Trust Me

Chapter 13

She spent the rest of the afternoon losing herself in other worlds. The fear of earlier fled as she forgot reality, devouring page after page of the books. The first one she chose was a lighthearted chick lit that gave her a good laugh. She didn't realize how much time had passed until Vince patted her foot. She was stretched out on the couch lost in the world of a bunch of women dealing with men problems. At his touch, she looked up reluctantly from the pages.

"Dinner. Are you ready to eat?" Amusement danced across his face.

"Wha...? Dinner?" Her thoughts were still on the scene she had just left of one woman who was caught spying on her husband as he was attempting to organize a surprise party for her.

He laughed. "You'd make a good parrot. I'll yell when it's ready."

She nodded absently and returned to the comedy before her.

Vince continued laughing as he disappeared into the kitchen to pull dinner together. The noise from the opening drawers and cabinets didn't even come close to getting her attention. The book had taken her completely away from the cabin and the problems in her life.

The delicious aroma drifted in from the kitchen, distracting her from the book and causing her nose to twitch. Something smelled wonderful. She lowered it and glanced toward the kitchen. Vince was moving around from stove to island whistling softly. Her focus moved from the smell of the food to the man moving about.

She had never considered a man in the kitchen to be sexy. Then again she had never really seen a guy in the kitchen except on television. She knew for sure she was heading for the loony bin. Her kidnapper was causing butterflies in her stomach and making her feel all warm and fuzzy. The longer she watched him, the more she desired him.

Her hands itched to slide all over that muscular body as she remembered that morning when she found herself in his arms. She didn't even know that he had saved her then, and she still enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. Maybe it was because she had such little experience with men. Maybe it was because he was the first man to really treat her with kindness and care.

Ranalla's experience with men was almost nonexistent. As a teenager, her father had shipped her off to a boarding school as far away from him as possible. She spent eight years there and didn't even come home on the holidays. There was always a reason she couldn't come. Now she knew it was because her father didn't want her around. He lived his life as though she did not exist.

When life at boarding school was done, she went straight to college and majored in English literature. The daughter of a multi-millionaire, she had no idea what she wanted to do in her life. Her life would be taken care of for a long time, so she didn't really have to do much of anything.

The all-women's college she attended even shielded her from men. Many of the girls would go into town and meet boys, but Ranalla always felt awkward. She had gone once and regretted it.

They had gone to a local hangout that served alcohol. Ranalla had never seen so much wild activity. The group of five she was with quickly found boys who were also looking for a good time. The one that was paired with her thought he was God's gift to women. Now that she thought about it, he reminded her quite a bit of Sheldon.

This guy with a large, too bright smile kept brushing his blond hair back with his hand even though it had not moved all night. The entire conversation was about him. When it did turn to focus on her, it was to comment on her large chest and tight jeans. Ranalla had never felt more uncomfortable.

As they were leaving the bar, she made to hail a taxi. Her 'date' for the evening tried to forcibly put her in his car while telling her that he was going to get something out of the evening instead of a boring time of hanging out with loser college girls. He expected her to put out. She panicked, punched his nose, and succeeded in breaking it. He began cussing and crying as he held his nose with blood spurting out between his fingers.

She ran to catch a taxi and arrived at the dorm shaking. That was the last time she had gone out with anyone before Sheldon. It wasn't until she was back home that she found herself again being pressed into the presence of men who only had one thing on their minds.

Her father resigned himself to her being home and decided that she needed to attend all the obligatory functions in place of her now-deceased mother. She had lost the only person she knew loved her while she was away at boarding school, and her father hadn't even let her come home for the funeral. She cried for a week silently in her pillow and did not eat for two weeks. The teachers began to worry as they saw her wasting away. The librarian was the one who pulled her out of it.

Ranalla had always loved books. When she wasn't sleeping, eating, or attending class, she escaped to the library and read book after book to lose herself in the arms of family, men, and friends who loved each other. She might not be able to have that life, but she could enjoy the ones that had it between the covers of books.

The librarian had sat and talked with her. She showed Ranalla that someone could care and helped her find a deeper love of stories to pull her out of her sadness and depression. Ranalla found that she could go on as long as she had an adventure or a romance to lose herself in.

Now she gazed at the man who paused in his work and returned her gaze. He knew she had been watching him and enjoyed it. She was growing weak, and they both knew it. Neither knew where it would lead in the end - life or death.