“Sure,” she says, giving her a small wave as she walks out the front door.
Slipping back out into the living room, she finds Danica setting up a game of Catan. She looks up when she sees her, smiling brightly.
“Hey, what color do you want? Typically, I’m blue, but you’re a guest, so you can have first pick.”
“I’m not staying,” she says gently. “It’s getting pretty late and my car isn’t too reliable these days.”
Her face falls. “Oh. Dang it. I wanted to impress you with my road-building skills.”
Jahlani lets out an airy laugh. “Maybe next time,” she adds, unsure of why she would promise such a thing.
Danica smiles, pulling her into a quick hug. “Sure, it was nice meeting you.”
Slightly taken aback by the gesture, she slides her bag onto her shoulder in a daze, waving goodbye to Taylor, who helps Danica set up the pieces. She moves into the kitchen, and is forced to wait two minutes while Gwendolyn packs hera little bit of everything. She’s pulled into another hug before she walks out of the house into the darkened street. Dropping the food into the back seat, she slams the door shut before moving to thedriver’s side. She looks up, feeling his presence before he can say anything.
For a moment, they just stare at one another, and she’s tempted to get in the car and run him over. But she’s also tempted to tell him to run up to her and take care of her against the car.
She points back at the house when Roman starts down the driveway toward her. “I figured you were busy with Lucy—I didn’t want to interrupt?—”
He stops a few feet in front of her, his eyes dark. “Jahlani?”
“Yes?”
“Give me the keys.”
“What are you doing?” she murmurs when he invades her space, the front of his navy sweater brushing against her fingertips.
“You’ve been drinking. You can’t drive yourself home.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She doesn’t say anything else when his palm wraps around hers to pry the keys out. With a hand on her back, he guides her to the passenger side, where he opens the door. She turns back to face him.
“But Lucy?—”
“In, Jahlani.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She drops into the seat, and when he shuts the door, she buckles herself in. He slides in on the other side, and if she wasn’t so warm, she’d laugh at how cramped he looks against her steering wheel. She leans her head against the cool glass.
“You know how to get there?” she murmurs through a yawn.
“Yeah. Close your eyes, Jahlani. I know where we’re going.”
CHAPTER 27
WAITING
JAHLANI
When Jahlani comes to, the dashboard reads that it’s five past nine. She blinks, sitting up in the car, looking out the window.
“This isn’t my house,” she says in a croaky voice while squinting through the windshield. “This is …” She trails off, turning to face an impassive-looking Roman. “What are we doing here?”
“We’re going to talk,” he says, opening his door and moving to her side. She leans away when he opens it.
“You kidnapped me,” she says breathlessly. “Why?”
He leans down, meeting her eyes. “Because we’re going to talk.”
