Chapter Five – Let It Burn #2
Seeing as the newlyweds weren’t taking their actual honeymoon until January, I’d promised to take care of Vader—and the herd of cats the dog had brought into the newlyweds’ lives—for the night.
I ran a finger over the dog’s silky head, and he whined. “Give them a night, Vader. Just a night. They’ve earned it. Come on, we’ll go home, feed your cats, and then you can keep me company if you’d like.”
He followed me to the parking lot behind the castle. I was almost to my SUV when I realized the light above it was out—the one I always parked under when I was going to be here late.
My mouth went dry, and my palms turned sweaty.
I had to force myself to breathe. It was just a broken light. These things happened all the time. Maintenance would fix it tomorrow.
I was safe here. Buying the house hadn’t led anyone to my trail. I’d just talked to Dawson last week, and there’d been nothing new to report from his end.
And yet, the shadows surrounding my vehicle continued to make my pulse race. The sooner I got home, the better. I opened the back passenger door, and Vader jumped in. I clipped his seat belt with rushed hands and shoved the door shut.
“I’m tired of leaving you messages that go unanswered.” A gritty, irritated voice leaped out of the darkness and made all the air in my lungs vanish. I lost my balance and had to use the SUV to steady myself before whirling to face the worst.
But the person who stepped from the shadows wasn’t the villain from my nightmares.
It couldn’t be.
Even knowing that simple truth didn’t calm the wild beat of my heart. I was still gasping for air, with my chest locked tight, as if I’d been thrown from a horse at a dead run.
Cooper’s brows were drawn together as he strode toward me, studying me with an intensity that rocked me to my core.
He’d lost the suit jacket he’d worn to the wedding, leaving him in a plain dress shirt that did nothing to hide the solid brick of his chest. He’d removed his tie and had it flung over his shoulder, with the top few buttons of the shirt undone and sleeves rolled up, showing off thick forearms.
His stunning good looks did nothing to help my poor frozen lungs. If anything, it stopped my breath further. He was easily the most attractive man I’d seen off a movie screen.
More attractive than even…
Just the mere idea of that other man was enough to blur my vision and have me tilting backward into the vehicle once more.
As if sensing my distress, Vader barked from the back seat and scrabbled against the strap holding him in. But I could do nothing to soothe him or myself.
“Hey.” Cooper’s voice softened as he took in my obvious panic, putting a surprisingly gentle hand to my elbow.
His touch scored me. Marked me.
I’d promised myself I’d never be marked again. But I couldn’t breathe well enough to tell him to back off. Instead, the world continued to spin, and I knew if I didn’t inhale, I’d faint. I’d be on the ground…helpless.
That thought only increased the pulse pumping through my veins, sealing my throat and preventing air from reaching me.
“Take a breath before you pass out,” he commanded. The simple fact he was a man used to giving orders that were followed only made matters worse.
I made a useless motion with a weak hand as adrenaline pounded through me, my body trembling uncontrollably.
I didn’t think Cooper would hurt me. It would be too public. Too visible. But then again, you never knew, did you?
No. No. Thinking of my past would not help me calm down.
Before I could register what was happening, Cooper had opened the front passenger door, pushed me into the seat with my feet hanging out, and shoved my head between my legs.
“Breathe, damn it. Nice and slow.”
Vader continued to whine.
Cooperate, body. Cooperate! With every ounce of willpower I had, I forced my mouth to unlock and accept the cool night air. And finally…finally, my lungs received the breath they’d so desperately needed. I gasped at the pain, as if it really was the first burst of oxygen after a hard fall.
“Slow. Count to four as you inhale, hold it for four, and then let it out for four,” Cooper insisted, rubbing my shoulder. He counted for me, as if I were a child. And I did as he told me because I didn’t have another option.
As my lungs slowly recovered and my body finally stopped shaking, anger and humiliation filtered in. At my body for betraying me. At this man for witnessing it.
I pushed the hand on my shoulder away. “Back off,” I snapped.
And he did just that, taking two steps away from me.
It helped to have the distance. It eased the crackle of electricity that sizzled through me whenever he was too close.
When my breathing was nearly normal and the trembling had all but stopped, I ground my teeth and finally sat up.
He was watching me, but I couldn’t read his expression. It was too dark, and he was turned away from the hotel’s lights, leaving his face a mix of shadows.
“What do you want?” I hissed.
“Before this little show”—he waved at me sitting in the SUV, still forcing myself to breathe—“I wanted a response to my damn messages. Now I want to know who the hell you’re afraid of and what they did to you.”
Tears threatened, ones I’d refused to shed for years now. I blinked furiously, jamming my teeth together again.
No way was I going to embarrass myself more by crying in front of him.
No way was I giving any man—let alone this cold, disapproving one—an ounce of my emotions ever again.