Page 8 of A Beastly Christmas Cheerful
"I'm sorry I hit you," I tell him again.
"It's fine. I scared you." He reaches up, touching the scar on his face. It's jagged and must have been painful, but I can tell it's old.
"It wasn't you that scared me,” I tell him because I don’t want him to think his scar is what did it. “I hate the dark."
"Are you cold?” He notices me wrapping my arms around myself. “Don't move." He doesn't give me a chance to respond before he's turning to go again. Why can't I move? He keeps saying it like I’m going to run out of here. Where does he think I’m going to go?
Marley returns with a pair of socks and a fluffy blanket. He drapes the blanket over my lap, and I thank him as I reach to take the socks from him. Instead, he simply drops to one knee in front of me, and his giant hand wraps around my ankle.
"I can put them on,” he says as his thumb strokes my ankle. To my surprise, his touch is gentle, but I can feel the roughness of his hands. "I'll take care of you."
I watch a bit dumbfounded as he puts the socks on me. They’re thick and so big they bunch halfway up my calves.
“You have my shirt on,” he says, his deep voice somehow soothing.
“I didn’t steal it,” I blurt out. “My clothes disappeared.”
“You’ll wear my shirt.”
“Okay,” I respond because I’m already wearing it.
“Good.” He nods, making it sound like I agreed to far more than simply wearing his shirt.
Chapter Six
MARLEY
“Do I need to call someone?” I blurt out. Seeing her awake is worse than when she was sleeping. Now her dark green eyes are looking at me, and I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.
“Call someone? Like a husband?”
“You’re not married.” I don’t know why I’m saying it like a statement of fact, when she could actually be married. The idea of her belonging to anyone but me is ridiculous. Maybe that’s why it comes out like I’m disagreeing with her.
“No, I’m definitely not.” She mumbles something to herself about dating apps and being catfished, but the relief I feel is immense. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because you can’t leave.” I clear my throat and try not to sound like I’m trying to kidnap her. Well, as far as she knows. “The storm is bad, so there’s no way you could possibly leave for at least three days. Maybe more.”
That’s not entirely true, I’ve got a plow in my shed, and the snow is always much worse up here on top of the mountain than down in Cheerful. If she looks outside, it will be much worse here than it is down below, but I need time with her.
“Wait, what about Christmas?” Her voice gets high-pitched and panicky.
“Do you have someone we should call to tell them you won’t make it?” Part of me feels bad that she might be missing the holidays with her family. The other part is telling me to tie her up so she can’t run away. Okay, maybe I’ve been writing horror novels for too long.
“No.” Her shoulders sag, and I immediately kneel down beside the couch.
“What’s wrong, Belle? Who hurt you? Tell me and I’ll make them pay.”
She smiles at me, and the offer to hurt someone seems to cheer her up. “I don’t have family or anyone that’s waiting for me. Besides work.” She cringes at the mention of her job. “I should probably call and tell them I won’t be back with the book anytime soon. I’m just not sure I want to be fired this close to Christmas.”
“They won’t fire you. I’ll make sure of it. Give me their number and I’ll take care of it,” I say, getting out my phone.
“You’d do that for me?” Her pretty eyes light up, and I nod.
“I’d do anything for you, Belle.” The words come out easily, and I’ve never felt anything truer.
“You’re being so kind to me,” she says, and it looks like she’s going to burst into tears.
“Don’t cry,” I order and stand up quickly. “How can I make you happy?”
