Chapter Fifteen
Kip
She’s lying to me. I don’t trust a word coming out of her mouth right now, but I can tell when someone is finished talking about something, so I shut my mouth.
I have breakfast waiting for her once she’s showered and dressed.
“I need to do some things at the library today, and then I’ll go by the police station.” She cuts her egg and lets the yolk run over her toast.
“And you’re sure you don’t want me there?” I say as I start washing out the frying pan.
“I’m positive. I’m sure you have work to do. I don’t want to be a distraction.”
A little late for that.
“I'm working tonight. I’ll see you at the restaurant,” she says.
I turn back around and study her. I’m trying to figure out what she’s got herself wrapped up in.
“Okay. Call me if you change your mind.”
“Of course,” she says. She finishes her breakfast without another word.
“I’ve got it.” I take her plate from her. She walks around the counter and gives me a little kiss on the cheek. My dick twitches as her body brushes up against mine.
“Thanks for this morning,” she whispers in my ear. All the blood rushes to my dick, and my brain has turned to mush like I didn’t just get off an hour ago.
I watch her leave, and then I grab my keys. She’s lying, and I’m going to figure out why.
I follow her into town - trailing far behind her in my truck. She doesn’t go to the library. She goes to the courthouse. I park down the street and watch her rush inside.
What had Hawk said? She was looking into property records and arrests.
I drag my hand over my mouth and down my chin.
This fucking woman. Every part of my brain is telling me to walk away.
Don’t follow her. Don’t get involved with her.
It cannot possibly end well. And then my stupid brain thinks about her big, puppy dog eyes.
It thinks about her body writhing under her own touch, and the breathless way she moaned my name when she came this morning, and I know there’s no walking away.
She exits the courthouse a few minutes later and returns to the car. She doesn’t head to the library or the police station. She heads out of town in the opposite direction of my place. Where the hell is she going?
We drive for a while. She’s heading into a sketchy area, and I’m growing more and more angry with her. Where the fuck is she going? What could she possibly be doing out here?
She pulls the car in front of the sketchiest looking rundown house and turns off the engine.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
She’s out of the car and heading toward the door.
Oh, hell no. There’s literally nothing good or safe or okay in that house.
I’m out of the car, stalking toward her. I’m so angry with her right now. What is she about to walk into?
I wrap my arms around her waist and put a hand over her mouth. She freezes - no breathing. No moving. Her whole body tenses. I know I’m terrifying her.
“What the hell are you doing, Ginger?” I growl in her ear.
As soon as she hears my voice, she starts to struggle and thrash.
“No way in hell I’m letting you go into that shithole,” I say. I’m dragging her backwards away from the house, and then she bites me. She fucking bites my hand.
“Ouch,” I yelp as I release her.
She whips around and shoves me.
“Serves you right, you ridiculous butthead.”
Butthead. There she goes again. It’s hard to take her seriously except she bit me pretty hard.
I’m shaking my hand.
“You bit me,” I hiss.
“You deserved it,” she growls.
I take her arm and start to drag her away from the house.
“No.” She digs in her heels.
“Ginger, don’t be so difficult.”
“Kip, this is none of your business. I can’t believe you followed me. Let me go.”
“Fuck this,” I say as I lunge forward and pick her up before she can even fight me. I throw her over my shoulder, ass straight up in the air. I stomp back toward the car.
“Put me down, you stupid, grumpy caveman,” she says.
“Not a chance, cupcake.” I storm over to my truck and drop her down in front of it. She actually tries to lunge past me, but I block her path and wrap my arms around her.
“Don’t you ever give up?” She’s stronger than she looks, considering her size and the fact that she has a broken arm.
“No,” she says, wrestling me. I’m much bigger and stronger, but I’m impressed with how hard she’s fighting.
“Stop it,” I say. “You are not going into that house.”
“I have to, Kip.” She stops fighting and starts crying.
Oh, fuck me. I much preferred the fighting.
“Ginger, just tell me what’s in the house so I can help you.” I say.
“I can’t, Kip. I can’t.” Her bottom lip is quivering. She looks up at me with those big, watery eyes.
My anger dissolves for a moment. It’s impossible for me to stay angry with her while staring into those eyes. I pull her into my body and wrap my arms around her.
“I just want to help,” I say.
“I need to do this alone.” Her body is shaking.
“Why?”
“I just do.”
I take a deep breath and then step back from her. “I’m going first.”
She blinks a few times. I point at her. “You stay here. I mean it, Ginger. Stay here, and I’ll go check it out.”
She blinks a few more times without responding.
“Do I need a gun?” I ask.
“Do you have a gun?”
“Of course.”
She flinches.
“It’s Alaska, of course I have a gun. There are bears and moose everywhere.”
She just blinks.
“Do I need it?” I ask again.
“Probably,” she answers, and my blood pressure rises.
I go into my truck and grab it. It’s a hunting rifle.
I only keep it because well, it’s Alaska.
You never know when you might break down in the middle of nowhere and need to survive in the wilderness.
I never thought I’d consider using it on a person.
I was hoping that in the worst case scenario, I’d use it to scare off a bear.
I’m pretty annoyed I’m in this situation at all, but there’s no way in hell I'm letting her go in.
I turn to her. “Stay. Here.”
She nods.
I go to the door. It’s slightly ajar. I knock and call out. No answer. I knock again, and the door opens slightly.
“Hello,” I call. “Anyone home?”
The smell coming from the house is horrifying. I move my shirt over my mouth and nose. I hope whoever lived here is long gone.
I push the door open further and step inside. I hear something behind me, and I whip around, gun drawn.
“It’s just me,” Ginger says.
I’d like to murder her right now. “What part of stay here didn’t you fucking understand?”
I’m about to throw her over my shoulder again, but she leans in closer to me and doesn’t answer.
“Doesn’t look like anyone is here,” she finally says.
I glare at her. “You should be at the car.”
“But I’m here now.” She’s holding her head high, avoiding eye contact with me.
She slips around me and steps into the house.
“Ginger,” I hiss. She’s across the room before I can grab her hand.
“We need to go.”
“I can’t, Kip. Just let me look around.”
“You have three minutes.” I growl. She looks relieved and nods.
I watch her scan the room. She spots a filthy doll, and she picks it up.
She’s blinking back tears. She sets it down and looks at some bills on the table.
She walks down the hallway, and I follow her.
She peaks into each bedroom. She freezes as soon as she sees the last one. Her hand flies over her mouth.
I step around her. There’s blood splattered all over one of the walls. It looks like someone’s been shot. She’s shaking, and I pull her backwards.
“We’ve got to go.” I drag her down the hallway.
Right as we’re about to leave the kitchen, she spots something in the corner and gasps.
It’s an old brush. Like a really old-fashioned brush with the soft bristles.
It’s the only thing in this place that isn’t filthy somehow.
She reaches out and grabs it. As she studies it in her hands, she’s lost. Gone somewhere else.
“Ginger.”
She doesn’t even hear me. I don’t want to be here one second longer. There’s nothing safe about this place.
“Ginger,” I say louder. Finally, her head jerks up.
“Time’s up.” I grab her arm and yank her toward the door. She holds the brush close to her body with her other hand.
Once I get her out to my truck, I open the door and point, “Get in.”
“No.”
I’m about to pick her up and toss her in.
“I can’t leave the other car,” she hisses.
Damn it, she’s right.
“Fine, but you’re going straight back to my place, and we are talking about this,” I say. “I’m following you. Don’t try to go somewhere else.”
Her eyes are blazing right now, but she finally cuts them away from me and sighs heavily.
“Fine.”
I’m still gripping the rifle in my hand as I watch her all the way to her car. As soon as she’s in her car with the door closed, I put the rifle away, hop into my truck, and follow her back to the house.