chapter 3

LUCY

What was she going to do? Why had she agreed to follow the enormous man to his truck? He’d

promised he wouldn’t hurt her and despite how scary he looked, his eyes didn’t match the gruff

exterior.

But now what? What if he took her to the hospital? She could not let that happen. She would jump

out of his moving truck if she had to. Until everything got cleared up, she had to stay off the radar. She

was pretty sure the police were looking for her, but she didn’t know if going to them was a smart

decision or not. She had never dealt with anything like this before. But she had to figure out some way

to get the situation cleared up, because living on the streets wasn’t something she was cut out for.

But how would everything get cleared up? It was his word against hers. And somehow, despite

how shady he was, he had connections and friends who would help him while she had no one. Not

one single person. How freaking sad was that? The thought of it made her throat tighten, and she had

to force the thought away so she didn’t start crying.

“Lucy, it’s freezing out and the snow is going to keep coming down. I live about twenty minutes

from here and I have soup already made for dinner. How about if I take you to my house so I can clean

up your cut and see how bad it is? You can take a shower and eat, too, and then we’ll figure out what

to do next. Is that okay with you?”

His deep voice vibrated through her body, making her feel warm for the first time in days. He was

like honey and leather all wrapped in one. Tough and worn but gentle and sweet. It was a weird

combination, but it described him perfectly. Lucy suspected Wolf could be one scary man at times, but

he seemed to be trying really hard to be extra gentle around her. It was something she appreciated a

lot.

“I can’t go to the hospital and if you’re going to call the cops because I was sleeping there, I’ll

just leave now and promise that I’ll never step foot in that building again,” she said, studying his face

closely.

She didn’t know how old he was but based on the light flecks of silver at his temples, she knew

he was older than her. His dark beard didn’t look to have any silver in it though, so she guessed he

was in his late thirties.

Wolf reached his large hand across the bench seat and patted her hand. “I’m not going to call the

police and I won’t take you to the hospital. Okay? I promise. I won’t hurt you. Here, press call on my

phone. It will call my brother’s girlfriend, Addie. She will tell you I won’t hurt you.”

She eyed the screen of his phone as he held it out to her, seeing that the contact was pulled up to

‘Addie’. Should she call? Maybe he was bluffing and didn’t think she would call but offered so she would trust him. People could be sneaky. Unfortunately, she’d learned that the hard way.

Taking in a deep breath, she reached for the phone and pressed the call button. The ringing played

through the speaker of the truck.

After the second ring, a sweet, feminine voice picked up. “Hey, Wolfie!”

“Addie, it’s Wolf. A woman named Lucy is with me. She needs you to verify that I won’t hurt her

and that she’s safe with me,” Wolf said.

“Of course she’s safe with you. Any woman would be safe with you. Wait, what’s going on,

Wolf?” Addie asked.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. This Addie woman sounded completely genuine and seemed to trust

Wolf completely.

“It’s a long story. Hey, can you ask Knox to call Tate Gillespie and see if he can drive in this

weather? I might need him,” Wolf said.

Furrowing her eyebrows at Wolf, she wondered who he was talking about.

“He’s a doctor and can look at your cut without it being on any kind of record,” Wolf told her as

though he understood her silent question.

She bit her bottom lip, lowering her eyes to her lap. She hated doctors. They were always so cold

and sterile and liked to poke and prod. Even if she could go to the hospital, she wouldn’t want to

because of how much she hated them.

“Knox is calling him now,” Addie said.

“Thanks, Addie. I’ll call you back soon,” he said, ending the call.

Wolf studied her for a moment. “Do you feel safe coming home with me?”

Slowly nodding her head, she glanced over at him, meeting his eyes. He held her gaze for a long

moment, not breaking it until the kitten started meowing.

“I think he’s hungry,” she said in a small voice.

Shoot. She hated that she sounded so small right then. But she was cold and scared and hurt and

all she wanted to do was get into a pair of comfy pajamas and crawl into bed with all her stuffies.

Except your stuffies are all gone. Everything you had is gone.

Wolf shifted the truck into drive and slowly maneuvered out of the parking lot.

“I bet he is. I bet both you little kittens are hungry,” he said.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she studied him as he drove. It was silly, really, but

for some reason she pictured him as a Daddy. Maybe a more rough and tough type of Daddy, but

definitely a Daddy type. Something about him and the way he spoke to her gave her all the Little feels.

He’s not a Daddy. You’re so hungry and cold you’ve gone delusional.

A shiver ran through her body and she realized her teeth were chattering. She was really cold. It

seemed like no matter how high the heat was she just couldn’t get warm.

“Cover up with my jacket,” he said, handing it over to her.

She hesitantly took it from him, covering both herself and the cat with the material. That was a big

mistake because as soon as she took in a breath through her nose, she realized his scent was on the

jacket and it smelled so dang good. A mixture of citrus and the woods, which was fitting for him since

he looked like he could be a lumberjack. He was even wearing a flannel button down.

Huh. Did they have lumberjacks in Seattle?

Looking out the passenger side window as they drove, she smiled when they started passing

houses that were decorated with Christmas lights. With the snow falling onto the houses, it

illuminated the colorful lights even more.

“Wow, that’s so pretty,” she said quietly as they passed a large house that had blue icicle lights all around it.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***