Page 68 of Off the Grid
She glared up at him.
“Okay, okay.” His brows scrunched together, bringing a wrinkle to his forehead. “The power’s been out all day. A downed line could’ve easily started a fire.”
“Do you really think that’s what happened?”
He hesitated.
That brief pause told her everything she needed to know. Before he had a chance to respond, McKenzie jumped back in. “I thought you said it was over.”
“It is,” he reaffirmed, not an ounce of doubt in his tone.
But McKenzie couldn’t help it as her gaze slid sideways. His palms fell to her shoulders as her focus landed on the orange glow turning brighter and brighter with each passing second. Other people at the wedding had noticed too—some pointed, some stared. A shadowed figure ran toward the house, presumably to call for help from somewhere quiet. In the back of her mind, a million questions spun, a vortex spiraling more and more out of control. She had no idea how much terror she’d been suppressing until it was all thrown right back in her face with nowhere to hide. Why did they want her? How had they followed them through the woods? Through the storm? Why a fire? Why now?
“Could they have had a tracker on me or something?” McKenzie turned back to Leo just in time to see the muscles in his jaw clench tight. His gaze wasn’t on the burning house—his face was lifted toward the dark sky. “Something that might’ve fallen off when we ran inside during the storm? Something I left behind by accident?”
“Maybe”—he met her stare with a grin—“if my name were James Bond and we’d stumbled into the middle of a soviet-era spy thriller.”
“Leo, I’m serious.”
He dipped his chin and squeezed her shoulders, trying to infuse some calm. “So am I. This isn’t a movie—a device like that, I mean, it would have to be really advanced technology to go unnoticed by me or by you. I’m talking CIA-level stuff, not something the mob would have access to.”
“But it’s possible?”
“Anything’s possible.” He paused to sigh, flicking his gaze up toward the sky for a second before returning it to her. “But is it plausible? The most obvious answer is usually the right one. And what’s more likely? That the Russian mafia used some sort of microchip tracker to follow your location, or that a downed high-voltage power line sparked and set something on fire?”
Well, when you put it that way…
“Listen, McKenzie,” Leo said, his voice hurried for a reason she didn’t quite understand. “You have every reason to be scared, after everything you’ve been through, but I promise nothing will happen to you. You’re safe now. I’ll keep you safe.”
She couldn’t help but get the sense that there was a deeper meaning to his words, something she didn’t quite grasp, as though maybe he wasn’t just talking about what had happened in these woods, but about more. She’d been alone and terrified for so long, unaware of how much she’d yearned to be saved until he’d come into her life and offered one fleeting glimpse of another life, a happier one, full of laughter and smiles and, dare she think it, love.
Love?
The thought had blossomed as he’d spun her in his arms, and now it stirred again as she stared into his eyes. Before the fire had snatched her attention, she’d been gathering the courage to tell him how she felt. That she’d loved spending time with him. That she’d loved getting to know him. That maybe, just maybe, she’d loved him. But it wasn’t possible, was it? To fall in love so fast? To tumble head over heels in one perfect evening?
“Leo,” she whispered, trying to find her courage. Inside her chest, her heart pounded like a jackhammer trying to break through her skin. The thudding was so overwhelming she heard it in her ears, a hum that grew louder and louder and louder.
Wait…
She started to lift her gaze, but Leo’s fingers dug into her shoulders, drawing her back. “What?” he pleaded. “What?”
“I—”
McKenzie broke off as floodlights stole her sight, painful and blinding. She stepped back and threw her elbow up to shield her eyes as the realization hit. The sound hadn’t been her heart. It had been a helicopter. Her rescue team was finally here, one moment too soon—or maybe they’d been right on time. The spotlight was a reality check that slammed into her like a freight train, knocking her from the clouds and sending her back down to earth.
Oh my God, was I really about to tell him I loved him?Mortification struck like an arrow to the heart.Jesus, McKenzie. Get it together. You were both drunk. You were high on adrenaline. Hell, you had some twisted form of Stockholm syndrome from being trapped inside by the storm. That was not love.
Leo cursed under his breath and looked up, motioning with his arms. A few seconds later, the brilliant beam slid behind them and shifted over the grass, moving toward the open area on the opposite side of the lawn, away from the party. McKenzie and Leo were cast back into the shadows, but the damage was done.
“What did you want to tell me?” Leo asked, dipping and shifting his head to try to catch her eyes, but McKenzie stubbornly stared at the dirt beneath her feet, feeling a kinship with it she’d never felt before.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
He reached for her hand and gently brushed his thumb across the backside of her palm. “Please tell me. It seemed important.”
McKenzie looked up and met his pleading eyes, plastering a smile to her lips she didn’t feel. “It really wasn’t.”
John interrupted as he ran over from the dance floor, saving her from having to say anymore. “Is that helicopter for you? I thought you were waiting for some friends to pick you up?”
