Page 6 of Bear With Me
“An accident,” I answer. “You?”
“I was born here and just never left.”
The rain starts coming down harder and my clothes are soaked within seconds. “Do people in this town often have parties in the middle of a storm?”
Declan shrugs causing our shoulders to bump and heat to flare between us. “They’re a bunch of college kids. I would imagine there isn’t much that will keep them from making fools of themselves.”
“You don’t go to Hastings?”
He haunches down against the rain. Beads of it condense and fall into the springy hair of his beard and I find that I can’t look away from the sight. My fingers itch to run through it and see if it is as soft as I imagine. “Nah, I graduated a long time ago, little girl. I manage our family business in town.”
Brushing off thelittle girlI think of my family and how estranged we’ve become. “Must be nice to grow up here, have all of your friends and family be nearby.”
At that he looks away, running a hand over his hair. He must have forgotten that he was wearing the beanie because he knocks it to the ground, revealing a full head of thick brown hair. He bends at the waist, the nearly see-through material of his shirt stretching across the broad expanse of his back to reveal outlines of even more ink.
For the first time, I think of using my gift for proactive reasons. I’d love to trace those lines and learn where he got them and why.
Or maybe I just want to see him with his shirt completely off.
Either way it doesn’t matter because, for some reason, I can’t read him at all. I don’t know if I should feel relieved, concerned, or a little peeved, so I go for a combination of all three.
“They’re all gone.” He shoves the beanie back on his head. “My family, I mean. It’s just me now.”
His statement strikes a chord in me. Even surrounded by people, I felt completely alone. It makes me want to wrap my arm around this perfect stranger to let him know that he’s not the only one.
“So if you don’t go to Hastings, what were you doing creeping out in the middle of the woods at night?”
“I give tours, you know walk the trails with the tourists and talk about the local wildlife. Anyway, one of the people on today’s tour left their bag in the woods. Didn’t find it, but I came across you as I was heading back and wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
I put my palm on his thigh and squeeze. Partly because I can’t deny the urge to touch him and partly because I want to see if my lack of psychic response to him was a one-time thing. When I don’t feel, hear or see anything after a few seconds, aside from the basic zing of attraction—which I can’t deny either—I pull back. “I appreciate that, by the way.”
“You’re welcome, Sully,” he says and I don’t correct him. I like the way my name sounds coming out of his mouth. It sounds like sex and secrets, all gruff and forbidden. He opens his mouth and hesitates for a second before saying, “You want to get out of here? Maybe go to someplace a little less wet?”
I look back at the party, finally spotting my brother, who looks like he’s having the time of his life. Telling him to take me home now would ruin his fun and I’ve already been a gigantic bitch about this move.
“I can’t leave because I’m supposed to drive my brother back home later.”
“We don’t have to leave; my cabin is just over there.” He nods towards the edge of the clearing where the party is taking place. “It’s not much, but it’ll keep you warm enough. I probably have some dry clothes you can use.”
“I don’t know; I wouldn’t want to keep you—”
“It’s not an obligation to talk to a beautiful woman, Sully. C’mon.” He stands and offers his hand. The rain has slicked the material of his shirt to his skin and I can see every line of his defined pecs and abs, all one hundred of them. Dear God a part of me wants to be afraid of my visceral reaction to him. All the others are screaming for me to go with him. He may as well be a stranger with candy leading me to his white van and I wouldn’t care.
Ice colds drops of water find an opening at the back of his shirt and down my neck, making the decision an easy one. “Sure, anything to get out of the rain.”
I take his hand again and shiver, though not from the cold. Being able to touch someone again without fear of what I may see is freeing and I find myself inching closer to him to revel in the feeling.
The sounds of the crowd filter through the night air, but it’s more like background noise because the only thing I’m focused on is him. His house is one of the cabins dotting a back road on the edge of the forest. It must be nice to wake up with this kind of view every day.
I tug on his hand to get his attention. “This is your house?”
He looks down and pulls me closer, putting an arm around my shoulder to share his body heat. “Yeah, it’s not much, but I like all of the space out here.”
“Definitely better than being in the rain. Thanks, again.”
“No problem. Want me to get you something to drink?”
I shrug out of his wet shirt and he takes it from me, throwing it in a pile on his dining room table. “Sure, anything would be great.”