I was an idiot and blamed myself.If I hadn’t made him mad, he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did.This time is different.I see him all too clearly.
Gwynee frowns, chewing over my words.
Woods keeps staring at me and I can’t tell if he thinks I’m part of Thad’s plan or if he’s concerned for me.I bite my lip and cry out in pain at the tenderness of the injured, split skin.
“I’ll get you something for the pain,” Gwynee says, leaving me with Cecilia.
“Do you have any other injuries?”Wood questions, going down on his knee, cradling my left foot in his hands.I hiss when he brushes the pad of his thumb over one of the cuts.“We need to clean these cuts,” he tells Cecilia, and she leaves to go off after Gwynee.“Brave thing coming here, being married to the enemy and all.”
“Gwynee’s a friend.Thad is…not who I believed him to be.”
“That’s going to leave a nasty bruise,” he comments, nodding toward my face.“He slap you around often?”
“Not at first.I’d rather not talk about him.”
“All right.What do you want to talk about then?”
“I don’t know.Distract me.”
He rubs his lips together.His deep brown eyes meet mine, reminding me of the center of a gooey brownie.“If you could go anywhere in the world right now.Money doesn’t matter.Where would you go?”
My mind blanks.“I don’t know.”I’m still concentrating on his eyes.
“Come on.”His lips tip into an amused smirk.“Everyone has a dream destination.What’s yours?”
“I can’t think of anywhere.”
“Close your eyes.”I must look skeptical because he says, “Just trust me.”
I purse my lips but do as he says, laying my head back on the cushion.I drop the ice pack onto the end table and close my eyes, wishing I could go back in time to turn Thad down when he first asked me out.
“Good.Relax your shoulders.”His thumb brushes along the heel of my foot.Moving in light strokes up toward my ankle, then my calve.“You’re in a wide-open space.What do you see?”
I exhale loudly.“This is silly.”
“You’re not trying.”
“I can’t focus.Tell me your idea of perfect.”
“Devil’s Creek.Where I’m from.My family’s land.We own a private lake.Back in the olden days of cowboys and Indians, the caves were used by outlaws as their hideout.Legend is behind the waterfall is a special cavern.That once was full of diamonds back then.”
“Diamonds,” I murmur, trying to envision the picture he’s painting.
“Diamonds,” he repeats.“The best part, though, is the water is crystal clear and perfect.It’s always seventy-two degrees.Perfect for swimming.”
“Sounds nice.”
“It is.”
I open my eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light in this room.“So where is this diamond filled cave?”
“Why?You thinking about trying to mine it?”He chuckles.“It’s just a story.”
“Maybe that’s what you tell people to keep them away.”I smile.
“Nah.We tell them that there’s a special species of bats in the cave, so no one can enter because of their shit.”
“Bat shit.How romantic.”
