Chapter 2

Why was he trying to make conversation with her?

She figured this giant wouldn't want to know a thing about her, but Marlize was being proven wrong. "I'm his niece – well, Linda's niece, actually. I'm from Linda's side of the family."

Linda was her blood, not Vince, though Vince still treated her very well and he did NOT pay for this little island, she did. This house was hers, she had worked hard and suffered a very daunting, abusive marriage to acquire it. In her eyes, that was enough and she was well-off financially, thanks to being a remote travel agent from the comfort of her home, under a different name. She was taking no chances of her ex-husband finding her, not after what happened between them.

"Oh! Forgot to mention this, but we're not completely alone here on the island. On the far other side, and it takes a while to get there by foot, there is a small store and a beach of sorts, along with a few other places, but that's about it. So if you need something and the ferry won't be here in time, you can always trek over there to see if they've got what you want. There's two ATVs in the shed you can use to get there faster than walking. I don't recommend walking, but that's up to you."

It really had nothing to do with getting to know her; he didn't really care outside of how she knew his employer. That was basically where it stopped for him, his curiosity about his boss and if it was something he could use to get out of this asinine retreat Vince was insisting on. "So, someone else lives on this island." Mark doubted anyone was making a daily ferry commute or trip via boat just to run a store for whatever passengers on boats that came close enough. He nodded at the mention of the ATVs, dropping his bag on the bed and prayed it would hold him.

"Don't worry about the sturdiness of the furniture, it won't break on you, Mr. Calaway." Marlize sounded a little amused at the look that flashed across his face was staring at the queen-sized bed. There were no kings here, she wasn't THAT accommodating. Besides, getting a king-sized mattress, let alone a bed set, here on the island was just asking for trouble. "Anyway, help yourself to whatever is here and I'll leave you to it if you don't have any other questions for me." He shook his head and she took that as her sign to leave, already heading back downstairs to get on with the rest of her day.

The beds were made of solid oak and could hold at least a ton of weight before buckling under pressure. There were no personal photographs or anything in the spare bedrooms of the cabin, only in hers and they were few. Not giving the Satan wanna-be a second thought, Marlize grabbed her fishing gear and went out to the dock to settle in for a day of fishing. It was quiet and secluded here, she enjoyed the solitude and tranquility. There were small animals in the set of woods, but she didn't bother hunting them, not unless it was an emergency. So far, she didn't have any since being here and it'd been close to eight or nine months. Sitting down in her favorite chair, Marlize cast her line and leaned back, already coated in sunblock since it was a beautiful sunny day.

Sitting on the edge of that bed for a hot minute, Mark tried to wrap his head around all of this. He was staying with Linda's niece on some semi-secluded Island, who had zero social graces. That was saying something considering his own personal, bad habits and lack of fucks in general to give. Finally, he pushed himself up and peeled off the top he was wearing, tossing it aside carelessly as he began surveying the room. Not much to look at and he caught Marlize heading for the water out the window, fishing pole on hand. Maybe he'd just give himself the grand tour since hers had been…lacking.

There was a reason why Marlize was secluded out here in the middle of nowhere and she made it abundantly clear to Vince she would not be this man's hostess. She would not wait on him hand and foot. That wasn't who she was, which was one of the many problems in her marriage. Jon wanted her to wait on him hand and foot and she refused, so he beat her for it until she did what he wanted by force. It hadn't been pleasant. Also calling her every name in the book and saying snide comments about her body type hadn't done her self-esteem any favors either.

Now she was forced to be here with another man, for a huge chunk of change, and that was the LAST thing Marlize wanted to do. Why would Marlize want to converse with another man, who had his own problems to deal with? Vince had given her the rundown, a very basic summary, and she was aware Mark Calaway had quite the temper on him, but nothing more than that. It was best to keep her distance and not piss the giant off or else her head would probably be flown into the ocean in front of her.

Nobody was forcing her to do anything; she could have turned it down, but had wanted the money, and it WAS a good chunk of change. Uncle Vince was paying well for the inconvenience and honestly, he didn't expect Mark to cause her too much trouble, as long as she left him alone. It was mostly the solitude he had been paying for, figuring Mark wouldn't go out of his way to harass and vent on a woman he didn't know.

Vince was an idiot sometimes because Mark would do that in spades if this woman irritated him or one of his moods shifted. He was a mercurial man and the only thing that kept him from being labeled a woman abuser was the simple fact that he didn't lay hands on women. Mind games, however, it was always open season, no matter the gender. This woman was boring, he had determined, after doing a rather quick look through her bedroom. It was almost as impersonal as the rest of the house. Curious though, because if she lived here…why not personalize it? Snorting, he popped a bit of chew in his mouth, since he wasn't sure of her smoking in the house rules, and headed downstairs to see what exactly he was working with.

The sun would set on the horizon soon, so Marlize had stopped fishing an hour ago, a bucket full of them to fry up and began building a fire. She was outdoorsy, hardly staying in the cabin and soaked in as much fresh air as possible. It had nearly been taken away from her…Marlize immediately stopped that train of thought, refusing to go down that road. Once the small fire was built, she started it and set her chair a few feet away before heading off into the woods to grab some sticks for smores. They were her favorite and tonight was going to be clear with the stars and moon.

Never again would she take the world for granted or her freedom for that matter.

Glancing back at the cabin, Marlize entertained the thought of inviting Satan to join her and firmly pushed that idea aside. He probably wants to be left alone, he wouldn't be here if he didn't. If he wanted to join her, he was more than welcome and she would also start skinning the fish to cook over the fire as well, on a stick no less. It was delicious to eat that way.

"It'll cook better if you leave the skin on."

Once upon a time, when he was younger, Mark had been an outdoorsy kid. Loved sports, loved hunting, loved camping, and then things had changed, like him. He had changed, a LOT. Marlize seemed startled, he would be too if he was a woman and someone like him just appeared out of nowhere. Maybe he should have grabbed his shirt…he watched as her aqua eyes quickly perused his tattoos and his arms were covered in them. Mark had some lettering on his stomach, nothing too major, but it was his arms that were the real art.

"Less chance of the meat falling into the fire." He had noticed her sticks, sharpened, with everything ready to go. Skin included, apparently. Mark would have removed it too, if he were using foil or something and keeping it in coals. For the most part, he would concede, Marlize knew what she was doing.

"I didn't take you for an outdoorsy person, but I guess looks can be deceiving. I suppose I'll take your advice on it and leave the skin on." Marlize did not expect this giant to be cordial to her and cracked a small smile, deciding to be a good hostess for once in her life. "Would you care to join me? I made some other things to go with the fish, I just haven't pulled it out yet."

Truthfully Marlize didn't used to be an outdoorsy person and never thought she'd want to live in a cabin. She'd been used to the finer things of life and had been a little selfish, if she was honest with herself. Going through what she did, however, put everything into perspective and made Marlize realize how truly materialistic she was. Never again. She would never act like she was better than everyone else and take the simple things in life for granted.

Studying her thoughtfully, Mark figured he probably should just so she didn't wind up with food poisoning. He had reached the conclusion that this had not been her home, not always, simply because everyone had something personal to them somewhere. It was like Marlize didn't exist; she was just another visitor to the island like him. He supposed it could be a getaway property, but again, even then, nothing personal. Not even a picture of family or a pet. It was almost like she was a Jane Doe, purposefully clinging to anonymity. Or maybe that was his already bored mind whipping up a mystery for him just for entertainment.

"Yeah," He moved to crouch down opposite from her, his green orbs moving to the flames and held out his hands. "And I am not the…outdoorsy type." Far from it.

"You sure about that? Only a person who's spent a significant amount of time outside would know about how to fry fish over a fire." She teased gently, staring at him through the flames and finished what she was doing before setting it aside on the table next to her. "I also have stuff for smores, it's a guilty pleasure of mine, if you want some after we're done eating dinner." She offered, standing up from her chair and had tossed the bones and innards in the nearby garbage can. "I'm gonna go get the sides and bring them out here."

There was already a table set up to the side where she'd put everything, loving to eat outside whenever possible. A few minutes later, while Mark stayed in front of the fire, Marlize set down the bowl of potato salad, collard greens she'd been making on the stove, and corn on the cob, which was also fresh from the stove as well. "Okay, now to fry the fish up and we can chow down!"

He watched as she went to where she had left the fish, finding them relatively easily. Mark had found foil and wrapped them, burying them under some coals on a section of the fire pit that wasn't actually blazing with flames. "Can't cook them with a stick after you remove everything." Usually the skin would be peeled off and then the person would pick the flaky meat out, leaving all the rest intact and untouched. The fact that she had managed to leave most of the skin intact, outside of what she had removed to fillet, was impressive and it also made him a little cautious of her knife skills because that had been skilled. Didn't know how to cook fish over a fire, but could handle a knife…he was now intrigued. "They'll be done in a minute or two." Fish cooked fast and he stood up, towering over her even though he wasn't standing directly in front of her.

Marlize did not expect him to do that while she was inside getting everything else gathered, though it did bring a smile to her face, nevertheless. He was definitely outdoorsy if he knew exactly how to do this with fish that were just caught out of the ocean. "Sounds good, Mark. Thank you for doing that." Granted, she had cooked fish on the stick before and it had tasted fine, but she had a feeling the way he did it would be even better. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she being friendly with this man? It's not a crime to be nice and besides, I don't need him complaining to Vince that I was a bitch. "You do much fishing wherever you're from or…?" He shrugged nonchalantly and Marlize watched as he pulled the tin foil off the fire to set it to the side, using burn mittens he'd gotten out of the kitchen. "Okay, that smells really good." She had tartar sauce and other condiments on the table as well as plates and silverware with paper towels. "I may have to hand over the fish preparation to you from now on, Mark." Walking over, she handed him the plate with the silverware and gestured to the food. "Guest first, I insist."

He was thinking along similar lines.

She had been almost hostile when she had opened that door and now she was bordering friendly, so he didn't trust it. To be fair, he didn't trust a lot of people and one of the few he had…Mark let those thoughts trail off, clenching a fist and was kind of glad she wasn't in his swinging range…and presumedly had a vagina, which disqualified her from being knocked the hell out with a haymaker. He took the plate and silverware with a silent nod, eyeballing her condiments and finally salt and peppered his fish, skipping the tartar sauce completely, finally spotting a bottle of lemon juice. Close enough. Collard greens…corn on the cob and potato salad…he cocked a black brow, setting down so he was straddling the table bench, aware he wouldn't fit under it properly.

"Southern girl?" She didn't sound it, but he also knew he didn't sound like he was from Texas half the time either.