“I was gardening,” I say quickly when his gaze bore into the small muddy hole.
Gardening what?
My dignity.
“Your dignity?”
I freeze, shutting my eyes in vain. “I said that out loud.”
“You did,” he confirms with a small nod that my brain signals to me as judgment.
Anger flushes through my system. “Why does it matter whether I plant my dignity or a damn body, Mr. Vuk?”
Embarrassment clacks against my teeth before turning into an involuntary quiver. “I’m sorry,” A puff of air escapes my lips. “I’m a little anxious and I’m taking it on you.”
Dean doesn’t say a word, but he doesn’t stop staring. He reads me carefully, trying to figure out whether my commas are where they’re supposed to be or if I’m a fragmented sentence.
When he says, “Wait here” in that deep voice of his, I bet he’s figured out I’m a bunch of gibberish not worth decoding.
Cool air flushes through my system, but it doesn’t make the heatof his presence disappear.
When Dean reappears, he’s holding a large bag.
“That’s mine,” I accuse with a pointed finger.
It has my colouring markers in them.
“I know,” he says without stopping.
“What are you?—”
He grabs my wrist.
“Hello?”
He leads me (more like drags me) through theno entrygates. Past it, there’s a wooden staircase taking us down to a smaller, yet beautiful lake. The sound of water rushing through the valley between the two mountains is louder here, but it doesn’t mesh loudly. It runs smooth, meeting each other with softness.
There’s a steep step at the bottom before grass—the size of an average Mississauga backyard—covers the ground right before meeting the water. There’s no dam-like elevation that can stop the water from drowning us, that’s why they covered this area up.
Dean lets go of my wrist and takes the step. Just as I’m about to follow, he slips my bag over his neck and curls an arm around my waist, easily lifting me off my feet.
There’s a slight hitch in my chest when I curve my hand around the back of his throat.
Hard and warm. I don’t want to let go.
I’m pressed to the side of his body and can feel the deep, sharp inhale he takes. Adam's apple bobs twice before he turns to look at me.
Up close, I can see the light brown mole that is hidden by his left brow.
Black pupils swallow up the heightened greens and I’m left mesmerized by them. He’s an anomaly to me and has been since the minute I walked into Vuk Securities. I’m taken back to the momentI knocked on his door with the soiled pot in my hand. He opened the door and stared down at me with indifference, but he had an expression resting in those solid greens that I couldn’t back away from.
Suffice to say that that still hasn’t changed.
I look away.
Dean’s chest expands.
Every neuron in my body lights up as it brushes up against his while gently being lowered to the ground.
