Page 18 of Pledge Of A Bobcat
“See you tomorrow.”
I turned to leave, a smile tugging at my lips that I couldn’t hold back. I knew having her come along might put her in danger, but the thought of spending more time with her excited me.
Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.
7
RACHEL
Imade my way down the trail beside Ellis, wondering if this was even a trail at all. Usually there would be a dirt track that was clearly visible, not grass that was barely bent and nothing more. The dense woods felt as though they were closing in around us while we walked, the trees overhead sheltering us from the gray skies above.
Nothing could shield me from the storm brewing inside my head, though.
You’d think my thoughts would be spiraling out of control because of how morbid it sounded to be gathering dirt from a dead man’s grave, but that wasn’t what had me all twisted up.
Ellis did.
Being close to him while we walked through the woods had an energy to it. Something was shifting between us—something I wasn’t sure I was ready to face, but also something I couldn’t ignore.
“You’ve been awfully quiet today,” Ellis said, breaking the silence as we started down a dip on the trail. “You didn’t have to come, if you didn’t want to.”
“Aunt Maribel wouldn’t have let me stay behind. She was adamant that I come with you today. Plus, Serenity’s fever broke in the night. She’s fine, so there wasn’t a reason for me not to come with you,” I said, smoothing a stray strand of hair away from my eye. “I’m just lost in thought.”
“About?”
“Everything, I guess. This Xander guy’s possession, this whole thing with Aunt Maribel.” I paused. “You.”
“Me?” He shifted to look at me, but I kept my attention focused on the trail ahead.
I shrugged, trying to play it off like what I said wasn’t a big deal, but I could feel my cheeks warm. “Yeah. Meeting you. Us working together. It’s not what I expected.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked.
I risked a glance at him and my heart fluttered in response to the quiet intensity burning through his eyes and the half-smile stretching across his face.
“Good,” I admitted, my voice barely louder than the crunch of leaves beneath our feet.
He didn’t say a word, but I could feel the air between us shift again, the connection sprouting between us growing stronger.
“I’m glad,” he said after a long moment of silence passed. “Meeting you and working with you on this has felt good to me, too.”
I smiled, unable to help myself, as we continued along the path that I could barely make out. While we walked, I stole glances at him, watching the way his jaw tightened or his eyes scanned the path ahead and surrounding area. He was alert, and I found that comforting.
I, on the other hand, was not alert. My foot caught on a root beneath the leaves and I stumbled. The ground rushed up to meet me, but Ellis caught me before I fell. His arms wrapped around my waist, steadying me.
“Whoa there.” He chuckled. “You okay?”
I blinked, my breath catching as I realized how close we were suddenly. His hands gripped my waist while our bodies were mere inches apart. Warmth from his strong hands seeped into me, grounding me in a way nothing else ever had. Electricity crackled in the air between us like a livewire, and it danced across my skin where we touched. Our eyes locked, and the world faded away.
All I could focus on was the magnetic pull between us.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t.
Not with the way his eyes brightened faintly with his bobcat or the heat that crept into them in the next heartbeat. A spark of something flared to life between us.
Was I imagining it, or was he about to kiss me?