Worth It (Forbidden Men, #6)(48)

A note.

With a gasp, I scrambled forward. After rolling the rock aside, I unfolded the single sheet. When I saw, Hey Princess Charming, as the greeting, a smile lit up my entire face. But then I read the rest of the note.

I’m so sorry I missed you today and couldn’t stick around. Something came up. I doubt I can make it tomorrow and the weekend doesn’t look good either. It’s nothing to worry about though. Just family crap. Hopefully I’ll make it out Monday, and trust me when I say, I’d rather be here with you instead.

Disappointment slumped my shoulders. The rest of my day pretty much felt ruined now. I kind of wanted to just sit here and cry, but at least he’d been sweet enough to leave me a letter. I even understood why he hadn’t signed it.

I ran my fingers over his handwriting, frowning at the printed letters. Maybe it was because he hadn’t used cursive, but there was something about his penmanship that reminded me of a fourth grader’s instead of a senior in high school, even though nothing was misspelled and every letter was written precisely, as if he’d taken hours to plot out each one. There was just something in the spacing that was...off.

I folded it gingerly and tucked the note into my basket. Then I gathered our picnic and packed it away.

When I stood to leave, there was a heaviness inside me. It would be days—days—before I saw him again. My heart ached and my throat kept tightening, which was always what it did right before I cried.

I tried to hum some more “Falling for You” to keep the waterworks at bay, but my spirit had plummeted. Entering the thickest, darkest part of the forest, I wiped my hand over my cheek to make sure I hadn’t actually dropped any tears. If I cried now, I’d look a mess by the time I made it home, and someone may wonder what was wrong with me. But my cheeks were dry and that was good. Sticking close to a large oak because the path I was taking had a muddy spot, I yelped when a crunching rattled the ground behind me.

Whirling around, I scanned the woods, but nothing seemed out of place. I guess something could’ve just fallen from the branches, but it had sounded more like footsteps breaking twigs, like something or someone was walking, following me. Except, if it’d been an animal, it wouldn’t have stopped as soon as I’d spun around, would it? Which made me think...human.

An eerie sensation crawled up the back of my neck. Suddenly, I knew I wasn’t alone.

“Hello?” I called uneasily.

No one answered. If one of my brothers were around, they would’ve answered me. Why wouldn’t someone answer me...unless they didn’t want me to know they were out here with me?

“Oh God,” I didn’t mean to whimper. Someone was following me through the woods.

I turned to flee, but a voice called, “City, wait. It’s just me.”

Jerking to a stop in my tracks, I froze a good second, frowning and unable to believe I was hearing the voice I was hearing. Then I spun toward it. “Knox?”

He half stepped out from behind a tree, while keeping the other half hidden as he waved. “Hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Blood flooded my brain with an overabundance of happy endorphins as I dropped my basket and hurried to him. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here. I didn’t think you were going to make it today.”

As I neared him, he moved, keeping the tree between us so I couldn’t see all of him. I slowed to a stop. “Knox?”

He tapped the side of the tree with his palm and then pressed his forehead to it. “Yeah, I, uh, I can’t meet today. I just wanted you to know.”

“I did know. I got your note.”

“Right. So...maybe Monday. Okay?”

I shook my head, having no idea what was going on, but feeling as if I’d done something wrong, as if he might never meet me in the woods again. “Why won’t you even look at me?” I finally asked.

One eye appeared from the side of the tree, but it looked so full of regret, it calmed my worries. At least I hadn’t done something to put him off. But still…something was seriously wrong.

“Why were you following me?” I hedged, hoping to somehow work my way to the real issue of whatever was bothering him.

He went back to pressing his forehead to the tree and bumping his hand against the trunk, only now he used his fist instead of an open palm. “Just, you know, to make sure you got home okay?”

I sniffed. “I’ve never had a problem walking home by myself before.”

That one eye reappeared, serious as it watched me. “You’ve never walked home by yourself before. I’ve always been there.”

Instant warmth spread through me, knowing he’d always been worried about my safety, always seeing to my protection. Then I frowned. “No you haven’t.”

“Yes I have.”

“But what about the first day? When we met. You ran off first.”

He shrugged. “I almost stumbled into your brothers that day, so I doubled back and caught sight of you heading home. You didn’t look like you were walking too steady, and after you’d hit your head the way you did, I worried you might not make it. So I’ve followed you back to the edge of the woods ever since, just to be sure.” Another shrug. “It became a habit.”

I grinned. “Why you stalker, you.”

He didn’t grin back, and I couldn’t take the subtle approach any longer. I dove at him and grabbed his arm, yanking him away from the tree until he was facing me fully.