out at this lake, talking, walking, kissing. My breathing slows. It’s hard to keep the thoughts clear. I feel myself drifting to sleep.
My eyes flash open. The clock says eleven thirty now. I just barely fell asleep.
Creak.
My pulse rate jumps through the roof, and I shoot up in bed before remembering I’m naked, then quickly lift the covers over my chest to cover myself.
Creak.
Reaching for the lamp next to my bed, I flick on the light. “Knox?” I call out.
Nothing but silence fills the air.
I reach for my phone, seeing I missed a text from Knox a few minutes ago. He got delayed. He’s just now on his way to the airport. He won’t be here for a few more hours.
I’ve never been scared out here by myself. Never! But my current heart rate is higher than it should be. Maybe being naked has me paranoid. That has to be it. I’m just feeling vulnerable.
Glancing to the alarm panel on my bedroom wall, the light is still green. I didn’t set it before I went to bed, and I seldom do. It was Gigi’s housewarming present to me. I’d have preferred a Smeg refrigerator. I love their whole line of stuff, all the fun colors, but I had to spring for that myself.
Right now, though, I’m thankful that Gigi sprung for the alarm. She even pays for the monitoring service because she knows I wouldn’t have kept up with that. I get up, keeping the blanket wrapped around me, and activate it. When it’s fully armed, I get back in bed and shut off the light.
I feel a bit better, but this time, it’ll take more than one deep breath for me to fully relax. My happy place seems a bit farther away. I finally seem to be making some progress when I hear another noise, only this is more like a rustling than a creaking sound.
Shit! I feel myself starting to sweat. At this point, I’d pee my pants if I was wearing any.
Trying to convince myself it’s just a wild animal who’s gotten too close, I get out of bed, throwing on a sweatshirt and sweatpants. If I’m going to be mauled to death or murdered, I want to be covered up and warm. I don’t want to be found dead naked—how embarrassing.
I don’t turn on any lights in my bedroom, but make my way into the main part of the house. For a fraction of a second, I wonder if Knox is playing games with me. We never really did any role playing in our sex life before, but maybe this is some new thing that gets him off. I just don’t think he’d scare me, though, not on purpose.
I make my way to the front door, flicking the switch for the outside lights to come on. I’m not about to open the door to a bear or a burglar. Peering through the windows, I scan my porch. I can’t see much beyond that. It’s pitch black. That’s one of the things I usually like about it out here. It gets so dark without lights from buildings or street posts, but right now, I’m reconsidering my position.
I don’t see anything, not even the shadow of anything moving. Some people enjoy being scared, watching horror movies, riding thrill rides, jumping out of planes. I’m not one of those people. I don’t scare easily, but it’s not a feeling I particularly enjoy or crave.
Making my way to the back door, I do the same check, feeling pretty stupid when all I see is a tiny squirrel running across my porch. He’s cute, and my heart settles. Shaking my head at myself, I turn off the lights, but just to be careful, I flip on the motion detector lights.
They’ve been installed forever, but I leave them off because there are so many animals out here. Odds are that critters like my squirrel friend would trip them all the time. Right now, I have the sensitivity set to the lowest level, so hopefully, they won’t be activated by a passing animal. Saying a prayer that the bulbs still work, I make my way back to bed.
I’m okay. Knox will be here soon. Everything is fine. Just need to close my eyes and fall asleep.
It’s exactly midnight when the motion lights flash on, lighting up the house like the Fourth of July. No squirrel is going to do that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Knox
All the rental car places were closed when I arrived at the Denver