“I’m sorry,” she said aloud softly. Part of her hoped that Eve poofed back, gave her a lecture and then felt more inclined to talk. Seriously! I’m sorry, Eve.
“Who are you apologizing to?” Jack asked her, walking inside. His frame blocked the light at the doorway only momentarily. It was intriguing to see the outline of him in his pants, a gun slung low. Intriguing and so very different from the men she had been around back home. No GAP or Levi’s here, yet the snug look of his pants had her wondering!
“I guess you,” she muttered, realizing that Eve was not going to be answering. Getting the silent treatment sucked royally.
“Apology accepted.”
“I just have to ask, what did you think I was apologizing for?” Absently, she realized that she had just apologized for nothing at all and the cad had the nerve to accept it. Why would she be apologizing? Jack shrugged and turned his back to her in order to put the possum on the fire. Staring at his back, she saw his shoulders give a telltale movement. “Are you laughing?”
“Me?” The fake, wide-eyed expression was a clear indication he was up to no good.
“Yes, you. Are you laughing at me?”
“Maybe a bit,” Jack answered.
“Well you could share the joke, you know.”
“If I have to explain it, then it’s not funny,” he said simply, and chuckled aloud as he heard her screech behind him. The man could really be infuriating!
“Stop it!” Sabine demanded.
“Okay.”
“Seriously, stop laughing at me!”
“Stop making me laugh.”
“What am I doing?”
“You are different. It’s kind of funny because it’s like you are seeing everything for the first time. You act like a fairytale princess in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m no princess.”
“I’m no prince.”
“No one asked you if you were,” she quipped, crossing her arms.
“No, but I am telling you,” he said quietly, standing and turning towards her. Sabine swallowed hard as she met his eyes in the dim room. His green eyes were alight with humor and something else that made her feel warm on the inside. The tiny, rundown cabin felt infinitely smaller with the two of them standing there.
“I’m not a princess,” she repeated softly, memorizing his tender expression.
“You should be,” he answered and leaned down to kiss her. His warm lips gently touched hers and she felt that same sizzle she had felt before when she touched his hand. The contact between them felt electric and so right. His lips coaxed her own to open and gave a deep groan as their tongues met.
Maybe Eve was right, after all. They had felt like opposites, two magnets opposing and pushing away. Someone had just switched polarity and the attraction was instantaneous! As she started to wrap her arms around his waist, he suddenly broke the kiss looking distinctly alarmed.
“What?” Sabine instantly covered her mouth, mortified. Did she have bad breath? Something in her teeth? He looked completely uncomfortable as he stood there.
“I’m not looking for a wife.”
“Who said I wanted to marry you?” she asked, gaping in surprise.
“Well, that is what people do, when things like this continue,” he said with a wry, tight grimace. “Unless there is something you need to tell me? And if so, I think its best I take you into town where you can find work. I don’t lay with soiled doves.”
“You won’t lay with me either, buster!” she blustered, outraged. “I’m not planning on marrying you or laying with you. You kissed me. And, by the way, I’m no soiled dove! Sheesh, what is it about the men in this area? You are all rude and insulting!”
Making an abrupt turn, she stormed out of the cabin into the open air trying to calm down. He could certainly get under her skin. When he didn’t follow, she sat in the grass and flowers and stared up at the sky.
Calm down, replay it all in your head, Sabine, she thought. Maybe you blew up for no reason. Thinking about how that kiss felt kept running through her mind and how quickly he backed away. Like she was contagious or repulsive! What the heck, Eve? You were so wrong, chickie!
Sabine sat out there alone for quite a while, watching the sunset over the hills as the smell of cooking meat started to waft over to her. She’d be damned if she would ask for anything from him after he insulted her and acted like that. He had issues and liked to play mind games apparently. She hated men like that. It irritated her to no end that she felt backed into a corner by Eve and had to choose someone that she wasn’t going to get along with.
The moon crested over the hill as she watched. She sat thinking about what a rough few days it had been and how she had gotten to where she was now. She wondered about the empty shuttle and her little plants. How would her parents take the news? It was hard to even begin to think of that devastation! Wiping her eyes, she thought about her home and wondered idly if anyone would miss her. Lost in thought, she didn’t hear Jack’s voice at first. “Hungry?”
“Not for anything you have,” she muttered.
“Look,” he said, sitting down next to her in the grass. “I’m sorry if I might have hurt your feelings being honest with you. I didn’t mean to be rude, just upfront.”
“Apology accepted. And it was rude,” she said staring at the sky, fighting the urge to look at him to see if he was sincere.
“I brought you dinner,” he offered and handed her a small, tin plate with some unidentifiable meat on it.
“Possum or snake?” she asked in a small, defeated voice. It looked almost like a shredded chicken in a metal pie tin. That’s it, shredded chicken! Chicken! she thought, staring at the unidentifiable meat.
“It’s good, trust me.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Look, I know I seem ungrateful and stuck up. But this is all different,” she hesitated. “So very different from anything I have ever known.”
“I can tell, little princess.”
“Har de har har.”
“Maybe you should eat,” he said politely. “You’ll feel better with a full stomach and then we can talk.”
“I don’t know if we need to…” her voice trailed off, embarrassed. She wasn’t good with dealing with personal things, intimate things. Having a love interest sure seemed very personal to her!
“I think maybe we do after that kiss.”
“It was nothing, okay?” she insisted.
“That was one helluva nothing, honestly!” The sheer emotion in his voice surprised her. He sounded impressed or amazed, which was completely flattering. “That was something to me.”
“Yeah it was,” she admitted, shyly looking at him. He smiled warmly at her. Bringing his knees up, he sat with his arms outstretched in front of him while she ate silently. Sabine didn’t try to identify what the meat was. It resembled chicken, but it had a strange, sweet taste that reminded her of smoked barbeque pork roast.
Once she had a bite, she had to keep from shoveling it indelicately into her mouth. At the thought, she almost laughed aloud. Princesses didn’t shovel BBQ into their mouths, they took delicate bites. They certainly didn’t eat with their fingers on tin plates under the stars. Finishing her meal, she sighed in contentment.
“That really was amazing. Thank you.”
“Possum or snake?” he teased.
“I don’t care. It was edible,” she happily announced, rubbing her stomach and lying back in the flowers to stare up at the stars that called to her. They were sprinkled all over the clear sky and it reminded her how far away she really was from her location just days ago.
“Amen to that,” he agreed and lay down next to her on the ground.
“You know,” she began quietly, “they always seem to look the same even though we are moving. It doesn’t matter how close you get, they are so far away… yet so beautiful and awe inspiring.”
“The stars?” he confirmed. “My father and grandfather used to s
wear that if you could find the North Star that you could always find your way home. My grandfather was a privateer. They would have to use the stars to guide themselves across the ocean. It always amazed me how he could do that where I tend to look for landmarks.”
“Where I come from,” she hesitated, feeling weird trying to explain her situation without telling the complete truth. “The stars are so hard to see sometimes because of the lights. But if you work really hard, you get a chance to see them. That is where I was before I came here. I had worked and worked for years to just get a chance,” she stopped, swallowing hard and fighting the tears. “Just a simple chance to see them closely. That was all I wanted, to feel complete and feel something magical,” she whispered. “Now it’s gone.”
“I’m sorry,” he admitted.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault,” she said with a teary smile in the darkness. “It’s mine. I apparently asked for this, too.”
“You asked to be stuck in the middle of nowhere near my shithole cabin?” he asked with a grin.
“Heard that, did you?” she confessed, embarrassed.
“I wasn’t sure who you were talking to, but I definitely caught that part.”
“I’m sorry. It is pretty rough.”
“Yeah it is, which is why I was surprised you wanted to fix it up. I didn’t.”
“It’s really pretty property that you have.”
“You’re really pretty,” he confessed, looking at the sky. “Look, I didn’t mean to be rude earlier, but I have nothing to offer you. It would be wrong of me to take liberties or court you when my job takes me away for long periods of time.”
“Have I put any demands on you – other than wanting to stay and help?”
“No, you haven’t,” he admitted. “You’re so different, Princess.”
“That almost sounded like an endearment.”
“Maybe it was,” he said gruffly. Sabine lay in the grass and flowers staring at his profile in the moonlight for a moment trying to figure him out. He was infuriating, endearing and strange all wrapped into one. He was certainly handsome to look at, but looks would fade and she would be stuck with the same infuriating man that irritated her earlier in the day. Just then, she felt his warm hand as he laced his fingers with hers.
“Maybe I like the nickname,” she confirmed and stared back at the sky. “That star right there? That’s Cassiopeia… and that one? That is the Andromeda constellation. The cluster near it is Perseus. I love that grouping of stars. In Greek history, Cassiopeia was punished for saying that Andromeda was more beautiful than the goddesses. The gods wanted Andromeda to die but Perseus saved her from the monster because he loved her. That is how they ended up in the stars together for all time.”
“Where did you learn all of that?”
“A long time ago, far away from here.”
“Do you miss it?”
Sabine couldn’t answer right away and hoped he wasn’t looking at her. She felt the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as they rolled into her hair. Part of her wanted to wipe them away but nothing could make her take her hand from his just yet. She felt secure and connected while he held her hand and she hadn’t felt that way in a while now.
“Sometimes, if I think about it. This is all so different and part of me wants to go back, but…” she trailed off.
“But?” he prompted.
“Part of me is excited about a new adventure. Something for all time,” she admitted.
“I can understand that,” he confirmed quietly. “C’mon, let’s get you settled in the shithole cabin for the night so you are safe from coyotes or any other creatures.”
“No more creatures in the cabin?” she teased.
“None that slither or bite.”
“Does that include you?” she said smartly with a grin as he helped her up from the grass. He raised her hand to his mouth formally, just like she was in a gown instead of dingy pants and he was in a suit, instead of chaps.
“It does, indeed, my princess,” he said amused, pulling her into his arms against his chest. “Unless, well…”
“Yes?” Sabine held her breath as she felt herself tense expectantly for a moment. He leaned down close to her and his breath tickled her cheek. She remembered what he said about not wanting a wife or taking liberties with her and somehow knew he probably would hold fast to his beliefs. She would have to be patient and accept him as a friend until he was ready.
“Unless you prefer to be nibbled on in all the right places, my princess,” he whispered quietly against the shell of her ear.
“We shall see when you decide that’s what you want from me,” she challenged quietly in return. “I’ve seen you avoid me like the plague and I have seen you turn on the charm. When you decide what you want, then I will decide what I want.”
“Touché, my dear,” he said with a knowing smile. The gauntlet had been thrown down by both of them. Now, it was a matter of which one would pick up the dare first. Would she allow him into her bed without the benefit of his name, or would he change his mind and make a proper woman of her?
Chapter Seven
It was a restless night, laying there in the dark. Sabine was on a tiny, cramped straw pallet that lay on a rope bed. It was much smaller than her bed back home and reminded her of the tiny enclosure on the shuttle. No glowing lights, no cold air, no weightlessness. Just cramped and small. If she shut her eyes, maybe she could imagine she was back sleeping in her bag on the shuttle. Zipped into place like she had been before she had been whisked away.
But no.
She caught herself just before she called out to her iPhone to play some music. No iPhone here. No music other than the crickets. Crickets and other chirping bugs were almost deafening in the darkness. The sounds of the night kept her awake. She could hear Jack’s breathing from the pallet he had made for himself. The idea that there may be a snake that slithers in or some other creature that could sneak into the many cracks in the walls was discomforting. Staring upwards, she realized there was a gaping hole that let in a small amount of moonlight.
That will have to be fixed, too, she thought. Fixer upper didn’t begin to describe it.
Burn it all and start again?
Harsh as that sounded, perhaps it was an idea. There was already a flat area for the house. The fireplace was standing and seemed solid. The blackened, small stove in the corner looked as if it hadn’t been used much. The fact that Jack cooked over the fire and she boiled the water on a hook above the fireplace cemented that idea. Maybe it didn’t work? Or maybe it wasn’t worth heating up to cook for one? She certainly understood that. She had been the drive-thru queen back home.
Burn it, clean the stove. Build around the fireplace and begin again. Home is what you make it, right? She wanted quality of life, so perhaps she would have to create it. She wanted a kitchen or bedroom… a bathroom. She was smart enough to develop a plan for it. If he bought the supplies, could she build what she wanted? Did she dare attempt it? She’d never built any solid structures, but if she kept it simple maybe it could work. There would be no plumbing or electrical to figure out, but she could certainly put four walls together if she could create medication from plants. It would take time, skill and all of her wits to make sure it was something she could live in for…
Wait.
Would she be living here? Would she remain? Was she time bound with an expiration date? She had certainly had that happen before- oh, approximately a week ago. It wasn’t fun and she didn’t relish the idea of having it happen again.
Would Jack want her here? What if she was asked to leave? And there were no guarantees that she would want to stay. If she gave this relationship with Jack a try, would they find that getting along together was impossible, that they weren’t suitable? Maybe something just wasn’t right between them. Every time she thought that maybe there was interest, he would back away just as quickly. She’d be damned if she would chase him any more than she already had. She lay there in on the scr
atchy surface trying to rest and heard a loud sigh.
“If you can’t sleep, you could certainly let me,” he said quietly.
“You’ve been sleeping just fine! Thank you very much,” she retorted. “In fact, with all those logs you have been sawing with your snoring, we could be resting in a two-story house.”
“Point made, Princess. My shithole of a house isn’t good enough and needs repairs,” he said in a tight voice in the darkness.
“I’m sorry,” she replied, instantly feeling contrite. “I guess I’m cranky when I’m tired.”
“I see that.”
“Go back to sleep and I will be quiet,” she offered.
“I’m up. How about we head out early to Austin?” he said evenly. There was something in his tone that she couldn’t place.
“You’re mad.”
“No,” he said quickly. “Surprised, that’s all.”
“I am sorry.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you deserve better.”
“That’s only because you insist on calling me princess.”
“That’s because you insist on acting like you are one,” she heard him mumble as he walked out the door into the darkness outside. She could see the barest glow on the horizon as the sun prepared to come up. Sabine felt guilty for what she had said about his house and he obviously was embarrassed about it.
Things were so very different and, again, she found herself longing for her previous life and the comforts it brought. Everything in her insisted that Eve had to have been wrong and she wondered if maybe she simply expected too much in a relationship. Heck, it was barely a budding friendship at this point.
Standing alone inside the cabin, she stared out the open door to see his shadow standing there in the faint morning light. His face upturned looked disappointed and a frown creased his brow. She waited. For what, she didn’t know, but it felt like this was important.
Enchanted by You: Timeswept Soulmates (Timeless Brides Book 3) Page 8