I had a feeling I knew who that sound belonged to. I dug my teeth into my lower lip and turned to find Jude standing a fewfeet away, his hands on his hips. Sunglasses hid his eyes but I recognized the cocky arch of his brow, the hard tick in his jaw.
"James," I said to her, still staring at him, "I'll call you tomorrow. Have fun in the pool."
"What's happening? Is he there? Oh my god, he's there, isn't he? How much did he hear? I need to know. Prepare to be sick of me. Save every crumb for me and I'll eat them from the palm of your hand."
Jude swept a glance over my long sundress and the wedges stained dusty red. "Whenever you're ready," he started, nodding at the rental car I hadn't noticed pull up in front of the feed store, "we can get going."
"I'll talk to you later," I said to Jamie. "Love you." I ended the call as Jamie went on howling for details. "How did you know where to find me? Did you put a tracker on me? Like a microchip for a golden retriever?"
He sanded his knuckles through his scruff, his brows lifting in consideration. "No, but that's a good idea. Would save me some time." When I only stared at him, he added, "Small town. Not a lot of options."
I nodded, glancing over to the car. "I just need to get my?—"
"Already loaded the luggage," he said.
"Oh. Okay." I shielded my eyes from the sun to see him better. "Thanks."
"Come on." He reached out, trailed the backs of his fingers down my arm until his hand circled my wrist. "You're getting sunburned."
Whatever it was that held me together—the hard leather of scars, and the social graces, and the mental corsets—eased until a strangely deep breath bubbled out of me. I felt a tug on those bindings, a finger tripping over the laces until he found the spot to start taking me apart.
He slid the pad of his thumb over my pulse and watched me with the lazy patience of any good apex predator. All I could do was stand there, my arms lightly toasted and my shoes ruined, and watch him while the strings holdinghimtogether loosened too. It happened in fractional parts and I wouldn't have noticed if we hadn't been standing close enough to hear each other breathe. The broad line of his shoulders, that granite jaw, the ceaseless pinch in his brows. And then he exhaled and it was like he'd stepped out of his armor.
I followed the bob of his throat as he swallowed. I'd never once in my life considered pressing my mouth to the front of someone's neck but now it was all I could think about.
I didn't believe Jamie was completely right, but…maybe she wasn't completely wrong either.
"Hot water," he said, clearing his throat again. "For your tea. I picked up a cup of hot water."
"Thank you," I said, the words quiet. "I was going to ask. About stopping. Thanks."
He tipped his head in a slight nod. "Did you sleep all right?"
I wanted to know if he felt my pulse jump in response. "Yeah. What about you?"
A brow arched over the rim of his sunglasses. "Not bad." The corner of his lips crooked up. "Panicked a little when I woke up and couldn't find you."
"Oh, sorry about that." I breathed out a laugh. "I couldn't get a signal."
He murmured in agreement. "I figured that, even if you ditched me, you wouldn't leave your noise machine behind."
"It's an air purifier," I said. "And I'm not going to ditch you."
His thumb skated up the inside of my forearm and down to my palm as those laces of mine loosened a little more. "You're not?"
"No, I'm not." I shuffled my feet, feeling the fine grit of red rock dust trapped between my toes. "I'm already three full days, one ungodly lizard, and an epic storm into this trip. Aside from the fact I'm in the middle of nowhere and have very little chance of getting out of here on my own, I'm committed."
"I'm not so sure about those chances," he said, that thumb back on my pulse. "You're stronger than you think."
"I—well." I pressed my lips together because I didn't know what to say to that. Iwasstrong. I knew that and I was proud of all the things my strength had done for me but hearing it from Jude hit differently. It filled one of those empty spaces inside me. The one I'd ignored for years and told myself I could live without.
A truck rolled up towing a horse trailer and we both glanced in that direction. A cloud of dust billowed around the truck and the horses poked their heads out the back of the trailer. I waved to them.
Jude laughed under his breath. "Did you wave to the horses?"
"I don't know why you're asking because you watched it happen." I shrugged. "They seem like nice horses."
He pushed his free hand through his hair. A smile broke across his lips. "Percy would love that."
