Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 56624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“I—yes. I don’t want trouble. So sue me.” Anger bubbles up inside me. I didn’t ask for him to come and save me from freezing to death, only to lecture me. He always did like to lecture me.
I used to imagine it meant he cared.
“You didn’t either. That’s why you left.”
He turns sharply, his eyes piercing mine. “Is that why you think I left?”
“Of course. You didn’t want anything to do with your father anymore. You didn’t want anything to do with me. So you left.”
My cheeks heat. I’m an adult now, and so is he. There’s no use hiding what I imagined was between us. There’s no shame in admitting what once was. But when I start to ask him, I falter. “Did you… did you know?”
“That you loved me?” he asks, holding my gaze. Bold.
I stare at him. I’ve got nothing to lose. “Yes,” I whisper.
“Of course I did,” he says softly. “And the feeling was mutual, Em.”
Em. No one calls me Em. No one but Owen.
“What are you… What are you talking about?” I whisper.
He turns toward me, his voice low and steady. “This is the bold truth, luv. My father told me to keep my fucking hands off my sister. Said I couldn’t touch you. Couldn’t even be near you.”
“I was not your sister,” I say in a heated whisper, my hands clenched into fists.
He’s so near me now. When did he move?
“I know,” he whispers back, just as fiercely. “And then you fell for that man. Jake. I couldn’t stand to see you with that feckin’ arsehole. I knew he was no good. Wouldn’t protect you if he needed to.”
“I don’t need protecting,” I snap.
“Says the girl who just locked herself out in the middle of a fucking snowstorm.”
“Touché.” I swallow and look away. “Why are you here?” I ask quietly. He was the one stocking the cabin, making sure I had what I needed. I can’t insist I don’t need him anymore when the evidence, at least right now, is undeniable.
“Right,” he says. “I own a cabin not too far from here.”
“And you just randomly saw me here and decided to come? Like, stalk me?”
He shrugs a shoulder. “Something like.”
I swallow hard, my eyes stinging with tears. He’s always been honest. Why isn’t he being fully honest now?
And then his words replay in my mind. You fell in love with that fucking loser.
What would’ve happened if I hadn’t? What if we’d said fuck it and defied them all—my parents, the rules, everyone at school—and just did what we wanted?
And I have to admit, now that he’s here, now that I’m not alone, it feels safer. The cabin is warmer. The fire he built is bigger, stronger. Robust. It’s warming everything.
There are still things he hasn’t told me. I can feel it. But I don’t push.
“So… you had a crush on me too?” I ask.
“Had?” he echoes, raising an eyebrow.
He looks away. “I… oh my god. I haven’t seen you in five years.”
“Why would you need to see me?” he asks. “You were married.”
I look away. “It feels surreal having you here.”
“Aye,” he mutters.
I swallow hard, glancing at my boots drying by the fire. “You’re right. I took the safe route,” I say. “Jake felt… dependable, you know? He wasn’t scary.”
Owen holds my gaze.
He doesn’t say it, but I hear it anyway. Yes. Scary like him.
It wasn’t just Owen’s presence—it was everything. His strength, the people he knew, his fearlessness. His father tried to rein him in, but it was pointless. Owen had ties back in Ireland that ran deeper than blood.
“Safe doesn’t keep you warm at night, Emma. Does it?”
I swallow again. “No.”
He leans in slightly. “Truth is—I own the cabin up in the woods. I oversee the rental of this one. When I saw your name, I checked into it. I saw your socials. Noticed you weren’t posting about Jake anymore. I made up my mind about him.”
He looks away, as if he’s hiding something from me.
I listen as he continues.
“So I came. Made sure the cabin was ready for you. And I’ve been watching you since you got here.”
“Why didn’t you just say hello like a normal person?” I ask, stunned. “You didn’t come here just to see me, did you?”
“No,” he admits. “Didn’t want to scare you.”
I look out the window. “Right.”
“Are you?” he asks, his voice a low growl.
I look at him. “Am I what?”
“Are you scared?”
I lick my lips, then swallow hard.
“Out of my damn mind,” I whisper. “Yes.”
CHAPTER SIX
Owen
I stare at the gorgeous, vulnerable woman I’m madly in love with and can’t look away from.
“Remember that night?” I ask.
She tilts her head. “Which one? There were… a lot of them.”
“That night you got feckin’ plastered at the grad party. And then decided to take a goddamn edible on top of it.”