Had cars passed her as they did to Leslie? And had Kristen still been wearing her heels, or had she taken them off by now? Was it cold? Was her hair up, or straggling down the back of her neck and over her shoulders? Was she crying or angry orboth?
Leslie felt the hair at the back of her neck lifting and prickling as she trudged along, thinking about the eighteen-year-old girl who’d died…all for a necklace oftopazes.
A pair of headlights cut like white light through the yellow glow of the streetlights, and Leslie automatically edged to the road’sshoulder.
But instead of maintaining its speed, the car—no, it was a van or truck—slowed down, its tires crunching and grinding on the gravel as it came up closer. She moved into the grass, and waited for the vehicle to pick up speed again and pass by safely, but itdidn’t.
A little frisson of warning had her heart skipping a beat as the truck pulled up right next to her. As she glanced over, the window rolleddown.
“Need aride?”
Nine
When he wasseveral yards away, driving along the dirt road, Declan spotted Leslie’s cobalt-blue vest and the blue and cream hat with its jaunty ball ontop.
Thanks to Cherry and Orbra—who had driven past him and Emily as they were walking through the parking lot—he’d not only been sent off in the right direction, but he’d had an excuse not to join Emily and a few other parents for a post-game drink atTrib’s.
“Do you mind driving Leslie home?” Cherry had asked. “We didn’t have room for her in the van and so she decided to walk.” Her eyes glittered with undisguisedmischief.
“Not a problem,” Declan replied, trying not to soundrelieved.
Emily hadn’t been too happy about it, and tried to suggest they ride together. “We could drop her off and then meet everyone at Trib’s,” she said. “It’s easier to find parking downtown with only onecar.”
“That’s all right—I’m not sure I’m up for going out tonight,” Declan had said, then ducked quickly into his car before Emily could discuss itfurther.
Damn, he thought as he pulled out of the parking lot. Was he being a jerk, or was it pure self-preservation?
He contemplated those questions with cold objectivity and thought he was allowed to decide whether he wanted to go out or not—even if others had different expectations of him. Then he firmly put the thoughts out of his mind, and a funny spike of anticipation jolted through him as he pulled up next toLeslie.
From the way she half turned yet kept walking, he could tell he’d spooked her—oh hell; that made it twice in one day—when he rolled down the carwindow.
“Need aride?”
As soon as he spoke and she recognized him, she stopped and smiled. “Depends who’soffering.”
“Get in da car, lady,” he said in a mock gangster voice. “If you know what’s good foryou.”
“That sounds like more like a promise than a threat,” she said, climbingin.
Even in the dimness of the car’s interior light, he could see the red tip of her nose and the sparkle in her eyes. Declan almost reached over and kissed her right then, but held back at the lastminute.
“Good game, huh?” he asked casually, tightening his hands on the steeringwheel.
“I didn’t see much of it. It was pretty crazy inside the tea tent. But from the sounds of it, we didwell.”
“I was up in the press box for most of the second half—my buddy Baxter James covered the game for thepaper.”
“Wow. He sure gets around. He did the article on me and Shenstone House, and I hear he’s also abrewer?”
“That’d be right. Journalist turned entrepreneur. Really great guy. The Grand Rapids news station was there too—the sports anchor is an alum. Marcus Levin—used to play football here, I guess. So I might even be on the late nightnews.”
“I’ll make sure to watch for you.” Her voice was…well, there might have been a hint of flirtation init.
He glanced over at her and caught a good look at her profile. She was smiling. And such nice, high cheekbones she had. Plus that hat…there was something about the way it looked on her that made him want to cuddle her close in front of a fire. Maybe because it made her seem less like a slick businesswoman and more like a person who would be deadly in a snowballfight.
And maybe one who’d even roll around in the snow afterward. And then have to strip off all the wet clothes when they cameinside—
“It was nice of you to give me a ride home. I didn’t mind walking,but—”
