The nerve.
She also had to be stalked by a total creeper that I'd rip apart at the first opportunity.
“If you're looking to gain a bit of control over that fiery passion I love so much,” she said wryly, “I hardly think you taking off your shirt is going to help.”
I'd stopped to stare at her. Even with half the cabin between us now, I still felt like I didn't have enough space to stop me from taking this too far.
Unbidden, Joshua’s latest appearance sprang back to my mind. My nostrils flared as I noted her fuzzy boots that hid stockinged feet, then marveled at the absurd normalcy of every second that had just passed. Of course, it felt so right that she stood here, looking adorably rumpled and bright. Her expression faltered for a second.
“Mark? You okay?”
I grabbed another shirt, yanked it on, and returned to her side. This time, I leaned both my hands on the table and gripped the sides so I wouldn't be tempted to touch her again. I hadn't planned on telling her about Joshua. She didn't need to be more stressed out, but now that she stood before me, I knew she could take it. She'd want to know.
I'd want to know.
Sober now, she dropped the mug and brush back into the sink, but she didn't move closer. Instead, she swallowed.
“Joshua?” she asked.
I met her gaze. “He's in town, I think.”
To her credit, she only paled. There was no gasp of shock or cry of terror. Something like resignation followed.
“Why do you think that?”
With calm precision, I told her everything that had happened and everything that my Dad had said. By the time I finished, she'd lowered into one of the chairs and stared at the top of the table. For a long pause after I fell silent, she simply blinked.
“You'll sleep in this cabin with me,” I said as I paced. “There's no going back out to that other one. And I swear I can follow boundaries, I swear I won't make out with you every single minute even though I want to do that much and more. But I want to be close. I'm sure Justin will agree, but we'll have Atticus in here with us. Atty will love it,” I added quietly.
An-almost twitch of her lips rose and disappeared.
“We'll make sure that either Justin or I are with you all the time. That'll give this time to blow over. As soon as the feds finish their investigation, Joshua will be a goner and you can get back to normal life with me.”
Unable to bear her silence, I sat across from her. Her hands were in her lap or I would have grabbed one. Instead, several burdened moments passed before she shook herself from her thoughts and met my questioning gaze.
“It doesn't seem fair to ask all this of you,” she said quietly, but before I could interrupt she continued. “But I'm going to ask all this of you.”
She reached out with a hand and I grabbed it.
“Because you're the only person I feel safe with. So thank you. Thank you for . . . caring.”
A burden of worry instantly lifted off of me. She wouldn't fight me on this. Tucked in the back of my mind was the terror that she'd leave to keep me safe, but she meant what she said.
I opened a hand. She put hers in it, then I yanked her off the chair and onto my lap. She straddled me, her fingers toying with the soft hairs along my neck. Then she pressed her forehead to mine and closed her eyes.
“I'm a little scared,” she whispered quietly.
“I know.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and ran a thumb over her cheekbone. “But I'll keep you safe. We'll get through this together, one day at a time. Okay?”
“I know,” she murmured. “I trust us to save each other.”
With that, she kissed me again, and the world as I once knew it collapsed around me like a dying star. All that lay before me now, Adventura or not, was Stella Marie. The forest could burn down, the mountain lion could come, or a blizzard of epic proportions could wipe us out for all that I cared.
Stella was all that mattered.
23 Stella
The next morning, a tangle of sunlight woke me.
I blinked awake, my eyelids heavy from the late night and an unholy amount of sugar. Megan had brought a few pseudo-healthy-but-delicious treats that she'd nabbed from JJ and Lizbeth after visiting them on her way here. But after Mark returned home, sources of candy I didn't know existed appeared out of nowhere.
Apparently, the Bailey card game was a local legend. Thankfully, I hadn't been half bad at it. When my finesse with numbers was paired with Mark's natural speed, we made a natural team. In many ways, I was quietly realizing.
A twitch of movement near my neck made me smile and brought me all the way out of my sleepy stupor.
Mark lay on his back, eyes closed with sooty, black eyelashes thick against his cheek. His hair was mussed and his shirt halfway up his torso, but he looked little-boy adorable. At some point in the night he'd come up, but I couldn't remember when. I'd felt his heat curl up at my back and I'd fallen back to sleep an instant later.
With no ideas or words streaming from his mouth, I stared at him, grateful for a chance to study him. A recollection of what he said about Joshua came with it. To my surprise, the choking fear didn't follow. There was uncertainty, of course, but with Mark at my side and the light of day surrounding me, it didn't feel so bleak.
Besides, I wasn't alone and I wasn't paranoid. Joshua was a real threat, and I could embrace that now that Mark had the same heightened sense of uncertainty and wariness. He'd never once
