Page 11

~ brIDGET ~

The rental car was an automatic, so I didn’t have much to do with my hands on the drive back home. Both of us were quiet. We’d had to get up early—after being up most of the night. I said screw it and stopped at a Dutch Bros for coffee on the way out of town. Except, instead of waking me up, it made me jittery.

Sam’s silence wasn’t helping.

Except, I wasn’t talking either. We’d made the plan in the dark of the night, our bodies languid and spent, tangled together in the sheets.

I had to be at Gerald’s office by two, which meant dropping Sam off by one.

We argued about whether I’d take him all the way home or not. In the end we’d compromised—I was dropping him off in town on the block where he could get a bus directly to his neighborhood.

It was over a five hour drive since I was taking the old highways into Oregon because they didn’t have cameras. Add in a couple stops for bathrooms and food… we had to leave at six thirty.

We’d only slept two or three hours, but I woke with my heart slamming and anxiety curling my guts. Sam was slower, reaching for me and burying his face in my hair …

Now we were two hours out from where I’d drop him off. I didn’t know how long it would be before I could touch him again, and it was making my skin itch.

“They’ll probably have a tracker on your car already,” I blurted. Sam, who’d been staring out the window, blinked and turned to look at me. “They’re going to know you haven’t been going anywhere.”

He stared at me for a second, the morning sun slanting in from the window behind him, turning his skin gold and making the stubble on his face shine like tiny Christmas lights.

“I know. Don’t worry. I’m going to take the bus for a few days. Ease back into using the car. I need to watch my money anyway.”

“I can give you—”

“Babe, we covered this. It’s fine. If things get too tight I’ll let you know. But I don’t want them having any trail to find between us. It’s too risky.”

“But if you don’t have enough cash for gas—”

“Bridget,” Sam said quietly. I tore my eyes off the road to look at him, and he put his hand over mine on my thigh. “You remember I’m an ex-felon and a stalker, right? I have four different exit plans—including a vehicle I’m certain Jeremy doesn’t know about. The resources are in place if I need to get out. Don’t worry. Just keep your burner phone charged.”

I nodded, but pulled my hand out from under his and put it on the wheel because his touch was making me squirm.

“You’re quiet,” he said a minute later when I didn’t say anything else.

“So are you.”

“Yeah, but I’m not gritting my teeth hard enough to give me lock-jaw.”

Was I doing that? I rolled my jaw and realized he was right, I had been clenching my teeth. I shrugged.

“Talk to me, babe.”

“What’s to talk about? We have to go be separate for who knows how long and… that’s it.”

“We’re going to talk every day. And once the case starts, once they know, then we can probably— ”

“There’s no fucking way Jeremy is ignoring that no-contact order, Sam,” I said, my voice darker than I’d intended. “We have to win this. That’s the only option.”

“So, pray. There’s only one person who knows what’s going to happen in the future.”

“That is such fucking bullshit—if God gave two shits about this we wouldn’t be in this mess!” I snapped, glaring at him for a second before turning back to watch the road, but I could see in my peripheral vision that he was still staring at me, and I could feel his gaze on my face.

My fault. My fault. My fault.

The words looped in my head, accusing me. Condemning me.

I knew he thought it. But if God would step in for either of us, I supposed it was him. I tried to settle my nerves. Tried to breathe slow and calm down. But he wouldn’t look away.

We were on a back road. A narrow highway with a single lane each way, surrounded by a lot of farmland and rundown houses. There were only occasional cars on the road, but I had to pay attention because some of these corners were hairy, and I didn’t like speed limits.

Plus, his scrutiny was making my heel jiggle.

“Stop,” I hissed a couple minutes later when he still hadn’t turned away.

“Stop what?”

“Stop staring at me.”

“I like staring at my wife,” he said in that gorgeous, warm voice he had that made my heart pinch. “I’m not going to see her much for a while. I want to—”

“Sam, this isn’t a game.” God, I wanted to scream.

He huffed. “You think I’m playing a game?”

“You’re trying to make me talk happy, or like… be optimistic. I’m not an optimistic person.”

“Bridget, chill. We knew this was coming. Nothing has changed. You don’t have to figure it out—we’re in this together… aren’t we?” His tone grew an edge and fear slammed through me.

“Just look the other way. I’m driving! I need to—”

With a muttered curse, Sam lurched over the console between us, grabbing for the steering wheel with one hand at the same time he yanked up on the emergency brake. I screamed as the engine whined and the back of the car swung around in a wide loop. The whole world spun.

Still muttering, but staring straight ahead and maneuvering the steering wheel like a pro, Sam knocked my leg with his elbow so my foot slipped of the gas and a second later, the car wobbled to a stop in a wide, dirt driveway, facing the road we'd been on, pebbles pinging against the underside of the car as a dust cloud drifted over it.

I still had both arms braced on the steering wheel and my body shoved back against the seat, bracing for the pain, my system screaming that death was imminent. But Sam slammed the gear shift into park, then shoved out of the passenger door.

At the sight of him storming around the hood of the car I sucked in the breath I needed and shrieked at him as he came for my door.

"What the fuck , Sam?! You could have killed us—!"

Eyes dark and jaw set, he grabbed for my door and yanked it open, then descended on me. For a split second I thought he was attacking, and I threw fists, pummeling at his shoulder, ready to claw his face. But he raised the arm closest to me to protect his eyes and leaned over me, popped the seatbelt, then hooked his arms around my waist and dragged me out of the car.

Outside, I struggled, but he turned me to face him and threw me up against the back door, pinning me there with his body, glaring down at me with black eyes, like an avenging angel.

He hadn't grabbed my hands, so I was free to shove at his chest while I cursed him.

"Shit... shit! You’re such a fucking—”

He lifted his hands to stop me punching him, defending my strikes way too easily—which was scary, because it meant I wasn’t as strong against him as I’d thought.

“Bridget…” he growled.

Panic lit in my chest and I tried to bring my knee up, but he’d given me no room.

“Bridget, calm the fuck down.”

“You almost killed us!”

“I was in control the entire time.”

“Bullshit! The car— ”

“Bridget, listen!” he snarled, catching my hands and pinning them back against the car as he leaned right up in my face.

I froze in that black gaze, panting.

“Do you love me?” he snapped, something bright flashing in his eyes. The question was so unexpected, my mouth dropped open.

He pulled my hands off the car and slammed them back again, getting right in my face. “Do. You. Love. Me? Or was this all some adventure to you?”

“Adventure?! You asshole—you think I got married for an adventure?!”

“Answer the fucking question.”

“Of course I love you!” I shrieked, leaning right up into his face so my back arched because he still had my hands. “That’s why I hate having to leave you!”

He didn’t break eye contact, and didn’t reply. I was left standing there, struggling against his manacles on my hands, those words echoing in the morning air.

“Good. Me too,” he said softly, then brushed a kiss against my lips.

I yanked my head back, but he was already straightening. His expression softening. Acting like he hadn’t just 007ed my car and thrown me around. He didn’t let me go though. I was still trembling, my breath quick and heart racing.

Sam was breathing heavily too, but not as much.

“You’re insane,” I muttered.

“You were pulling away,” he said in that low, ragged voice I’d learned to love as Cain. “Next time, just say that part instead.”

I was stunned. He still hadn’t broken eye contact, but he let go of my wrists and reached for my face instead. “You aren’t in control of this, Bridge. And trust me, that’s a good thing.”

He kissed me like I was precious and my pulse sped up for entirely different reasons.