Chapter Thirteen
Sadie’s smilehurt her cheeks as she followed Bjørn’s truck to his home. The silly thing hadn’t left her face since he’d kissed her senseless by the glacier. She pulled her sweatshirt away from her body to fan herself. That man sure knew how to kiss a woman.
Rowdy whined in the passenger seat and cocked his head at her like she was strange. Her cheeks heated as she glanced at the dog. His eyebrow lifted in a what-are-you-doing expression.
“What?” She cranked on the AC. “He’s not like Leo.” She stared through the windshield at Bjørn’s tailgate, trying to suppress her smile and failing. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met.”
Though embarrassment still hummed at the bottom of her gut, the possibility of something more, something that felt an awful lot like love, gonged loud in her heart and ears, almost drowning out the shame that always came when she freaked out. She huffed out a breath as her body roasted. When had the day gotten so warm? She pushed up the sleeves of her sweatshirt, revealing her mutilated skin. Her giddiness evaporated like morning fog.
She might have felt brave enough to tell him about the avalanche and Melinda. Or had it been desperation? Whatever emotion propelled her to tell him hadn’t been compelling enough to show him the ugliness that catastrophe had left behind. She didn’t need the reminders that wrinkled her arms and shoulder like a topographical map to remember the pain and heartache that day held. She heard the avalanche’s roar as it rushed to devour her and Melinda almost every night in her dreams. Wasn’t that enough?
She yanked the sleeves down, covering half her hands. Something Bjørn had said by the glacier filtered through her agitation. If he thought she could work through her fear of tight spaces, could his counselor’s advice help with her stomach dropping every time she looked at her scarred skin? Only one way to find out.
She swallowed down the lump of dread that balled in her throat, then swallowed again when the first time didn’t help. With jerky motions, she pushed her sleeves above her elbows. The cool air felt glorious against her skin. She stared through the windshield, trying to keep her eyes on the road and not glued to the nasty ripples on her arms. Rowdy whined and placed his head on the console.
“Maybe.” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. “Maybe I should talk to someone, like a counselor or something, about what happened.”
Rowdy inched closer, his tail thumping slow like he wasn’t sure how to help her. Reggie added his thoughts with a whine from his crate in the back.
“Though my parents took me to a counselor, I never wanted to talk about what had happened, not really,” she said, remembering all the things she’d longed to say to the counselor but couldn’t get past her lips.
Rowdy’s wet tongue licked her elbow, causing her to flinch.
“You don’t mind my scars, do you?” She glanced at the cute dog before returning her attention to the road.
His tail wagged at light speed. It surprised her he wasn’t shaking the entire car. She placed her hand on his head and rubbed his ears.
“Maybe if I would’ve actually talked to the psychologist Mom and Dad took me to, instead of just pretending everything was okay, I wouldn’t have this crippling fear or worry so much about what others think of my scars.” She sighed. “Or hate them so much myself.”
Bjørn pulled into a drive off of Heather Lane, just a short walk from where she lived with Denali and her eleven-year-old son, Sawyer. How were they practically neighbors, and she hadn’t known? Large raspberry bushes and tall, white spruce surrounded an older cabin decorated with worn-out buoys and fishing gear. The bright, kelly green trim on the windows and front door gave the worn logs a bit of cheeriness.
Bjørn got out of his truck and waved at her as she pulled to a stop behind him. His dimple creased his cheek and flipped her heart. He was heart-achingly gorgeous. No way someone like him would really want her once he saw her scars, would he?
Yanking down her sleeves, she told her inner doubt to shut up. It was probably stupid not to listen. Her heart would most likely end up ripped from her chest and torn to shreds, but, with the memory of his words, for the first time, maybe ever, she finally felt cherished by someone other than her family. She’d find out eventually if her scars repulsed him like they had the few others she’d dated. Until then, she wanted to let her feelings soar. She pushed open her door and stepped out, bracing herself against the warm metal.
Bjørn jogged up and kissed her on the cheek as he headed to the back of her Land Cruiser. “I’ll get Reggie out.”
Rowdy tumbled out of the passenger seat and dashed after Bjørn, completely ignoring her. Bjørn rubbed the side of Rowdy’s head while he opened the back, where Reggie barked excitedly. Even the dogs loved him. She snatched her backpack from the vehicle and shut the door.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she wasn’t sure if it was excitement or anxiety. She turned away from him and scanned the yard to get her body back to normal. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself. Again.
Being outgoing, the one blazing the way in life, especially their business, she was used to shaking off any embarrassment that was bound to happen. She desperately wanted this date, or whatever it was, to happen without another mishap. Breaking down into a quivering mess was enough humiliation for one day.
“The place is still kind of a disaster from the last owner.” Bjørn stepped up beside her and threaded his fingers through hers.
Her palm tingled and fingers sizzled like someone had zapped her wrist with a training collar.
“He thought old junk from his fishing boat was decoration.” Bjørn scratched his cheek with the opposite hand. “Though, now that I think about it, since he left it all behind, he probably was just lazy.”
“It looks like a lot of places here.” Living in a fishing community meant boating paraphernalia often became engrained in all of life. “I love how your property backs right up to the mountains. It’d be nice to not have any neighbors behind you. I live with Denali just down the street a bit, but we don’t have this sense of seclusion you have here, even though you’re in town.”
“That’s why I bought it. That and the guest cabin out back.” He pointed to a quaint cabin she hadn’t noticed at the end of the driveway. “The plan is eventually to offer housing along with the chopper tours, but I haven’t gotten that crossed off the list yet.”
She shook her head and smiled up at him. “You and your lists.”
“Don’t knock them. They work. Keep me focused.” Bjørn stared down at her.
His gaze travelled across her face, like he was memorizing every detail. The attention raised her body temperature even more, making her break out into a sweat. Great. Now she’d stink on top of everything else. His perusal landed on her lips and didn’t move.