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I wished my inner voice were friendlier to me, instead of brutally honest.

Maybe Forrest had no intention of saying those words the way I had understood them. Maybe it was a general statement with no hidden messages. Whatever it was, his words slathered a healing balm over my aching heart, and I was grateful for it. At least now I knew what it felt like to matter to a man.

For the rest of the ride, silence filled the car. It cloaked me like a warm blanket on a chilly night, or rather, the cool breeze of the river cooling me off from the heat and humidity of summer. The quiet wasn’t awkward at all. Forrest didn’t ask me questions as if he knew I needed the space.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

FORREST

“I can’t stay here with you.” She stood in the living room of my suite, wanting to go to her hotel room.

“Why not?” I retorted.

“Because.” Her lips thinned.

“That’s not a suitable answer, Kiera.”

“You can’t make me stay here.”

I crossed my arms, staring at her. “Try me.”

Her elegant eyebrows pushed together. “Why are you being so difficult?”

Based on what had occurred in the car, she was under a lot of stress. It wasn’t just the cabin fire. Though that was probably what had her the most on edge now. All the more reason for her to stay with me.

“Because I need you safe.”

“Why?” Her eyes flashed with heat.

“Why not?” Didn’t she understand that I just wanted to take care of her without having to explain everything?

“That’s not a good reason, Forrest.” She mocked me. “I need my space. And you need yours.”

What exactly did she want me to say? We stood staring at each other, and the energy in the room pulsed.

I stepped closer. “I do like my space, but I don’t mind sharing it withyou. I have three big bedrooms. It’s been a stressful day. We should stop this ridiculous argument.”

My emotions were high, and part of it had to do with her. I was feeling too much and too fast. I didn’t know what to do about it yet. Her defiance wasn’t helping my impatience either.

“You can stay in that room.” I gestured to the one across from mine. “It has its own bathroom. You don’t even need to step out of the room.”

Kiera closed her eyes, sighed, and opened them again. “Why do you care so much? We’re not dating. We’re just two people having sex. People like us go our separate ways after the fun is over, right?”

Her words knifed me in the chest. Was that how she perceived me?

I didn’t have time to reply because she continued, “Staying here with you would complicate things, Forrest. I know you’re trying to be nice, and I appreciate your kindness. But let’s not complicate things . . . I might not survive it.” She grabbed the new luggage we just got from the store and turned toward the door.

I clasped her arm. “What do you mean? Explain.”

She turned around and looked me in the eye. “Things are getting very complicated for me. You’re sending mixed signals by being attentive and caring. I might get the wrong message and think it’s something when it’s not.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I want more, but I know you don’t. You made it clear before this ‘thing’ started, and I agreed to it. So just let me stay in my room, and we’re good. Okay?”

The beautiful words landed and seeped into my skin like a healing ointment mending an unseen wound. Each word was a beam of sun that brought light and hope to the darkness I’d lived in for so long. A way out of the mire.

Kiera wanted me just as I wanted her.

I didn’t let go of her arm. Instead, I pulled her flush against me. “It was never just sex to me.”

Her brown eyes brightened like topaz. “But you wanted—”