“Get ready and let’s go.”
I tried to hide my confusion as he got off the bed. How long had I slept if he was able to go to the store with me now? I glanced at the clock, and my head whipped around to look at Collin again when I saw it was only eleven in the morning. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” My body tightened the second the question left my lips. It had been a simple question, and an honest one, but that wasn’t something I could ask Collin. I wasn’t allowed to question anything he did, and I couldn’t believe I’d done it just then.
Collin’s head slowly tilted to the side, and I wanted nothing more than to run from the dark, lifeless look he was giving me. A look of pain flashed across his face as he took the few steps back to the bed and knelt onto it. If it weren’t for his eyes—which were focused just under my chin—I would think he was about to beg for forgiveness judging by the expression on his face. His fingers faintly traced over the bruise before his entire hand was wrapping around my neck and he was slamming me onto the bed. My shocked gasp was cut off when he covered my mouth with his and, one at a time, tightened his fingers on my throat. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” he asked quietly against my lips.
As if my monster had never made an appearance, Collin’s hand jerked away from me and he got off the bed. I watched as the hand that had been on me flexed and relaxed over and over again as he tried to keep himself in check; his eyes never once left me. “Get dressed, Harlow,” he demanded so softly I barely caught the words. “Make sure you cover that—just cover yourself.”
I waited until he walked out of the bedroom before I released a shaky breath that sounded more like a sob, and let the tremors take over my body. I’d thought it would be dangerous to let myself believe that we could change. I was wrong . . . that wasn’t the danger. The danger was that for the first time, Collin was trying to control the monster inside of him, and was now more unpredictable than ever.
Chapter 13
Harlow
Present Day—Richland
I AUTOMATICALLY REACHED out and opened my mouth to stop Collin when he pulled a pack of eggs off the store shelf an hour and a half later, and realized a second too late what I was doing.
His arm froze with the eggs in the air. “What?” he sneered, soft enough that his voice wouldn’t carry.
“Um, it’s just, well that’s a lot.”
“You said you needed these.”
“We do,” I said quickly, and finally got the carton out of his hands. “But not three dozen. I’m lucky if you finish a dozen in a week.”
Collin turned to smile at me, but from where I was standing I could see he was clenching his teeth. He leaned in and brushed his lips against my jaw. “Watch yourself, Harlow,” he warned, then took the eggs back from me and placed them into the shopping cart. “Now what?”
I glanced at the list on my phone, but before I could say the next item we needed, a deep voice called out my husband’s name.
“Collin Doherty. Playing hooky, are we?”
I looked up in time to see Collin’s million-dollar smile as we both turned to see who had called him, and my skin crawled.
“Ah, Ren. I guess that makes two of us.” Collin put his hand on the small of my back and brought me closer to his side when Ren stopped next to me. “Ren, you remember my wife, Harlow?”
“Of course.” Ren barely spared me a glance as his meaty hand drifted from my elbow down to my wrist, and didn’t seem to notice the way Collin pulled me back a step as Ren asked, “What has you away from work today? And who is taking care of the county’s money if you are here, and old Alfred McKenzie is probably out getting a hip replaced?”
Collin laughed. “The money is fine. Besides, the wife and I have some personal things we need to take care of this week. I’ll probably be working from home a lot.”
That was news to me, and unwelcome news at that. Personal things don’t usually include ice showers, guns, and bruises, and don’t need to be hidden behind a lot of makeup and scarves, I thought to myself.
“I’m sure you do,” Ren said with a chuckle. “I myself had some personal things to take care of, and now I’m here trying to get things to make dinner for the wife. She somehow seems to be catching on to these personal days.” His eyes raked over my body with his last couple of words, and I forced myself to look at the shelves of refrigerated food, then to Collin. Even though Collin had never liked Ren, and the dislike had grown into something stronger since the night of the fund-raiser, I knew that if I showed a hint of disgust for the man in front of us, I would pay for it later.