Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She grabbed the gearshift in both hands, attempting to use her strength. I heard her grunt of frustration and leaned down, tapping the window.
She startled, meeting my gaze. Instant alarm sprang into her eyes, and she locked the car to keep me out.
“Let me go!” she yelled.
“You need to engage the clutch,” I replied.
“The what?”
“The clutch.”
“Where the hell is that?”
I crouched down. “Kitten, do you know how to drive?”
“I’ll figure it out!”
I stood and crossed over the driver’s side, groaning as she did everything she could to drive away. The gears ground in displeasure, and the car lurched and stopped. I used the fob to unlock the door and hunched beside her.
“You can’t just ‘figure it out,’ Kitten. You need to know how to drive a standard. If you’d taken the SUV, you have had a chance.”
“Give me your keys, then!”
I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I began to laugh, and with a shout of frustration, she pushed me down and tore out of the car, running. Where she thought she would go, I had no idea. She even left her knapsack behind. I stood, brushing myself off as I observed her fall face first into the snow, almost screaming in her frustration. I grabbed her knapsack, retrieved the car keys, and headed her way. I stood over her, shaking my head. “Nice try, MacGyver. I’ll give you the door handle, but you really needed to think the car thing over a bit better.”
I should have been furious. Yelling at her. But tears spilled over her cheeks, and she was cold and wet. I bent and scooped her up, feeling her defeat in the way she allowed me to hold her. The front light snapped on, and Sean stepped outside, looking confused.
“What the hell?” he yelled, seeing me coming toward him, carrying Skylar. “Is she all right?”
I went past him. “She’s fine, aside from her bruised ego. You might want to check the car, though. She put the gears through hell.”
“Can she even drive?” he roared.
“Nope.”
I settled her on the bed, sighing when she didn’t move. I pulled off her jacket and shoes with a huff. “Running,” I snorted. “It’s below zero outside. You would freeze before you got too far.” A dry chuckle burst from my throat. “And I would have caught you even if you’d managed to run for a while.”
“I won’t say a word to anyone. Let me go,” she whispered. “Forget about me.”
Forget about her?
Somehow, I knew that was an impossibility.
I hunched in front of her again, lifting her chin. “Kitten. I can’t. You aren’t safe out there. I’m keeping you from harm. You have food. A bed. Books. Even someone to talk to if you want. Nothing will hurt you here. I swear to God.”
She didn’t respond, and I sighed. “Skylar, get some sleep. Let me get some.”
I walked to the door, pausing to bend down and take the small file she’d dropped on the floor. “There’s no place to go.”
“Why aren’t you yelling?” she asked as I began to close the door.
I shook my head. “You amaze me with your tenacity and ideas. I only wish you’d use them for good instead of evil,” I teased, not wanting to explain how fascinating I found her. How she captivated me. “Sean might have something to yell about if you damaged his car, though.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, but I saw the guilty look cross her face.
“Go to sleep,” I stated again, shutting the door.
In the kitchen, I tossed Sean’s keys onto the counter.
“She is fucking determined,” he muttered. “You are making this harder than it has to be.”
I shook my head. “She attempts another breakout, and I get blamed.”
“If she understood—”
I held up my hand. “I can’t risk it. She needs to leave here without knowing all the gory details. Live her life free of me and my story.”
He lifted an eyebrow, pushing off the counter. “I can’t believe how much of an idiot you are.”
I let him go past, then headed back to my room. I checked on Skylar, grateful to find her tucked back in her bed, a blanket pulled around her, already dozing. Once again, she’d expended a lot of useless energy.
I fell onto my bed, rolling over and laughing into my pillow over her attempt before I let the serious thoughts take hold. Sean thought I was an idiot. Skylar thought I was a murdering asshole.
I thought she was brilliant.
We were all fucked.
Skylar
I slept in the bed in the night, the mattress more comfortable than the chair. In the morning, Sean had brought me breakfast, shaking his head at me and telling me I was being ridiculous. I knew he didn’t understand, and there was no way I could explain it to him.
“Is your car okay?” I asked, feeling guilty.
“It’s fine. How did you think you’d get away if you can’t drive?”