“You don’t have to be scared of me.” He ran his fingertips along his jaw, digging into his beard for a scratch.
“What makes you think I’m scared of you?” Should I be? She crept away, edging ever so discreetly down the couch, putting a few more inches between them. Hoping he didn’t notice.
“Because of what I did to that guy who robbed you. I saw your face when you realized he was ‘put away in his trunk.’” He cast an unnerving grin her way, then it turned into a full-blown laugh, as if he experienced great joy out of reliving the violence in his mind. It was kind of funny though, and she was thrilled the sicko had been arrested and put in jail after his stay in the hospital from the injuries that good ol’ Jack had blessed him with.
“I’m not scared of you. I’ve seen a lot in my thirty-eight years. I guess some would consider what you’d done overkill though.”
He shrugged at her words. “Overkill would’ve been if I’d actually killed him. You really should be more careful.”
“More careful about what?”
“Lots of weirdos around here. People who wouldn’t mind hurting you, just for sport.” He casually scratched his chest and looked towards the front door as if he were expecting company.
“I can handle myself.”
“I’m sure you can in some situations, but this isn’t the big city where the cops will show up at some point, or there’d be cameras and witnesses everywhere to vouch for you. You are by yourself more than you know.” She rolled her eyes, not in the mood for a lecture, though she understood that some, if not all, of what he was saying was probably true. “And you shouldn’t have driven here because you don’t know me,” he pointed at himself, “and I could’ve been another weirdo, maybe worse than the drunk who attacked you at the restaurant.”
“If I didn’t feel afraid of you before, I might be now. That’s a strange thing to say… that you could be another weirdo. Makes me think you are one now.”
He chuckled at that. “I can see why you’d say that, but it’s the truth. I was born and raised here. Grew up here. Been in this place my whole life. The stories I could tell you.” He shook his head, and his mouth twisted in an expression of disgust. “It’s not always safe. Alaska is beautiful, just like you…” Her heart quickened. “And I love so much about this place, but there are some things the folks here just don’t talk about much… like all the people that come up missing all the time, or worse.”
He took a deep, ragged breath, and his chest rose before he exhaled. His gaze fixed on the fire, he ran his hand along his knee as if massaging a pain that wouldn’t go away.
His eyes then moved to rest on a framed photo. It was the same person as the one on the flyers he had the night she was assaulted. That must’ve been his son… In her heart, she was certain of it. She fought the urge to hold his hand, to both give comfort and feel his touch. It felt wrong to feel such a desire right then, yet she scooted closer to him. If she were to be honest, she had been lonely since she’d moved there to Fairbanks, but she couldn’t go back to New York. At least, not anytime soon.
“I wasn’t scared to drive here.” She coughed into her hand, then continued, “I was concerned though about whether you were going to pulverize me after you answered the door. You looked mad as hell.” She chuckled.
“Yeah… your eyes got big when you noticed the gun I keep by the door. That’s not uncommon ’round here, but maybe to you, it’s a little strange since you’re not from here. Why’d you move from New York and come to Alaska? Your husband or boyfriend got a job offer or something?”
He looked deep into her eyes, so intensely she was afraid to lie. She felt her temperature rising and her stomach knot.
“I’m not married, and I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“I’m not married either. Well, not anymore. Divorced.”
Something about the way he said ‘divorced’ made her wonder if he regretted it, or perhaps it had left him brokenhearted in some way. Still, now she could flirt with more confidence.
“As far as why I moved here, I’d rather not get into it right now.”
His eyes hooded, so sexy yet he wrecked her nerves.
“I wouldn’t want to force you to lie or feel uncomfortable, so I’ll just leave it alone and not ask you anymore about it. For now.”
Their gazes hooked, and her stomach flip-flopped. Just as it had several times since she’d arrived at his home.
“You seem like an interesting person, Jack.”