Taking A Chance (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 2)

by Elana Johnson

  “I have tacos too,” he said, his dark eyes glittering at her from a few feet away. “If you’re hungry.”

  She was hungry. She did want to shower. She just wasn’t sure what to do with this side of Phoenix Addler. This kind side of him. The caring, compassionate side of him.

  “It wasn’t the bears out there,” she said, her words rough around the edges.

  Phoenix drew one step closer. “No?”

  She shook her head, needing to tell him so he wouldn’t open the door if Devon came knocking. Being trapped in this cabin with the two of them would be lethal and much worse than being here alone with Phoenix.

  “No, it was my ex-boyfriend. He’s been stalking me.”

  Phoenix’s eyes widened, and she half-expected him to make a joke. Perhaps something about why would anyone want to stalk her?

  But he simply asked, “You saw him?”

  “I saw his car parked next to mine in the faculty lot. Ours were the only two cars, and I couldn’t….” Her voice trailed off, and she couldn’t finish her sentence.

  “So you went back into the woods,” he said. “How long have you been out there?”

  “A couple of hours.” Her chin wobbled, but she would not be crying in front of this man.

  “Allegra,” he said, his voice quiet and tender. She didn’t know how to deal with that either. Didn’t know how to deal with her confusing feelings for him. They’d never gotten along, but then again, she’d never seen this human side to him.

  He moved closer to her again and touched her hand. “I’ll get you some warm clothes. I’m afraid they’ll be huge on you.”

  “It’s fine,” she said, staring at his long fingers on hers.

  “I’ll get dinner heated up for you while you change.” He slid his hand off hers. “The bedroom’s not as warm as out here, but you probably won’t freeze.”

  “I’d like to shower,” she whispered, looking up at him.

  He nodded, but neither of them moved. Allegra felt numb, first from her run through the woods, the panic of searching for somewhere to hide for the night where she wouldn’t be found and wouldn’t freeze.

  “You’re okay,” he said. “He can’t get in here.”

  Allegra nodded, an additional measure of relief passing through her. “Thank you for believing me.”

  “I’ll put some clothes in the bathroom for you,” he said, stepping away and walking backward for a step or two before he turned and went down the hallway.

  Allegra stood in his cabin, somewhere she thought she’d never set foot—at least until she’d acquired this property and was ready to knock his house to the ground. Regret at her zealousness to get his land lanced through her, and she startled when his huge dog nosed her hand.

  She yanked it away, the chill from the dog’s nose spiraling through her. Would she ever be warm again? Feel safe? Actually be safe?

  She glanced to her right and saw huge back windows. To her left was the front door, which was flanked by windows. Terror gripped her heart at being so observable. The walls, while they protected her, caged her, and she wanted to fly back into the night.

  Phoenix returned before she could even move. “I put some things in the bathroom,” he said. “Fresh towels too. You should have everything you need.”

  “Thank you,” she said, surprised at the civil way they could talk to each other. She hesitated before she left, wanting to say something else to him but unsure as to what. So she simply turned and went down the hall, finding the bathroom easily through the first door on the right.

  And it didn’t have any windows, so Allegra finally breathed easily for the first time in hours.

  * * *

  A half an hour later, she padded down the hall in his huge wool socks, a pair of sweat pants she’d cinched around her waist, and a T-shirt and sweatshirt that smelled like fabric softener and Phoenix’s masculine skin.

  “Can I put these in the dryer?” She held her wet clothes in her hands, her mind wandering to where she’d sleep in this tiny cabin with only one bedroom.

  “Over there,” he said, nodding to a set of doors behind the stove.

  She felt the weight of his eyes on her as she opened the closet and put her clothes in his dryer. She went into the kitchen, where he stood between the stove and a narrow island.

  “Tacos,” he said.

  “You made these?” She took in the chopped vegetable toppings, as well as the scrumptious-smelling meat.

  “I can cook,” he said with that familiar bite to his voice.

  She looked at him again, wanting to call a truce. “Obviously,” she said with just as much attitude. “They look great.” She leaned over from the bar side of the island and put together a couple of tacos.

  “I only have water,” he said.

  “Water’s fine.” She didn’t like this dance they were performing, but she supposed they both needed some practice to figure out how to be nice to one another.

  He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, which he placed next to her on the counter. He seemed angry about something, and Allegra was too tired to play games with him.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I made a couple of phone calls while you were in the shower,” he said.

  “Okay.” She lifted her taco to her mouth and took a huge bite, the crunch from the shell vibrating through the small space.

  “Why haven’t you filed a complaint against your ex-boyfriend?”

  She finished chewing, surprised he was so well-connected that he could learn anything about her legal activity. “It was on my to-do list,” she said. “And besides, he’s not really done anything. He parks outside my building at night and follows me around town.”

  “Well, I filed a complaint,” Phoenix said.

  Fury roared through her. “You did what?” She set her taco down and stared at him. “That’s not your job to do, Phoenix.”

  “Yes, it is,” he growled back. “A helpless woman shows up on my doorstep in the middle of a blizzard and says a man is stalking her through the woods. It’s well within—”

  “I am not a helpless woman.” She glared at him, wishing he wasn’t quite so handsome. Dashing. Drop-dead gorgeous.

  He softened and sighed. “Of course you’re not. But against the elements and a man wearing a size twelve boot, I’m afraid you’d lose.”

  Allegra tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Size twelve boot?”

  “Right on the other side of the gate,” he said. “The same one you came through. He didn’t.”

  “You went out in the storm?” The better reason her heart was suddenly tap-dancing was because he’d left her alone in the cabin. She didn’t want to be alone right now. Or ever again.

  “For five minutes,” he said. “I took Dozer with me.”

  As if on cue, his dog stood from where he’d been lying on the floor just outside of the kitchen. Phoenix fed him a bite of taco meat from the bowl.

  “There were footprints there, Allegra. He stopped and didn’t come through, unless he can jump insane distances.” Phoenix’s jaw tightened. “And then his footprints go back the way he came. Only yours come through.”

  Allegra didn’t want him to see her fear, so she dropped her gaze to her taco and picked it up again. “So you filed a complaint?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And Paul said you’d filed for a restraining order last year and didn’t get it.”

  She nodded and took a much smaller bite.

  “You should file for that again,” he said.

  Allegra would now. She couldn’t keep excusing away Devon’s behavior. She didn’t want to be the helpless woman Phoenix had just accused her of being.

  Feeling brave in this toasty cabin with this handsome guy, she looked up at him again. “Would you go with me?” she asked. “To file everything I need to?”

  Surprise ran through Phoenix’s expression, and she couldn’t blame him. They weren’t exactly friends. She was about to tell him to forget she’d a
sked when he said, “Of course. We’ll go in the morning, if we don’t get snowed in.”

  Snowed in. That sent another healthy dose of horror through her, and Allegra was really getting tired of all the shots of adrenaline and fear.

  “Is that a possibility? Getting snowed in?”

  “Well, seeing how I don’t own a car, yeah,” he said. “We’ll be snowed in in the morning.”

  “So I guess I’ll be staying with you until the weather clears,” she said. “Is that okay?”

  Phoenix only took two seconds to say, “Sure. I just love having houseguests,” in a slightly sarcastic tone.

  She smiled at him, and he beamed down at her, and dang if Allegra’s heart didn’t start to throb with pure attraction for the lumberjack.

  Chapter Five

  Phoenix did not love having houseguests—unless they were the beautiful blonde type. In fact, everything about Allegra was exactly his type—which was probably why he’d been pushing her and his feelings for her away for the past couple of years.

  Oh, and the fact that she wanted his house and land. That had been a big factor too.

  But gazing at her now while she chomped her way through two tacos and drank a bottle of water, Phoenix realized she was human. A very attractive female human, and he hadn’t had anyone like her in his house for any length of time in far too long.

  His heart beat against old wounds, and he wondered if he could truly open himself up to the possibility of a girlfriend again.

  He needed a plan. If he had a plan, then he’d know exactly what he could and couldn’t say. How to box up his emotions so she couldn’t see. After all, if she was just going to be passing through, he didn’t need to tell her anything. Offer her more than a night on his couch and hot coffee in the morning.

  She finished eating, and she turned soft and sleepy—the way he’d felt before she’d started banging on his door.

  So much had happened in the span of an hour, and Phoenix was still trying to take it all in.

  They moved over to the couch and sat on opposite ends of it. “So let’s make a plan,” he said. “Where did you park?” She’d said something about a parking lot, and while he knew she worked in the State Forest from time to time, he didn’t know every aspect of her job. Or any past the fact that she was a land surveyor who’d taken a keen interest in his property.

  As he watched her tuck her long hair behind her ear, he wondered if she’d taken a keen interest in him.

  Don’t be so arrogant, he told himself. She’d never given him any indication that she even so much as liked him. Or could even tolerate being in the same space as him.

  “There’s a faculty lot behind the South Visitor’s Center,” she said. “I always park there when I work out here. My car’s there.”

  “The South Visitor’s Center has to be at least three miles from here.”

  Allegra’s eyes took on that edge of fear he’d been hoping to erase, and he cursed himself mentally for saying that. “I can go get it in the morning,” he said. “Weather permitting.”

  “And leave me here alone?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  She hugged herself, and in his ridiculously big clothes, she did seem small and frail. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  Phoenix’s plans started to come together, but he wasn’t sure they were completely altruistic anymore. “Sally will be here with you.” He indicated the bulldog between them.

  “Yeah, she looks like a real killer.” Allegra smiled, her expression giving him a definite vibe of attraction now.

  Phoenix chuckled. “Hey, she’s old. Be nice to her.” He reached over and stroked Sally’s head. “I got her a few years ago, and she was old then.”

  “I’m more of a cat person,” Allegra said.

  “Of course you are,” Phoenix said with a good-natured smile. “So once we get out of here, we’ll get your car, and we’ll get all that stuff filed so you have some legal protection.”

  Allegra nodded and swallowed. “Can’t he just break the restraining order?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Phoenix said, watching her. “You don’t seem happy about that.”

  “Of course I’m not happy about it,” she snapped. She sighed a moment later and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Phoenix. This isn’t your problem.”

  “Yeah…but it could be.”

  Her eyes flew to his and locked on, and every cell in his body started firing. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  He swallowed, his feelings as rusty as his throat. “I mean, maybe you should stay out here for a while,” he said. “Even after the snow melts.”

  A new brand of horror crossed her face, and she blinked rapidly. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s simple, really. This place is remote and on private land. He might know you’re here now, but we can make it look like you’re back at your place.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care if she became his secret houseguest or not. But oh, he did. He really did.

  And the fact that he did scared him a little too.

  “I’m a big guy, and I don’t think he’ll dare to confront me.”

  “You don’t even know him.”

  “What’s his name?” Phoenix asked.

  “Devon McKnight.”

  “The McKnight’s who own the bowling alley?”

  She looked annoyed, those full lips pursing together for a moment. “How’d you know that?”

  “I grew up in this town, sweetheart,” he said, immediately regretting the pet name. “I mean—”

  “You’re so full of yourself,” she said with another shake of her head. She didn’t look at him with those glittering eyes, though, and he knew he’d lost her.

  “I’m not,” he said. “I swear. There’s just…you seem to bring out the worst in me.”

  “Oh, that’s great, Phoenix,” she said. “Just what every girl wants to hear.”

  “You’ve been trying to take my land for two years,” he said. “I just forgot for a moment.”

  “Forgot what?” she asked.

  That I want to go out with you. He bit back the words and glared at her, the animosity between them much easier to admit to and foster than any real feelings he might have.

  “That I kind of like you,” he finally said.

  She opened her mouth to respond, but it just hung there, nothing coming out.

  “I can’t believe you have no response,” he said with a chuckle. Heat poured through him, and not just because he’d put two more logs on the fire while she’d been in the shower. He cleared his throat, wishing his inappropriate fantasies for that night and his inconvenient hormones would go as easily.

  “So anyway,” he said. “You could stay here with me for a while, until we work out with Devon that he needs to cease and desist or else.”

  “Or else what?” she asked, her voice tiny and timid.

  “Or else he’ll go to jail,” Phoenix said, his protective male side wanting to rearrange the man’s face before the cops got there.

  Allegra looked away, but the cabin was small and it didn’t take long for her gaze to return to his. “All right,” she said. “I guess I can stay here for a little bit.”

  Hope and desire mingled in Phoenix’s chest, and he hadn’t allowed either of them in for so long that he had a hard time classifying them. “Great. And let’s agree that this will be a secret,” he said. “We don’t need a co-worker saying something to a friend, who tells her husband while Devon’s putting drinks down on their table at the bowling alley.”

  Allegra nodded, the intensity back in her gaze. “You’re right. It’ll have to be a secret.”

  Phoenix felt like he’d just drank four cups of coffee, and his blood zipped through his veins at the speed of light. He had a secret guest in his cabin. His remote cabin in the woods, where no one would hear them—

  He cut the thought off, and blinked at her trying to center himself in this moment, the one right in front of him. “Okay, so I haven’t been to town in quite a long time. W
hat do you require to stay here with me?”

  * * *

  An hour later, Phoenix lay in his much colder bed, the door open so the heat from the stove would fill his room too. It sort of did, but not nearly enough.

  He’d left Sally in the main room with Allegra, and her voice went through his mind on a constant loop despite his exhaustion.

  Shampoo that doesn’t smell like a man.

  Jeans, t-shirts, my Michigan State sweatshirt.

  Southwest salad kit, a deck of cards, and a few DVDs, especially Two Weeks Notice.

  He’d regretted asking her what she needed him to go into her place and get after only two sentences. A lot of her list he could put on a grocery delivery order, but he was worried what Calvin would think. After all, why would Phoenix suddenly be eating salad or shampooing with strawberries and mangoes?

  He felt way out of his league, and not just because Allegra was the first woman in five years to make his heart beat irregularly. He had no idea what she’d do all day, or if she’d go to work, or what. Their plan was very thin at best, and he certainly couldn’t take an untold number of days off work to babysit her.

  Thankfully, his boss had already texted to say the forest would be closed tomorrow, so Phoenix had at least one day free. They’d be fine with what he had in the cabin for at least two weeks, so he’d wait to put in a grocery order.

  And then he’d have to somehow get Allegra’s car and get to her apartment to get her things. The very thought of going into town after all this time had his heart in near cardiac arrest.

  The only thing he could think of was to ask someone for help.

  “That’s what you have to do anyway,” he muttered to himself. He couldn’t show up at Allegra’s apartment and dig through her unmentionables, especially if Devon was watching the place. Then he’d know where Allegra was.

  He needed a blonde or near-blonde to go to her apartment and get a few things over time.

  The only person he knew who could do it and who he felt even remotely comfortable asking—and that was stretching things—was his youngest sister Mia. But she wasn’t blonde—none of the Addlers were. Maybe she could wear a hat.