I couldn’t help but chuckle at the rapid-fire questions. “Is this a job interview?”
“Of a sort,” she said with a hint of humor in her tone.
“Then yes,” I said. If there were forms to fill out and she wanted to see my accreditations, I’d do that too.
She went quiet again, but not for long. My wolf quivered with anticipation.
“Here’s my offer,” Alice said finally. “I have a full day ahead of me, as you heard. Come with me.”
Come with me.
For a beat, I wondered if I’d heard right. “In what capacity?”
“Colleague.”
Well, that did explain the questions. I smiled. “Colleague, huh?”
“That’s the offer.” Her tone was still brisk. “I’ve got to do some work at my client’s home, then track down four people who might have taken something from her house—something that might be dangerous.”
That wiped my smile away. “How dangerous?”
Alice raised one shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m not sure yet. It’s a magical item of some sort, possibly an object of power, or a focus. I’m still looking into that.” She sighed. “Of course, this is all assuming you can take a day off from work. Is that even an option?”
“Already taken care of,” I said. “I told my business partner last night that I wouldn’t be in. He’s got everything covered. I thought you might need me today.”
Her entire body tensed, and she scowled. “Needyou?”
I regretted my phrasing, but I couldn’t take it back. And despite feeling like I’d stepped onto thin ice, I needed her to understand why I’d said it.
“Yes,needme,” I said. “When I texted Ron last night, I was holding you on your front porch and you were unconscious. You’d been burned, gone into shock, and were unresponsive for five hours. I thought you might be dying in my arms. You’d made it very clear I couldn’t take you to the hospital—for reasons I haven’t even asked about, I might add—so I sat there helpless, listening to you breathe and waiting to see if you would live or die.”
All the visceral horror and fear of those miserable hours came roaring back. I needed to work through those memories and feelings myself.
Alice fidgeted and bit her lip. “Sean?—”
She didn’t want to be reminded of what she’d gone through. I understood that. But I didn’t like the feeling I was getting that she wanted to move on as if the accident and her near-fatal injuries had never happened, and as if it didn’t matter to her or anyone else. Because it sure as hell mattered to Malcolm and me. Natalie too.
Alice mattered, whether she thought so or not.
And I still wanted to explain why it was so important for me to be here that I’d taken the day off.
“Alice, let me say this, please,” I said.
She went quiet, her arms around her knees and her expression guarded.
“I took the day off in case you still hadn’t woken up or you needed someone to take care of you,” I said. “Even though you hate relying on anyone’s help and get unreasonably angry about it. Fortunately, thanks to Malcolm and me and the healing spells, you’re well enough to drag yourself out of bed and carry on with this investigation, and I’m free to be a part of your day, as acolleague.”
I took a chance and rested my hand on her foot, which was under the covers. I would have liked to touch her skin, but I didn’t want to overstep a boundary in the middle of a difficult conversation and destroy the fragile bridge I’d tried to build.
“And despite your tendency to think the worst of me and my intentions,” I finished, “I’d rather be with you than anywhere else right now.”
Her eyes widened. Maybe she wasn’t used to someone telling her that.
A parade of surprisingly overt emotions crossed her face in the wake of my words: guilt, which made my insides twist; shame and anger, which hurt too; and uncertainty edged with fear. It was the fear that stung me the most. I’d swear she had nothing to fear from me if I thought she’d believe me.
I’d have to show her I could be trusted and that nothing I did was in expectation of anything in return. And I would, if she’d let me.
“I’m sorry,” Alice said, her expression bruised but resolute. “If you still want to come with me, you can.”
