The kitchen is exactly as we left it last night, and the tape on the back door hasn’t been touched. Looks like whoever broke in didn’t bother coming back.
I make my way out of the cabin and walk up to the truck. Imogen jumps out as soon as she sees me, grabbing her bag. “Is everything still…?”
I nod. “Broken window in your bedroom. That always been there?” I ask, crossing my arms as I stop in front of her.
Imogen pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “Yeah,” she says after a moment, hesitantly. “It was broken when I moved in. I never got a chance to get it fixed.”
I nod once, though anger rises within me. That urge to protect her, to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, hits me like a tidal wave again, and it takes everything within me not to take over.
“I get it, I should have been more careful.” She rolls her eyes. “But with work?—”
“I wasn’t going to say shit,” I reply. She gives me a surprised look, which makes guilt immediately rise within me. “I’m sorry, trouble. I just…” I scrub a hand down my face. “I can’t pretend I’m not fucking terrified about leaving you here alone. That I’m not afraid that if I leave, something worse will happen.”
“Calder.” Her voice is flat, so I can already tell where this is going next.
What she wants to say.
I can’t do this, she’ll tell me.I can’t be with you.
“Don’t.” I take a step towards her, closing the distance between us. “I know what you want to say, but I hate to break it to you, trouble. I’m not a good listener. Never have been, and I ain’t planning on starting now.”
Imogen inhales sharply, her eyes widening. “We can’t.”
“Yeah, we can.” Another step has me almost flush against her. It brings back memories of last night, of sinking into her until there was nothing left between us. “We can do whatever we damn well please, Imogen.”
She shakes her head, fear darkening her eyes. “And what about when you realise you’re done with me?”
I stop, stomach twisting. “That can’t be it,” I murmur. “You can’t seriously think that I could ever be done with you.”
“I don’t know you well enough to trust you, Calder. That’s the problem!” She tries to take a step back, but I meet it with one of my own, backing her into the side of the truck. She sucks in a breath, eyes widening.
“And yet I already know everything I need to.” I lean in, breathing in her sweet perfume, taking in the way her eyes darken, her cheeks flushing pink. “I knew the moment I kissed you I was done. That everything I needed was with you.”
“You pulled away. You?—”
I shake my head. “I pulled away because I knew if I continued, I would have had you there in the truck. Then again on the flatbed. In my shower. In the barn. I would have made you mine in all the ways I could.” I don’t know if it’s her racing heart beat I hear, or my own. It doesn’t seem to matter anymore. “I knew that if I continued, I would scare you away. But I don’t want to run from this.”
Imogen lifts her chin, our lips suddenly a breath apart. “Run from what?”
I swallow hard. “You.” I place my hand against her racing heart. “Us.”
My girl shudders and closes her eyes. “I’ve been left before,” she whispers. “I don’t have anything left to give. Won’t have anything left if you realise you want more.”
“What more could I ever want?” I ask, lowering my face. “I’ve never felt more alive than with you.”
Her eyes remain closed as she releases a shaky breath. “That isn’t enough, though, is it?”
Heart pounding, I make the only offer I have left. “Then marry me. Let me show you in the most obvious way that I’m not going anywhere. Marry me and become my wife.”
TEN
IMOGEN
Marry me.
His words replay in my head over and over again as I stare at him.
I don’t really know what I feel. Terror? Pain? Happiness?
