Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Jaxon opened Chloe’s phone and made sure there were no apps that could be used to track her. Then he checked that there were no tracking devices hiding on her phone. He repeated the process with Davin’s phone and then declared they were both clean.
The three of them drove to her bookshop, Jaxon following them in his sheriff’s truck. While she and Davin waited in his vehicle, Jaxon retrieved her purse and Davin’s laptop and case. He searched them for trackers and then handed them over.
They proceeded to her house a few blocks north of Main. She and Davin stayed outside while Jaxon cleared the house and then Jaxon and Davin waited in the living room while she showered and packed clothes and toiletries.
It was a relief to feel clean, put makeup and her own clothes on, and wash her hair.
The frizz had about taken her under. The look of appreciation in Davin’s eyes when she walked into the living room made her heart beat out of rhythm.
Had he really fallen for Robinette, or could Chloe have a chance with him?
She and Davin loaded all the fresh produce and dairy from her fridge and the bread and cookies on her counter into bags and walked outside, loading it all into the back of his SUV.
When he got her door, she murmured, “Thanks,” wondering how she’d be alone with him for an undetermined amount of time without revealing how she felt about him.
Chloe bit at the inside of her lip as Davin drove northeast of town toward his rental.
“This is so off my radar,” she muttered as they drove along the quiet road with the sheriff’s truck trailing them.
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to hide out with a famous author and pray some Guatemalan drug lord isn’t after us.”
Davin smiled at her, and she wanted to swoon like one of the characters in a Regency romance novel.
“First of all, I’m not just some famous author. I’m your friend Davin. Who you know very well.” He winked at her. “’When you know, you know.’”
She laughed at him quoting Sleepless in Seattle. She wanted to swoon again at him saying she knew him ‘very well’, but the ‘friend’ title wasn’t necessarily a good one. Was he dating Robinette or not? She was certain he wouldn’t call Robinette his ‘friend’.
“Second of all, thank you for trusting me,” he added.
“Sure thing,” she said, but then she realized she could be acting too gullible.
How well did she truly know him? It was possible he was the one who had knocked her out and now he was taking her to his house to do wild experiments on her in the name of book research.
“Should I trust you though?” she mused. “Not that you’d tell me if I shouldn’t. ”
“Yes, you should trust me,” he reaffirmed.
She really wished he’d reach over and wrap his hand around hers. That was what a hero in the book would do, but not his books sadly. There wasn’t a hint of romance in them.
“First of all, you can quote romantic movies but why don’t you write romance into your books?”
He jerked the wheel and they almost ran off the road.
“Sorry,” she exclaimed.
“No, I apologize.” His neck was darker, as were his cheeks. Had she embarrassed him? “My mom and sister occasionally forced me to watch romcoms.” He smiled but it slid away. “My books aren’t conducive to romance.”
“We might have to agree to disagree on that point.”
He glanced at her and his face softened in a smile. Dang those sunglasses covering his eyes.
“What’s the second of all?” he asked.
“There wasn’t one.”
“You can’t have a first of all and not expound with a second of all.”
“Oh, bother.” She folded her arms across her chest and looked pointedly out the window.
The ocean was below the bluff to their right.
They were driving through the northeast part of the island that used to be pine tree forest to the west and wild raspberry and blackberry bushes along the coast. Newer homes had taken out many of the berry bushes.
Most vacation rentals were in this beautiful spot overlooking the bluff and the ocean.
“I’m waiting patiently,” he told her.
She couldn’t help but laugh, but then she admitted in a falsely-terrified voice, “I was philosophizing if you were in fact the attacker, practicing the effects of Versed and knocking an innocent lady out for one of your books, and now you’re whisking me away to your home—with the blessing of our good sheriff, which kind of blows my mind—and you’re going to do wild experiments on me in the name of book research. ”
He chuckled.
She glowered at him, trying to hold the tease. There was an underlying feeling of danger, and she couldn’t discern if it was because of him, because of his association with this Garcia character, or because he was going to break her heart.
“Really?” She arched her eyebrows. “You can’t even take my concerns seriously and give me proper reassurances?”
He laughed louder and passed a hand over his face.
“You’re laughing at me.”
“Forgive me. I promise I would never hurt you in the name of book research.”
“I feel all kinds of reassured now.”
“You should. ‘I give you my word as a Spaniard.’” He looked at her, but she couldn’t get a read on his emotions with his sunglasses covering his eyes.
“‘No good,’” she countered with the next line from Princess Bride. “‘I’ve known too many Spaniards.’”
He grinned. “‘I swear upon the grave of my father … you will make it to the top.’”
Pulling off the winding road, he drove up to one of her favorite homes in this exclusive area. Well, as exclusive as Shadow Cove Island got.
“I can’t believe you’re renting the Window to my Soul home.
” She buried her likely ridiculous concerns as she envisioned not only being alone with Davin, but the two of them growing closer in this home that she had always wanted to tour with windows from front to back. She couldn’t wait to see inside.
“You should be the writer,” he teased.
She grinned and let her eyes swivel, taking in the idyllic scene.
The home was set on the bluff above the ocean, with a pine tree forest to the west and raspberry patches to the north and south.
On the east side, there was a stretch of grass, a fire pit, and steps down to the water, even a dock if one had a boat.
Which it didn’t look like Davin did, but who knew?
She again realized how little she knew about him.
The home was two stories, with gray clapboard siding and white trim, a wraparound porch, and massive windows overlooking the ocean and offering views of the pine trees and berry patches as well.
She could look straight through the glass front door and the front windows and see the wall of glass that made up the rear of the house and the ocean beyond.
The wraparound front porch was graced with hanging flower baskets and complete with rocking chairs.
Davin slid off his sunglasses and stored them. He slid out and walked around the front of the car to the porch to meet Jaxon. Davin entered a code, then stepped back and waited while Jaxon went in to search the house.
Chloe studied him from the passenger seat while they waited. His dark hair was tousled, his jaw firm and his muscles tight as he clenched his fists. Was he nervous to be alone with her or worried about this drug dealer coming after them?
Jaxon reappeared and said something to him. Davin nodded and then strode off the porch, Jaxon ambling behind him.
As always, Chloe was mesmerized by the way Davin moved—smooth, like a cheetah. Sometimes he came across a little awkward in his speech, as if he didn’t interact with real people on a consistent basis, but there was nothing awkward about the way he looked or walked.
He opened her door, offered his hand, and helped her out of his SUV. Her stomach fluttered, and she pressed her free hand to it. Was it his touch or this very beautiful house that she would be staying alone with him in?
Staying all night. With the man she secretly wanted to date.
Oh boy.
The flutters became a spring windstorm.
She felt confident that she and Davin wouldn’t do anything inappropriate, but simply being in his rental home, at night, alone …
The spring windstorm became a hurricane.
“I’ll watch until you’re inside and then take off,” Jaxon said from behind Davin, interrupting the moment.
“Thank you, Jaxon,” she said.
“Sure thing. Let me know if you want to go on a walk or hike, into town for dinner, work, church … basically anytime you leave the house.”
“We will,” Davin said. Chloe liked the sound of ‘we’, but she didn’t like the idea of being cooped up.
No matter how much being inside this home would feel like she was outside because of the many windows, she enjoyed getting outside every day, going for a jog or hike somewhere on her beautiful island, and visiting with friends and family.
“Let’s get you inside,” Davin said quietly, glancing around. “Security issues and all that.”
“Oh … okay.”
Did he know anything about security, or was he simply following Jaxon’s lead?
Maybe he understood security from his writing research, but not practical experience.
She was surprised Jaxon had agreed to let her stay with Davin.
Adam or Smith would’ve been the smarter choice, but Davin not having the rental or his credit cards in his name made it possible for her to stay with him.
She was appreciative of the way it was turning out.
This would mean more time with Davin and a chance to get to know him and start a relationship.
As long as they both stayed safe and she could get outside and go to work, it sounded like the ideal situation.
Davin opened the rear hatch and lifted her suitcase in his left hand and all the sacks of food in his right.
“I can help,” she offered.
“I’ve got it.”
She walked by his side, carrying only her purse, and appreciated the striations of lean muscle in his arms.