Allegra wanted to be as honest and forthcoming with Phoenix as he had been with her. So as she ate her cold eggs, she mulled over what to tell him.
“Devon and I dated for six months,” she started when he got up to put his plate in the dishwasher. She liked that he rinsed his dishes and put them immediately in the machine. He wasn’t a neat freak, but he knew how to take care of his business.
He leaned against the counter beside the sink and folded his arms, his dark hair and eye combination dangerous to her defenses against him. And that beard…it should be illegal to grow a beard as sexy as Phoenix’s.
“Anyway, he started saying weird stuff,” Allegra said. “About how many kids we’d have, and when the best times to have babies were. He said I should have the kids naturally, and then he took me by a little white house that was for sale on Lakeshore Drive, and said it would be perfect for us.” She paused, her thoughts spiraling back to that scary time.
“We hadn’t even talked about kids yet,” she said. “Or marriage. Or anything. It was all very odd.”
“Do you want kids?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. “But I don’t think my husband should dictate how or when I have them.” She watched him, and he seemed to agree with her. “Devon showed me all these articles on natural childbirth.” She shook her head. “It got weird really fast.”
“Sounds like it.”
“When I pushed back, he turned controlling, always texting me. If I didn’t respond within five minutes, he called. He accused me of cheating on him when I was simply out in the forest working. He turned paranoid and wouldn’t let me leave his house one night. That’s when I broke up with him and called my friend to come get me.”
“And when did the stalking start?”
“Not too long after that,” she said. “It was the end of August when we broke up. I noticed him following me in early September. I filed for a restraining order, but I didn’t have a lawyer, and Devon showed up to the court hearing and had an explanation for everything. He laughed it off. There was no proof of domestic violence or that I was in any danger.”
Allegra pushed away the rest of her eggs and stood. “This just goes in the dishwasher?”
“Are you going to finish those?” he asked.
“No.”
“The dogs will love you forever if you give them to them.” He nodded to where his pooches lay on the floor just beyond the edge of the island.
She grinned at them and set the plate in front of them. “There you go, guys.” Dozer practically swiped up the remaining eggs with one lick, but Sally managed to get a few bites too. Allegra turned back to Phoenix, who still guarded the sink like it held gold in the drainpipe.
“And he’s been following me ever since,” she said. “Though it has increased to daily stalking and sitting outside my building late at night since the holidays.”
“And then chasing you through a snowstorm in the dark,” he added.
“Yes,” she said.
“I think you’ll get the restraining order this time.”
“I hope so.” Allegra rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Can I help you get more wood? I noticed our stock is pretty low.”
“I’ve got tons in the lean-to,” he said, glancing toward the stove. “I’ll bring it in. You can put something on the TV if you want.” He smiled at her. “I don’t have any romantic comedies, but I have cable.”
She smiled back, grateful beyond words for this safe haven, for his generosity in sharing his small space with her. “Thank you, Phoenix,” she said, her words wobbling a little.
He gripped her elbows with both hands and leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead. “Be right back,” he said before slipping out the back door.
Allegra went to the couch and sat down, sure this day would be full of boredom punctuated with naps. But as she watched Phoenix bring in armful after armful of wood, she decided she could watch him work all day and never be bored.
Once the wood bin was full again, he exhaled heavily and stretched his back, a grimace of pain flashing across his face. He looked at her, and she glanced away quickly, but she hadn’t turned on the TV and she didn’t have anything to distract her.
Heat filled her face, most of it fueled by embarrassment than she’d been caught gawking at him. But surely he knew he was a male specimen to be admired, what with those huge, wood-chopping biceps, wide shoulders, and six-foot-five frame.
She heard the rattle of pills in a bottle and risked getting caught again as she watched him swallow them. He then set a rectangular bag on top of the stove and came around the couch to sit beside her.
He lifted his arm over her shoulders, and she melted into his side. How that had become normal and easy, she had no idea.
“I have a bad back,” he said. “An old injury from my childhood.”
“I’m sorry. Does it bother you a lot?”
“Especially in the winter,” he said. “When I overdo things.”
“Like swing an axe around for hours.”
He chuckled and pressed another kiss to her temple. “Yeah, just like that.”
She glanced up at him, finding his face so close and so beautiful. “Is this weird?”
“Define ‘this’.”
“Really? You need me to define it?”
He rolled his eyes. “Your attitude is so spicy.” His face bloomed into a grin. “It’s a little odd, but I’m just rolling with it.”
“I’ve had a crush on you since I met you,” she blurted, horrified that he started laughing.
“You’re joking.”
“I am not,” she said defensively, folding her arms and straightening so she wasn’t glued to his side.
“You had a funny way of showing it,” he said.
“You’re intimidating,” she said.
Something crossed his face, and he frowned. “My brother just said the woman he likes told him that too.”
“Maybe it’s an Addler family trait,” she said dryly.
“Or maybe you guys jump to conclusions before you even know us.” He raised his eyebrows. “Ever thought of that?”
“The first time I met you, you yelled at me to get off your lawn.”
“I did not,” he said with a scoff.
“Yes, you did.” She grinned and nodded emphatically. “Like an eighty-year-old man who’s spent his life making sure his grass is exactly the right shade of green and precisely a half an inch long.”
Phoenix looked thoughtful for a moment, looking past her as if he could see their first meeting in his head. “I had been spending a lot of time on my lawn that summer,” he said. “Before that, this place was just surrounded by dirt, and it takes a lot of effort to grow a good lawn in perpetual shade.”
“Yes, well. You yelled at me.”
He kneaded her closer, right into his chest until she’d returned to her previous position. “Yes, well, I’m sorry.”
Allegra basked in the sound of those words coming from him. “I’ve wanted you to apologize for so many things,” she said. “It sounds nice coming from you.”
“What else?” he asked. “The rangers?”
“Yes, that’s the biggest one,” she said.
“Have you forgotten how many injunctions you filed against me or my family?”
Guilt moved through her, and she shook her head. “So we’re both not perfect.”
“Oh, I disagree,” he said, dipping his head and skating the tip of his nose down her cheek. “I think you’re pretty dang close. Besides the injunctions, of course.”
Allegra sighed into his touch, wondering if he was really going to kiss her. Wondering if she wanted him too. Knowing she did.
“I like you too,” she whispered just before picking up the remote and clicking on the television. He chuckled, her message obviously received loud and clear.
The next morning, the sky had cleared and the sound of constant dripping annoyed her. Dozer stood at the window looking out onto the front porch, and he hadn’t moved since Phoenix had left a half an hour ago.
Allegra’s nerves fired on all cylinders, and the caffeine she drank to soothe herself only put her more on-edge.
The rest of the day yesterday had been easy and carefree, with movies and music while they put together a jigsaw puzzle. He hadn’t tried to kiss her again, and no more hard questions had been asked. He’d made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with a special mustard-mayo spread on the inside that had made her taste buds perk up in delight. They’d talked for a bit about their plans for the next day, and he’d left her in the living room with his lips branded on her cheek.
And this morning, he’d done exactly as they’d planned and gone to get her car. How he was going to get her tiny coupe down the lane to his house in the snow, she didn’t know. It was melting, but not that fast.
She started the dishwasher and folded the blanket she used at night, draping it over the back of the couch. She added wood to the stove, and set his rice bag to heat. He’d said that sometimes even walking was hard, especially if his back was already sore, which it was.
Allegra just needed something to get her anxiety to settle, but his cabin was small and there weren’t enough chores to distract her for very long. Not only was she worried about Phoenix out in the snowy wilderness, she wasn’t sure what he’d find when he got to the parking lot.
Devon had never exhibited overt violence toward her or her belongings, but he’d also never chased her through the woods before. She shivered and noticed that Dozer had laid down on the floor in front of the couch where Sally slept.
The dogs weren’t concerned; maybe she should relax too. But she didn’t. Couldn’t. At least not until she heard someone coming up the front steps. Her heart pounded in her ears until she heard Phoenix say, “It’s just me, Allegra. Open the door,” through the thick wood.
She flew over to the front door and pulled it open. His eyes were bright spots of dark light beneath his hat, and his cheeks glowed with pink that testified how cold it was outside.
“Car’s fine,” he said as he entered the cabin. “I’m wet and frozen.”
She closed the door behind him and locked it before following him over to the wood burning stove, where he shed his coat and let it fall to the floor. “We should get you out of those clothes,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and tipping up onto her toes.
“Ha ha,” he said, plenty of playfulness in his eyes—until he saw that she wasn’t really teasing him.
They looked at one another for several long moments before he ducked his head and claimed her mouth with his.
Allegra held onto those broad shoulders as fireworks exploded down her throat and through her whole body.
Oh, yes, kissing him was every bit as wonderful as she’d dreamt it would be. He held onto her hips and kissed her as if he hadn’t taken a five-year hiatus from dating, from women, or from social interaction at all.
“I’m a little rusty,” he said into her mouth, pausing for a moment.
“You’re doing fine,” she whispered back, kissing him again. So much better than fine, actually, but she didn’t want to take the time to tell him.