Relief poured through him as he turned and saw Damon standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, and a menacing look on his face.
“Get us out of here,” Sarah ordered. “Now!”
After a quick, grateful nod to Damon, he gripped her shoulders tighter, bowed his head, and swam his way through the crowd around them, shoving people away as he led her to his truck.
“My car’s over there,” she said.
“Do you want them to know what car you drive and your plate number?” he asked. “Because they won’t leave you alone once they find out your name.”
“And whose fault is that?” she shot back.
“Look, I’ll drive around, and we can find somewhere to lay low for a bit. Damon’ll have them dispersed, and we can circle back to get your car.”
“I—fine.”
He opened the passenger side door for her, but she waved his hand away when he attempted to help her in.
“I can get in by myself.” Flipping her long, sleek ponytail back, she climbed in.
After the door shut, he walked around slowly, trying to figure out what to do now. He hadn’t meant to blurt out she was his wife, but seeing another male so close to her drove him and his grizzly crazy.
And now, he’d ruined things. How was he going to fix this mess?
Or, maybe, you don’t have to, a voice inside him seemed to say.
Most people thought Daniel was a “nice guy” and could never do wrong. Indeed, he took pride in that he had principles and took honesty and integrity seriously. A man wasn’t a man without his word and his honor, Pops used to say.
But sometimes, he thought about what it would be like to be selfish and think of himself first for once. If he just said fuck it, and took whatever he wanted.
And he wanted Sarah.
Maybe, just this time, he didn’t have to be the good guy. He could bend some of the rules, be more flexible with his principles knowing the outcome would favor him. He could keep Sarah, and all he had to do was stretch the truth a little bit.
Chapter Four
Sarah fumed as she sat inside Daniel’s truck, waiting for him to walk around and get into the driver’s side. The damned man took his time, slowly trudging around to make his way to the other side.
Man? Well that was one thing to call him, she guessed. When he let out that inhuman roar, she knew he was one of them. A shifter. It was obvious now, like a strange feeling that she always knew. Perhaps it was because she grew up with Darcey that she could tell. She knew of a couple regulars at The Griffin who were shifters, plus it was rumored that the owner of the casino himself was one of them, though no one really knew who or what he was. But the idea that Daniel was a shifter never even entered her mind.
Why hadn’t they reported that on the news websites she’d read? To be fair, she didn’t spend a lot of time reading those articles. She just looked up where Blackstone was and started planning her trip and getting the annulment papers ready, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible.
But, if she were honest with herself, she’d avoided reading the news articles because she didn’t want to keep staring at his picture. It seemed the longer she stared into that handsome, movie star face and silvery blue eyes, more bits and pieces from that night came back to her mind.
Do you think maybe we should get out of here? Have some fun of our own? a voice that sounded like her own said.
I’ll follow you to the end of the world if you ask me to, baby doll
“Are you all right, Sarah?”
Daniel’s voice—his real one—broke into her thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Leaning back into the leather seat, she stared out the window as the engine roared to life, and the truck zipped out of the parking lot. “Hey, where are we going?” They turned into the road in the opposite direction from where she had come from.
He looked up at his rearview mirror. “Somewhere those reporters won’t be able to follow.”
They drove up the road, going further into the mountains. Sure enough, a couple of news vans were on their tail. Daniel turned off onto a side road, and at the end was an imposing gate that said “Keep Out, Mining Operations in Progress.” A man in a khaki ranger uniform popped his head out from the booth on the side, waved to Daniel, and then disappeared. Moments later, the gate swung open, and they drove through. They closed again when they passed.
“That should hold them,” Daniel said with a relieved sigh.
“But we can’t stay in here forever,” she said. “And where is here, anyway?” Oh God, she was deep in the mountains with a stranger, and no one knew where she was. What if Daniel turned out to be some kind of homicidal maniac? Was that why he didn’t want to sign the papers right away? She glanced at him, watching his profile. Surely no one that hot could be a serial killer, right?
“We’re still in the Blackstone Mountains, but Lennox Corp. has this area closed off because they mine the blackstone in this area.” He turned down off another path. “But us rangers can come in as needed, and I go to this one place sometimes to think.” He drove them further down a road, then a few feet later, they emerged from the dense forest and into a clearing.
“Wow,” she gasped. They were right near the end of a cliff, where they had a spectacular view of the blue summer sky. “We’re so close to the edge.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, turning to her, his silver-blue eyes twinkling. “I would never let you fall.”
Her stomach did a flip-flop at his words. Don’t get distracted. She came here for
