Page 110 of Phishing for Love
I take a sip of my coffee. “I’ll head out as soon as my clothes are dry.”
He pauses in his movements. “You’re welcome to stay here until the storm passes.”
“It’s okay. I’ll drive slowly.”
His eyebrows knit together. “It’s too dangerous to drive in this weather.” I open my mouth to argue, but he adds, “Please stay.”
Only two words, but they somehow pack a punch. There’s a note in his voice that stops the argument in my throat. He truly is worried. And he has a point. The rain is bucketing down. I won’t be able to see even three feet in front of me. It’s safer to wait out the storm here. Besides, there’s something cozy about being trapped in a warm cabin on a rain-soaked night.
“Okay, I’ll stay.”
Relief flashes across his face. He holds up a labeled dish. “You up for red lentil curry later? We’ll call it a late lunch, since dinner, apparently, has connotations.”
I feel a grin break out. “I accept your offer of a late lunch.”
“Red curry it is,” he says, setting the dish aside. “Let’s sit out on the back porch.”
I take my coffee with me and follow him through a living room with dark wood beams, two comfy couches, and a large-screen TV to a covered back porch. Two Adirondack chairs look out onto a fenced backyard. The cabin backs onto woods, and all I glimpse in the distance are huge trees.
After we settle into the chairs, I arch an eyebrow at him. “A rented cabin in the woods?”
“Yup.”
“Why not an apartment in town?”
“Too many people. I like the solitude here.”
“You’re all about security and this feels like the most insecure location.”
He shrugs. “I’m not worried about security.”
“Why? You don’t think this town has any crime? I’ll have you know someone took Mrs. Gardner’s dog only a few weeks ago.” That someone was her own son, who wanted to show off the prized Cavoodle to a date, but Aaron didn’t need to know all the details.
“I know this town has crime,” he says.
Now I’m offended on behalf of Brown Oaks. “Hey, it’s not a hotbed of—”
“Brown Oaks has people,” he interrupts me evenly. “And where there are people, there’s crime. Petty crime, perhaps, but crime nonetheless.”
A valid point. “You’re not worried out here?”
“I can handle myself.”
“No offense, but you deal with threats in the—” I wave a hand to indicate the air around us. “—digital world. How will you handle an attacker with a gun?”
He rubs a palm down his jaw. “I have security training in all fields.”
“Self-defense?”
“Yes.”
“Can you handle a gun?”
“Yes.”
My eyes widen. “Do you own a gun?”
“I do.”
