Chapter Two Sage
Chapter Two
Sage
“Yeah, lucky.” His gravelly voice echoes in my head as I stand there, staring at him like a lovestruck teenager. I’m pretty sure my mouth is still hanging open. Wait, am I drooling?
He’s smiling now, which makes him look even sexier than before—hard to top when he already looks like someone who just stepped out of GQ magazine.
His brown hair is neatly styled, and his chocolate-brown eyes glare at me as if he’s about to eat me alive.
His jawline is so sharp it could cut glass.
He’s wearing a white shirt that stretches over his muscular shoulders and chest, but my favorite features are his strong arms and large hands.
I can already imagine being wrapped up in them, cuddling closer . . .
“Can I help you with something else, Miss Featherstone?”
Miss Featherstone? Not for long. If I have a say in it, I’ll be Mrs. Travis whatever-his-last-name-is.
I wonder what kind of color palette would work well for a wedding at the lake. I’m mentally building a mood board for us when my mind jumps to kids.
Without thinking, I blurt out, “I wonder what our kids will call you. Dad, Daddy, or sir?”
Only when Travis looks at me in confusion does it sink in that I just said this out loud. Panicked, I backpedal. “I mean . . . kids in general, not our kids in the sense of me and you. I meant more like the world’s children. Our kids, like the people’s kids.”
I press my lips together to stop my rambling.
Even with my word vomit, this feels like the happiest fucking mistake of my life.
At first, I really thought this was Ryan’s cabin.
There were only a few pictures on the listing, and I may have been a little high yesterday when I booked the place.
So I wasn’t surprised when I pulled up and nothing looked familiar.
“So did you need something else?” Travis finally asks.
“Nope, that’s it, Mr. . . . ?” I wait for my future husband to give me his last name so I can google him later.
“Just Travis is fine.” No such luck.
Swallowing down my slight frustration, I give him a megawatt smile before begrudgingly turning away from him to walk out the door. As soon as my feet are planted on the front step, the door slams shut behind me.
Well, that was rude. But it’s okay, I’ve already forgiven him.
Maybe he’s in a hurry to get back to the awesome knife collection I spotted on the kitchen table.
I wonder what he does with them. Does he like to cook?
Or hunt? Maybe wood carving. Mmm, wood. I wonder what his looks like.
If the rest of his body is any indication, his cock must be magnificent.
Jesus, calm your tits, Sage.
I shake my head, trying to rattle some sense back into my brain, but my lady bits are on fire thinking about Travis that way. God, why does he have to be so hot?
Okay, get a grip.
I still need to find my actual cabin. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I unlock it. “Shit,” I say to myself when I see there’s zero signal out here. Calling Ryan is definitely out of the question now. How the heck am I supposed to find the correct Airbnb?
There’s only one option.
Spinning back around, I lift my arm and rap my knuckles over the wood. Not even a second later, the door is yanked open, and I shriek in surprise, shocked by Travis’s quick response. Hold on, was he waiting by the door? Did he want me to knock again?
A smile spreads across my face at the thought.
“Why are you still here?” Travis asks, his voice even but laced with annoyance.
Okay, maybe he didn’t want me to knock again. Regardless, I force my smile to remain intact. “I have no signal here,” I explain, holding up my phone to show him.
He doesn’t look at the screen. His icy gaze remains locked on mine. I swallow, awfully aware that no spit is left in my mouth. Why is his stare so intense? All he’s doing is looking at me, but all my senses are going haywire.
“We’re in the mountains, Miss Featherstone. No one has a signal up here,” he explains, like I should have already known that. He’s right. I’ve traveled enough to know that not everyone has a signal in rural areas like this.
“Could you tell me how to get to Ryan’s cabin?” I ask, giving him my sweetest smile as I attempt to bat my lashes.
I must suck at flirting, because he completely ignores my advances.
“Go back the way you came in, take the first road on the left, and keep going until you see the cabin on the right. It’s a half-a-mile walk.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I walk a lot anyway, when I’m hitchhiking—”
“You hitchhike?” he asks, shocked. “Do you know how dangerous that is? What the statistics are for the likelihood of a female falling victim to a crime while hitchhiking?” His voice is raised now, and he’s shaking his head like he’s disappointed in my life choices.
Oh my god, he’s totally worrying about me.
I can’t hold in my giddiness toward his reaction. I really think he likes me but is too shy to flirt back.
“Thank you for the directions.” I grin at him. “I’ll see you around.”
“We’ll see,” he says ominously before closing the door again.
We’ll see, indeed.
I can’t help but giggle as I turn, pick up my backpack, and walk away from his door.
There’s an extra pep in my step as I make my way down his driveway.
I just can’t stop thinking about Travis.
I don’t know what it is about him: his good looks or that he just doesn’t try.
He doesn’t care about pleasantries when around people; he’s honest and says what he thinks. I like his bluntness.
I notice his mailbox at the end of his driveway and immediately get excited.
Maybe his name is displayed on there. I speed walk to the black box on the other side of the driveway.
Excitement fills my veins with each step.
Only to go to hell when I get close enough to see that only numbers are displayed.
Still, there’s a little hope left in me. I walk up to the box, open the hatch, and look inside.
Bingo.
I grin widely at the piece of junk mail lying inside. I snatch it up quickly and flip it over: Travis Blacksburg.
“Mr. and Mrs. Blacksburg,” I say out loud, loving how fancy it sounds. Okay, I know I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. But damn, we would make a cute couple.
I briefly clasp the junk mail to my chest, holding it close to my heart like it’s a freaking love letter to me.
I give it a little kiss, then come to my senses and frantically wipe off the lip gloss with my possible DNA on it.
Snooping through someone’s mail is a crime, no matter if it’s your future husband.
Nope nope nope, I am not ready for prison. Especially not in leggings.
Only when I’m sure it’s clean do I stuff the thin paper back into the mailbox.
I look around as I close the hatch to see whether someone could have seen me. I should have done that before I committed a crime. Luckily, I see nothing but an empty road surrounded by a million trees.
Satisfied with myself, I follow Travis’s directions and make my way to Ryan’s cabin. It takes me less than thirty minutes to finally spot the large cabin to my right, just like Travis said.
This cabin is just as magnificent as Travis’s—built on the side of the mountain, surrounded by trees, and overlooking the lake.
I walk up the driveway and knock on the door. A few moments later it opens, and a middle-aged man appears on the other side.
“Hey, you must be Sage. I’m Ryan,” he says, pointing at his chest. Then he holds out his hand.
I lift my arm to shake it. He wraps his warm fingers around mine, squeezing lightly. He holds my hand a few seconds too long for comfort, but I keep a friendly smile plastered on my face.
He finally lets go, but not before I see his gaze lower to my tits, then he quickly glances away.
Not interested, my dude.
“Let me show you the cabin,” he offers. Stepping back, he waves his arm around to usher me in.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m sure I can find my way around,” I say, hoping he doesn’t push it. But of course he does.
“No, please, I insist. I want to make sure you know where everything is,” he quips, his muddy brown eyes watching me.
It gets harder and harder to force a smile. When all I want to do is throat-punch this weirdo so he’ll get out of here and leave me alone.
“This is the kitchen,” he tells me as we walk into the room that’s obviously the kitchen. Damn, I’m glad you are here to show me around.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur, my smile finally faltering.
“Not as beautiful as something else I’m looking at right now.”
Gag. Double gag.
Desperate to change the subject, I quickly interject, “So I met your neighbor Travis Blacksburg on the way to the cabin.”
“Travis who?” Ryan asks.
“Blacksburg, he lives about half a mile from here,” I explain.
“Hmm . . . that name doesn’t sound familiar. But I still don’t know all my neighbors.” He shrugs.
Interesting. Travis seems to know who Ryan is, but he has no clue who Travis is. That’s odd . . . and a shame. Since I was hoping to get some more info on my future husband.
“Oh, well, he was nice enough to give me directions to your cabin.”
Ryan just nods, his beady eyes now blatantly staring at my tits.
Wow. What a loser.
“So, Ryan, I don’t want to rush you out or anything.” Even though that’s exactly what I want. I’m just too damn polite to actually do it. “I’ve had a really long day and just want to lie down.”
“Of course, let me show you the bedroom, and then I’ll be out of your way.” He turns around and walks toward the staircase.
As soon as his back is turned, I reach into the outside pocket of my backpack, where I keep my pepper spray. Quickly fishing it out, I grip it tightly in my palm as I slip my bag off my shoulder to set it on the floor.
Ryan is already halfway up the stairs when I decide to follow him, reluctantly. I keep the hand with the pepper spray behind me, hiding it from him. After all, I’m relying on the element of surprise here.
He leads me down the hall and into the primary bedroom. An icky feeling of danger instantly spreads through me, sending a trail of goose bumps across my skin. With a knot in my stomach and my hand clutching the pepper spray for dear life, I step into the bedroom.
My heart beats against my chest as he turns around, his gaze pinning me once more. “So, Sage . . .” He licks his lips, taking a step closer to me. “Are you sure you want to stay here all by yourself? I could stay here with you, keep you company and maybe—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” I warn, quickly shooting my arm out in front of me.
I point the pepper spray right at his face.
“If I didn’t make myself clear before, I’m not interested.
So unless you want your eyeballs burned all the way out of their sockets with high-potency Mace, I suggest you back the fuck off. ”
Shocked, his eyes go wide and his mouth pops open as he immediately jumps a step back. His hands come up in front of him to protect his face. “Whoa, whoa, calm down!” he yells at me. “I was just being flirty.”
Flirty, my ass. Future sex offender is more like it.
“How about I just leave, and we can forget this whole incident ever happened,” he offers with a forced smile, his gaze darting to the door. “I actually have a flight to catch. Like I told you before, I’m leaving the country for a month.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Which is now the only reason I’m still staying here. “Just go already.” I tilt my head toward the door.
He nods, keeping his hands up. He walks past me with hurried steps and out the door. I keep pointing the pepper spray at him until he’s out of my sight. The sounds of his footsteps retreating and the front door slamming fill the cabin.
When I’m sure he’s gone, I suck in a deep breath and sigh in relief.
Knowing what kind of person he is now, I do a quick sweep for hidden cameras.
I’m probably overreacting, but Ryan creeped me out.
I’m seriously considering not staying here anymore .
. . but that would mean saying goodbye to Travis too.
After going downstairs, I lock and dead bolt the front door before making my way back into the kitchen, where I left my backpack.
Unzipping it, I pull out my laptop. Luckily, Ryan already sent me the internet password through the app. Logging in, I pull up Google, searching for Travis Blacksburg.
And just like that, I’ve become a stalker.