“What? And you didn’t follow him? Seems like you would have.” Maybe they were somehow tracking him. “Whatever. So is it possible I could get some fresh air?”
“It’s dark and raining.” Cole crossed his arms.
“Right. Fine. Okay.” Cressida got some coffee and then went back upstairs to her room.
She opened the door and stepped out onto the small veranda this time. The rain had settled to a light mist, but she would get wet all the same. She closed her eyes and sighed. Once this was over ...Oh, Lord,please let it just be over... she could actually live in a place that provided peace and quiet and was sparsely populated.
And ... Braden...
Yeah, what had she been thinking, telling him that she liked him? Her time in Hidden Bay was stirring up the worst of memories regarding her mother—Cressida’s career, and then being ghosted, or rather dumped, by the guy she’d been dating for six months because of her career. Was she ready to put her heart on the line and trust someone, especially someone she barely knew, after what she’d been through already? Not that their “like” of each other had gone anywhere or would go anywhere.
Before she got too soaked, Cressida moved back inside, and then on her laptop, she spotted the returned email. Her friend’s email wasn’t working anymore. Hmm. She blew out a defeated sigh and found Mom’s cell number. This was a good number unless she’d changed it. Her finger hovering over the number, Cressida fought the surging tears and theache in her throat. When and if she talked to Mom, she absolutely had to be in control of that conversation, and right now the emotions still ran too high.
A text came in from Braden, sending relief through her. She could put off her call to Mom.
If you’re still up, meet me downstairs.
On my way.
She downed the rest of her coffee, glad for the caffeine. The day had worn her down, but a text from Braden gave her an adrenaline surge. She traveled the stairwell, searching for him as she descended. His two buddies didn’t emerge from the shadows. Instead, Braden stood in the middle of the floor and stared up at her.
The look he gave her was a mix of admiration and, oddly, both fear and determination. Her pulse kicked up, and she took her time descending the stairs. When she finally approached and was close enough to see, his face looked haggard, but his eyes were as sharp as ever.
“Braden...” His name came out as a whisper, maybe telling him how glad she was to see him. Not what she’d intended.
And the slightest flinch in his features revealed his raw reaction. She hadn’t expected that, and something deep inside stirred. She could be reading him all wrong—he’d been through a lot tonight.
“Are you okay?” she asked. What a ridiculous question.
He pulled a hand from his leather jacket. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”
She glanced around the space. “There’s a table over there.”
“I mean, let’s get out of here.”
“Okay. I just need to get my jacket.”
From her room, Cressida grabbed her windbreaker andstuffed her small wallet and cell in a pocket, then joined Braden at his vehicle.
“So you switched rides,” she said. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. It was fun earlier, dinner and the ride, before all the chaos. I guess what I’m saying is that, in your official county vehicle, it feels more like business.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Hard to say. “Probably the best thing.”
Great. As if the rest of their venture together was personal. She’d given her thoughts away. To his credit, Braden said nothing more, but he was brooding. On the dark, lonely road, he navigated down the sharp drop to the marina, then kept driving in the opposite direction of the Pirates’ Bash preparation and to a deserted part of the shore where vehicles could park. She’d seen a couple of vehicles earlier, but tonight she and Braden were alone.
“You want to get out?” he asked.
In the Pacific Northwest, the clouds and rain moved in and then onward before another band of clouds. At this moment, the rain had moved on, and she caught a glimpse of the night sky. “Yes.”
She pulled her jacket tighter. She didn’t have to pretend with him. They’d both admitted that they liked each other, but she was already having regrets. Was he having those same regrets? She wished she could take it all back. Neither of them had time for a like relationship with chaos and murder around them.
And standing out here alone with him under the stars felt like they now moved away from professional and back into dangerous territory.
“So what’s happened? What’s going on?” she asked.
“So much.” He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it across the hood of the vehicle. “Madeline is on the run. She took off.”
