Everything he’d done felt amazing—and she couldn’t wait to do it again.
But after he let Baxter out and fired up the generator, he refused to join her back in bed, ordering her to relax. Since she didn’t want him to wait on her, she didn’t listen. She’d gotten up, showered, helped him make eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast, and fed Baxter.
She knew he was waiting for her to grab her phone, and so she stalled, trying to think of anything and everything to talk about besides her stalker. She had a feeling he knew what she was doing, but he didn’t call her out on it.
It wasn’t until the dishes were done, Baxter was snoring back in his bed next to the fire, and she’d rambled on about the plot of the book she was translating and who she thought the villain was that he walked up to her and pulled her against his chest.
One of his hands palmed the back of her neck, and the other was firm around her waist. “It’s time, sweetheart.”
Carlise sighed against him and nodded.
“It’s going to be fine. I promise.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but she nodded again anyway. The last thing she wanted was her real life to intrude on their current happiness. But he was right, ignoring the problem wasn’t going to make it go away. She needed to find out one way or another if the harassment had stopped, now that she was no longer within easy reach of whoever was stalking her.
Riggs pulled back but didn’t let go. “Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Yes.” Carlise didn’t even need to think twice about her answer to that question.
“Good. Go grab your phone while I go outside and turn the generator back on. I’ll get it going and see if we get lucky and the Wi-Fi works, so we can find out what we’re dealing with. Okay?”
“Okay.” Nausea swam in her belly as she turned to head to her backpack, where she’d stashed the phone so she wouldn’t have to see it. She prayed Riggs wouldn’t decide her problems were too big and he didn’t want to deal with them. With her.
It didn’t take him long to go outside and get the generator running. She was waiting for him with her cell in her hand when he returned and handed it over without meeting his eyes.
“This changes nothing,” he said firmly.
Carlise looked up at him tentatively.
“No matter what he’s sent or not sent, nothing changes about my feelings for you. I love you, Carlise. Better or worse, isn’t that how the saying goes? I’m in this for the long haul, and even if we’re dealing with this asshole for years to come, I’m not going anywhere. All right?”
Relief swamped her. She nodded, too choked up to speak.
“Good.” He kissed her forehead, then turned his attention to the phone.
Holding her breath, Carlise stared at him with apprehension as he powered up the device.
Nothing happened. No dings. No vibrations. Nothing.
“Is it dead?” she asked.
“No. It looks like it’s got about a twenty-percent charge,” Riggs said.
“So the Wi-Fi isn’t working?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it,” Riggs said calmly. “I never really cared much about Wi-Fi while I was up here before since I use this cabin as a place to get away from everything. I’ll definitely be looking into upgrading the equipment and making it more stable since you need it for your job. I’m going to head down the road a ways to a place where I think it’ll pick up.”
She felt all warm and fuzzy inside that he wanted to upgrade his internet system because of her. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. “Let me get my coat, and I’ll go with you,” Carlise said, turning toward the door.
Riggs caught her hand in his before she could take a step. “I’m thinking you should stay here. I’ll take my Jeep down the road, stop by your car while I’m out. I’ll check out the notifications, then come back.”
Carlise knew she should protest. Should insist this was her problem, and he shouldn’t have to deal with it. But a bigger part of her was relieved. It felt good—really good—to have someone looking out for her. The bottom line was, she didn’t know how she’d react if a flood of notifications came in the second she turned on her phone.
“Please? Let me do this for you, honey,” he said.
She nodded.
The relief that came over his face made her realize he needed to do this. She had a feeling if she’d insisted, he would’ve let her come with him, but the fact that he wanted to shield her from a possible onslaught of vitriol when he turned her phone on felt good.