Chapter Four
Gavin
“Natalia?” I shook her shoulder softly, trying to wake her up. If I was fully healed, I would have attempted to carry her inside, but there was no way I was going to be able to do that, and we needed to get inside because the snowstorm was coming in faster and heavier than they anticipated. “Wake up, Princess. Time to go inside.”
I unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned in, brushing the shorter, darker strands of her hair away from her face. Natalia Van Buren was a stunning woman. Her delicate features were soft, her lips were plush and made for kissing, and her body was slightly curved in all the right places. She was what society called a plus-size model, but she just looked perfect to me.
My dick agreed, but I had to ignore the bastard because she was a case, like any other. Plus, getting involved with her would compromise my safety. I shook her again and her brows furrowed. The temperature was dropping outside, and we needed to get in for the night.
“Natalia,” I said again, louder and with more firmness in my voice.
She grumbled at me and I laughed. The woman didn’t wake up easily, so there was only one thing left to do.
I turned the truck off and opened the door.
Natalia popped up quickly when the cold air stole any warmth that was in the cabin of the truck.
“That was mean,” she muttered and opened the truck door, hopping down from the cab.
“I tried to wake you nicely first.” I shrugged, trying to hide my laughter at her expense.
“God, it’s so cold.” She rubbed her fingers together and opened the back door to get her bags. Her parent’s car that had been in the garage earlier was gone, so I assumed they left before the snow got too bad.
“Come on.” I led her in the house through the garage door. The alarm beeped, and I went to the pad to disable and reset it.
“Mom? Dad?” she called out as soon as she walked in the door.
“They must have left before the storm got too bad,” I said, shrugging out of my jackets.
“Let me call them.” She reached for her phone and dialed her parents.
Her dad’s voice came on the phone. “Hey, Nat. Did you make it to the house?”
“Yeah, where are you guys?”
“I’m sorry, Sweetie. We had to leave because the storm was picking up.”
“You guys could’ve stayed here with me, so I don’t have to be alone.”
“Alone? Isn’t Gavin there with you?”
I stood in the kitchen with my back to the counter, waiting for her to figure out that I wasn’t going anywhere.
She was in my temporary home. We were both going to lie low together, but she hadn’t figured it out yet and her parents were beating around the bush on telling her. I expect that was because she was stubborn. They wanted to make sure there was no way she could hop on another plane.
I saw the fire in her eyes and the stubborn set in her chin when she thought I was ignoring her to be rude and standoffish. She didn’t realize how bad it was snowing and that we honestly should have stayed in Edmonton until the storm passed, but I’d gone ahead and ignored my better judgment and got us home as quickly as possible. She slept through the bad parts of the trip, and I was grateful for that because there at the end it was bad.
“Yes, but he’s leaving as soon as the storm lets up, and I wanted to see you guys.” Her voice choked up on unshed tears, and I felt bad for her.
“Honey, Gavin’s not leaving you. He’s staying there to protect you.”
“What?” She looked over at me in shock, and I just shrugged. “He’s a stranger. You want me to live with a stranger while I’m hiding from a stalker?”
“Well, he’s safe and you need someone to help. Since you won’t stay with us, we made other arrangements. The storm coming in only helped our cause because now, there’s no way you can be stubborn and leave.”
Natalia bit her bottom lip and the look on her face said that was exactly what she would have done had the storm not been so bad.
“We’ll come see you when the storm has passed, and it’s safe to drive. Until then, you are safe. That’s what is most important.”