as well take advantage of the area while we can. We may even see shooting stars this time of year.”
Something lifts in my chest, and a hunger for something that will probably never be grows in my belly. For a moment, I can’t breathe. This woman is amazing, and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her.
I just hope I can keep her.
Chapter 20 – Brianna
We’ve pulled over, and I’m rummaging through the trunk for supplies. There’s an old picnic blanket tucked under a bag of tools and jumper cables. I lift it triumphantly but then remember that this blanket actually belongs to someone else, and we stole it from them.
Ugh. But even that memory doesn’t completely dispel my excitement at seeing the night sky. I know that I should be worried and confused about what’s going on, that my focus should be on school, my job, and my friends, and that this crazy compulsion to stay with Collin is fucked-up on a million levels. I also know that sooner or later, the law will catch up with us.
But for whatever reason, at the moment, I don’t care, and I don’t want to psychoanalyze it anymore.
“Find something?” Collin’s standing near the driver’s door.
He’s wearing another pair of basketball shorts but today he’s also wearing a T-shirt, and while I wouldn’t mind seeing his six-pack, I can’t help but admire the way his defined pecs are visible through the thin material.
He inhales, a knowing look in his eyes.
A blush stains my cheeks, and I quickly scurry to my side of the car and call out, “Yeah, there was a blanket, so with this one and yours we should be okay if we sleep on the sand.”
Once again, my heart is pattering like a hummingbird’s wings. I still don’t understand how I can have such an intense physical attraction to this man, but then I reason that he’s been quite normal and actually caring during the past twenty-four hours. Mr. Hyde has fully disappeared, leaving only Dr. Jekyll in his stead.
Lord help me.
I bite my lip when I remember the sensation of freefalling this morning after Collin hopped over the railing with me in his arms, and we’d dropped two stories to my apartment building’s entryway.
Instead of leaving me to my fate, Collin had fought off two SF members, he hadn’t killed them, and then he’d carried me out of my apartment and fled from Quintin Valley to keep me safe.
Even though he’d initially abducted me, and I’d been utterly terrified of him, since then, he’s been continually proving that he means well, and that he’s trying to do what’s right.
Surely that counts for something?
Collin’s scrounging around in the pack when I finally muster the courage to look in his direction. He pulls out the last of the packed food—what I didn’t eat—and wolfs it down. He’s got to be ravenous considering we’ve been on the run most of the day, but he doesn’t complain.
Something tells me he’s grown used to hardship.
“See a good spot to camp?” he asks.
His deep voice sends a thrill down my spine. Seriously, Bri, you’re acting like a hussy. At least try to act a little cooler?
I survey the dry land. There’s a break in the cactuses and brush, and a small mound looms about a hundred feet away. “There looks good.” I point at it. “Just behind that little hill. Nobody should be able to see us from the road if we camp there.”
“That works.” Collin comes around the front of the car. The wind picks up the long strands of his hair. He’s got such a rugged appeal to him.
I whip my gaze away. Not being a hussy. Remember?
A chuckle comes from him, but before I can ask what’s so funny he’s striding toward the sand. I sling the picnic blanket over my shoulder and follow. Wind brushes long locks of hair across my face, obscuring my view of Collin’s broad shoulders and tapered waist.
Damn wind. But even with my hair blocking my view, that feeling begins in my girly areas again, that pulsing ache. I nearly roll my eyes so hard they fall out of my head. Bri! Hussy!
I grip the blanket tighter and take a deep breath. When we reach the area, Collin kicks several rocks out of the way before throwing the pack on the ground. He then spreads his lone blanket. One of the edges catches on a cactus, but he pulls it free. The thick woolen