“Don’t worry too much about that. After I’ve cleared my head in here, I’ll pull the night shift.”
“You mean you won’t sleep? Oh, wow, is that necessary?”
“Only until we have a basic security system put in. Thought I’d order one and have it sent overnight,” he says.
“No, you’ve done enough. There are a couple local places I can call. I’ll work on it tomorrow,” I promise.
Part of me wants to argue he shouldn’t play watchman, but a man built like a human tank looking out for us feels like a relief.
If someone did try to break in, they’d stop cold and think twice after seeing him.
That is, assuming they weren’t armed…
But he’s a war machine. Intimidating height and muscles andtouch-us-and-dieattitude.
No one with a shred of survival instinct will mess with this house with Kane Saint around.
“Do you really think they’ll come back?” I ask softly. “If it was the Babins, would they be that stupid?”
“Probably not tonight. They’d be dumb as hell to follow up this soon, without thinking it through,” he says, propping his arms up on the rim. The space under them looks too inviting. “They know you saw them, and news travels fast in this town. They’ll know we alerted the cops soon.”
“Well, not like it’ll do much. I think the sheriff hands out ten speeding tickets per year.”
“It’s on file, Margot. That counts. The better the record, the more we’ll have if anything goes down and you need to press charges. Not that it will,” he adds, searching my face.
“Hopefully.”
After a second, he cocks his head.
Protective growly instinct or not, he knows he doesn’t need to sweeten the truth with me, unlike his kids. I’m not family.
“Hopefully,” he repeats.
I don’t remember us getting closer, but my knee knocks lightly against his under the water.
I try to relax and sink down lower, letting the bubbles climb past my breasts to my neck, and his eyes follow the movement.
“It’s a damn shame your mom was no help,” he says. “Sorry you wasted your time.”
“Yeah, it’s frustrating. Not really a big surprise, though. I just want to know what he thought was so important and why he wanted me to find it. It feels like my last connection to him fading, going up in smoke.”
His knee brushes mine now, but this time the movement feels deliberate.
Just a split-second press that might be for sympathy or comfort, but it ignites my nerves all the same.
“I’m sorry if you feel like you came here for nothing,” he rumbles. “I know how that goes, putting in effort, only to walk away empty-handed after driving yourself up the wall.”
“I don’t feel like that.” I half smile. “You remember what I told you about Sophie last night?”
“Yeah. She had to point out how old I am.”
I giggle. “Besides that, I mean. I started working on her shoe design this evening.”
For a second, I think he’s about to shut down on me.
His shoulders stiffen, and for a hot second, I regret saying anything.
But then he draws a slow breath and relaxes again, studying me with cool green lidded eyes.
