Page 11 of Fear the Reaper
“Well, when Reaper is cranky—bad things happen.”
He didn’t have to explain that to me. If Reaper was anywhere as dangerous as Swede or the others, I knew precisely what Swede meant. “Doesn’t he get lonely? I mean—this town has one hundred and eighty-two souls in it. I’m sure the dating pool isn’t big. Doesn’t he want a woman he can…”
The fall of heavy footsteps silenced me and I shoved the rest of the sausage into my mouth. Swede smirked and went back to the stove.
“I’m just saying.” I continued with my mouth full. “It’s not normal.”
“Well, my beautiful Star.” Swede turned to look at Reaper. “Normal is boring.”
If Reaper suspected we were talking about him, he said nothing. Instead, he placed a bag on the counter close to me. “Do you have a cell?” he asked.
“Swede has it. It’s in pieces back in Montana.”
“Good,” he said. “Do you have any other technology the can be track? Tablet, laptop, another cell?”
“What do you think I am? A drug dealer?” I frowned. “I don’t need a second phone and I didn’t have time to grab anything else from my place.”
“Swede, can we hitch a ride back?” Reaper ignored my outburst. “Once there, I can rent something to get around.”
“Yeah.” Swede set a plate down for Reaper. “Eat. We bounce in—T minus ninety minutes.”
Hearing I would be heading back into the inferno broke me. I ate in silence—rather, I pushed the food around on my plate until I couldn’t take the silence anymore. I excused myself under the pretense of packing and fled the room as quickly as I could. In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth then packed the last of my things—which wasn’t much. With my head in the clouds, I brought my bag into the living room and set it by the door.
“You okay?” Swede asked.
“I don’t know the answer to that.” I replied, rubbing the back of a hand across my nose. “I’ll let you know if I’m still alive in a couple of weeks.”
Reaper said nothing. Swede tried reassuring me things would work out, but I needed the reassurance from Reaper. I wanted him to use those beautiful lips to whisper in my ears, to trace my skin. But even if he couldn’t, he could use them to speak—let me know he would protect me for I didn’t know what direction my demise would come from.
I sat in the front seat beside Swede who drove us out of Climax. Though I was in a lousy mood, I couldn’t help reading the other side of the sign. I laughed until I snorted.
“What’s so funny?” Reaper asked from the back seat.
“One side saysWelcome to Climax.The other side saysplease come again.”I chortled. “Get it?”
I glanced over at Swede to find him chuckling which made me snicker. I didn’t dare look back at Reaper. The man had no sense of humor. The last time I made a dirty joke he had a stick up his ass about it. But I wasn’t going to let him ruin my one bit of fun because he was so stuffy. I gave myself permission to enjoy the joke for a little bit longer, then curled myself up as best I could and closed my eyes.
The drive from Climax to Swift Current took a little over an hour. I kept my attention out the window even though there wasn’t much of anything to see. We stopped once, so I could use the bathroom and buy a couple bags of potato chips and a pack of gum. I didn’t spring for drinks because I doubt we would be able to stop so I could go the bathroom again soon.
After stepping out of the store, I walked up to Reaper who was staring in the direction we’d come and tapped him on the shoulder. When he finally looked at me, his brown eyes held a storm that frightened me to my very core. I swallowed the fear and extended a chocolate bar to him.
A small smile traced his thick lips. But the moment it appeared it disappeared. For a moment I wondered if it was only my wishful thinking. He accepted the candy, his long fingers grazing mine, forcing me to bite back a whimper.
Everything about this man could make me explode in the best ways.
“Okay guys.” Swede’s voice dragged me from my haze. “Let’s go.”
We were right on time for the chopper to fly us into Montana. At the spot it waited, gassed up and ready to go, Swede stopped to speak with the pilot and soon we were piled in and lifting off.
Flying in a helicopter hadn’t beem my thing. Eventually, after being a reporter for as long as I had been, it became a part of my job description. I still hated them. I just didn’t lose my mind anymore when it came to getting on board.
The space in the chopper seemed smaller because of Reaper, but I didn’t mind. I sat across from him, staring out the glass while he watched me. I didn’t have to look at him to know he was watching. His eyes roamed me like a forbidden caress, passing over my forehead, down the side of my face. After a while, it became too much so I closed my eyes, pretending I was asleep.
“Where are you going to start?” Swede asked. “I know you’ll have your work cut out for you.”
“Her place.” Reaper’s voice was soft, contemplative like everything else he’d said or done since we’d met. In that moment I realized, everything about him was deliberate, calculated, controlled.
“Why there?” Swede asked.
