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“Shep?”

“Yeah?”

She looked up at me from under long lashes. “Will you tell me your real name?”

She already knew enough to report me to the authorities after I let her go, but I didn’t think she would. Plus, I sensed this was important to her. A leap of faith and something that could strengthen our mutual trust.

“Elias Shepherd. Asshole extraordinaire, kidnapper, hitman, and fucked-up knight in shining armor at your service.” I raised the brim of my cap and gave a nod in her direction.

Cam chuckled and shook her head.

I wasn’t used to it, but I enjoyed making her smile. Perhaps it was because she’d been having a shitty time, or maybe it was because she looked even more beautiful when her eyes lit up. Either way, I wanted to see it more and be the one responsible for putting it there. I was a goddamn fool.

“Thank you, Elias,” she said with a tilt of her head and a cheeky grin.

“My dad called me Elias. People who don’t know me call me a bunch of different names. Everyone else calls me Shep.”

She nodded once, a smile still on her face. “All right. Shep it is.”

Something tightened in my chest while I loaded the last pieces of timber into the trailer and tied the chainsaw to the rear rack. Cam wiggled so she faced forward, straddling the seat of the bike as I moved to sit in front of her.

Her hands went around my waist without me forcing them there, so I took that as my cue to start the engine and head home.

We made a slow descent to the cabin. I told myself it was to make sure the logs didn’t fall out of the trailer. The truth was that I wanted to have Cam like that for as long as possible—holding on tight, thighs spread around me, and hitting every bump along the way.