work or go out on-site with me and the others. Everything I’ve done was for you. I never lost sight of what was really important, but after this disappearing stunt of yours, I realized you did.”
“What you never lost sight of was how my pictures and research elevated your career to what it is today. I wasn’t important to you. You needed me. There is a huge fucking difference.”
“You, Aspen,” he emphasized. I snorted and rolled my eyes. “I never lost sight of you, though it would appear I didn’t make that clear. Which is why I’m willing to overlook all this when we get back home, and I’ve talked with HR?—”
“What will you overlook?”
Aiden winced, rubbing a shoulder at his ear to ease the pain from my high-pitched shriek.
James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in obvious exasperation. “You leaving with no warning or note. You could’ve talked to me and told me you felt ignored. I would’ve corrected your assumption that I was focused on us and redirected your frustrations to the actual cause.”
“Which is?”
“You’re jealous, and that’s okay. But I don’t care about my fans. I only have eyes for you.”
“I was jealous,” I repeated, voice flat.
“But you left with no notice, leaving me fucking worried out of my mind and without a photographer this past week.” Ding, ding, ding. There it was. The real reason for his frustration and coming here. “This irresponsible and drama-type behavior isn’t like you, Aspen. Don’t let your emotions ruin the great thing we have going.”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to speak, my mind having gone blank.
“I’m willing to move past all this,” he continued. “Forget the last few days ever happened because I love you that much. And I have something that will help you feel more secure in our relationship. Help settle your neediness a little.”
What’s the prison time for murder these days?
At my nonresponse, James’s worried features shifted into a wide smile. Tilting to the side, he dug something out of the back pocket of his too-tight jeans. My stomach dropped when his fingers unfolded, exposing the small velvet bag resting in the center of his palm. I wrapped both hands around the tops of my knees to hide how badly my entire body shook. “I know you’ve wanted this commitment for a while, and I think it’s time to make us official.” Pulling the ties he tipped the bag depositing an enormous diamond ring into his hand. “We make a great team, you and me, and now the world will know you’re mine. I’ve already scheduled a press release to announce?—”
That was it. Finally, my frozen brain fired back to life. “What the fuck did you just call me?” I shoved up from the couch, backing away from the ring like it held a venomous snake instead of a huge fucking diamond ring.
James’s smug expression shifted to confusion. “Mine? Why are you shocked? You are mine, always have been.”
Overwhelmed, I shook my head, trying to make my thoughts make sense. Ripping out the band around my thick hair, I ran my fingers through the long strands, gripping it into a makeshift ponytail at the base of my neck. Gaze lowered, I inhaled deeply to center myself enough to respond to the delusional man I was once infatuated with.
“I can state with a hundred percent certainty that I am not yours, James. All I have ever been is a convenience, someone you only paid attention to when you needed me for something. You’re kidding yourself, seeing what you wanted to see.”
“Are you drunk?” He shoved off the couch, fake concern back on his face. “You’re not acting like yourself, Aspen.”
Nostrils flaring with a deep inhale, I released it slowly through pursed lips in an effort to calm the rage bubbling inside me.
“This, you and me, whatever toxic mess we were, is over.” His eyes went wide in surprise. “I didn’t leave to get your attention. I left because I walked into the conference room and found your head between Barbara’s thighs.” A shocked expression flashed across his face before it morphed into one of disappointment. “And you know what? I’m glad I did. It proved to me that I didn’t matter, showed me what a damn idiot I had been for years. Years , James.” I took a menacing step toward him. “I did your bidding, waited for the tiny crumbs of affection you gave me, all because I thought I loved you.”
“Aspen.” James sighed dramatically. “I’m sorry you had to witness that with Barbara. It’s not what you think.” I waved a hand, giving him the floor to explain. “You’re perfect for me, Aspen. We love all the same things, and your talent with mine makes us perfect. But don’t take this the wrong way?—”
“I’d be careful how you finish that sentence,” Aiden cut in. “Let me know if you want my gun, sweetheart.” His carefree wink my way was forced, but I appreciated it all the same.
“It’s just that… look at you.” I held out a hand, palm up in Aiden’s direction, and waggled my fingers for his firearm. “I love you, but I’m just not that attracted to you anymore.” A hundred-pound weight dropped in my stomach. His words didn’t matter, but they still hurt. “Maybe if you wore makeup more or fixed your hair some other way than that plain ponytail thing you do. You could try going blonde like I suggested last year?—”
Miles moved faster than I could track. One second, he was feet away from James; the next, a loud crack rang through the cabin, followed by James’s pain-filled scream. I gaped at Miles’s muscular back as it shifted with his labored breaths. On autopilot, I walked to his side, pressing a gentle palm to his lower back so I didn’t startle him. A barked surprised laugh escaped at seeing James on the floor, holding his jaw, blood dripping from the corner of a split lip.
Miles’s furious expression shifted to me, immediately softening. Wide palm cupping my jaw, he brushed a thumb along my cheekbone. “No one talks about you that way. No one.”
I nodded slowly, letting him know I heard him.
Scanning my face one more time, he shifted his attention back to James. “Aspen is perfect in every way, and it speaks to how fucking shallow and self-absorbed you are that you would even suggest she change anything about herself. And she was right. She’s never been yours and never will be.”
“And what?” James scoffed, pressing against the floor to sit up. “You think she’s yours?”
Aiden’s heavy arm draped over my shoulders and tugged, sealing me against his side. “Ours, actually.”
James’s blue eyes widened in shock. “You’re fucking kidding me. Aspen, you cannot be serious.”
I leaned more weight into Aiden, loving his support. “I’m not going with you back to Seattle, James. I’ve decided I’m staying here in Anchor Bay.”
“With us.” Aiden planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Miles and I will take good care of her.”
James shoved off the floor to stand and dusted off his designer jeans. “So what, you’re going to stay here because you’re getting gangbanged?—”
Miles gently caught me before I could fall when I stumbled to the side because Aiden’s body was no longer there to support me. The cabin vibrated, wood groaning when James’s spine slammed against the wall, held there by Aiden’s hand around his throat.
“What she does, what we do, is none of your concern. She’s happy, you fucking idiot. Can’t you see that? If you really loved her, then you would’ve seen how miserable she was back in the city.”
I released a slow breath to calm my racing heart and stepped out of Miles’s comforting hold. Hand on Aiden’s shoulder, I gave it a squeeze.
“It’s time for you to leave, James. Alone. I’m not going back with you?—”
“Why don’t you call your mother before you make any rash decision you can’t take back, Aspen?”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. Damn, he wanted to fight dirty. Should’ve expected this as a last-ditch effort to keep me doing his bidding.
“Did she tell you she called me to let me know where you were?” Of course she did. “She wanted me to come here to talk some sense into you. This isn’t just about you, Aspen. You’re being selfish. We could make this work. You just need to listen to us.”
Oh, they were a team now. How cute.
James’s wild blue eyes flicked to Miles, then Aiden before swinging back to me. “Do you think your mother will approve of this? Of her daughter getting railed by two fucking meatheads and staying in this Podunk, ass-backward?—”
Nope. He did not get to talk about them or Anchor Bay that way.
Pulling my arm back, I tightened my fingers into a fist and swung it at James’s face. Instantly, sharp pain radiated up from my hand, vibrating along my arm all the way to my shoulder. My sharp hiss whistled through my clenched teeth as I rapidly shook out my hand to ease the pulsing throb. It was Aiden’s laughter that had me stilling and finally taking in the aftermath of punching the bastard.
“Good girl,” Miles praised, running a hand down my spine in gentle strokes.
I shot him a dramatic pout. “Why didn’t you warn me that punching someone hurt so bad?”
Aiden’s arms wrapped me up from behind, squeezing me tight.
“That was sexy as hell, sweetheart,” he whispered in my ear.
“Pretty sure you think everything I do is sexy,” I said with a fake exasperated sigh.
Turning me around, he smiled. “Guilty as charged.”
Feeling an angry glare burning the back of my head, I turned to James, leaning against Aiden for support.
“I am staying here with them, and there is nothing you can do or say that will change my mind. I’m happy here. Really, really happy. I found my passion again, and these people, this town, are everything I never knew I needed. There is nothing waiting for me back in Seattle.”
James’s face dropped, as if only now it was sinking in that his plan to take me back home wouldn’t work.
“This is not how I saw this conversation going,” he muttered while tenderly prodding at his swelling lip.
“I don’t doubt that. You didn’t see me, haven’t really seen me in a long time, James. In this new chapter in my life, I’m putting myself and what I want first, and you’re not in it. I hope you have a safe trip home, and I really wish you well, James. Good luck with everything.”
Not having anything else to say, I turned and shuffled to the bedroom, softly closing the door behind me. With zero energy left in my exhausted body to shower, I stripped off my stiff and dirty clothes before pulling on a pair of comfortable shorts and a matching sweatshirt. The bed frame creaked when I collapsed face-first onto the mattress with a groan. The thick duvet molded around me. My sigh brushed across the soft material, relishing the comfort after sleeping on the hard floor the night before.
Raised voices sounded from the other room, followed by the front door slamming shut. Seconds later, the bedroom door creaked as it slowly swung open, and quiet footsteps shuffled toward me. Gentle fingers brushed a few rogue strands of hair off my face.
Aiden searched my face. “You okay, sweetheart?”
I nodded, hair rasping along the cotton material. “Is he gone?”
“Yep. Miles wanted to escort him back to the seaplane to tell Finley and Dax to get him back to Seattle before nightfall.”
I snorted. “Should’ve known he was the rich asshole they talked about picking up yesterday.”
“He’s not the only one in the world.” A soft sigh escaped me as his fingertips brushed up and down my back. “Naptime?”
“Yeah. I need a shower, but I can’t muster up the energy for that just yet.”
His lips pressed to my shoulder. “There’s time for that later. Sleep, sweetheart. I won’t let anything happen to you, and I’ll be right here when you wake up. You’re safe.”
As I drifted off to sleep, brain fuzzy and lips loose, I let three little words slip out.
“Love you, Aiden.”
His lips softly brushed over mine. “And I’m obsessively in love with you, Aspen Carter. You’re mine, and I’m—we’re—never letting you go.”
Sounded like perfection to me.