As much as she wanted to assure him she’d be fine on her own, the idea of walking the two blocks to her house made her skin crawl. “I’d appreciate that. I just need to get my things and lock up.”
Not saying a word, he walked beside her as she went through the motions of gathering what she needed and making sure the bar was secure.
Secure.She mentally rolled her eyes at the thought. No matter how many locks were in place, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever feel safe again. At least not once she was left alone with the memories of what happened.
At least for now, she was protected. Reid stood guard, even if only for two more blocks. Then she’d be forced to face the impending nightmares all on her own.
Indecision slowed Reid’s steps as he and Eve approached her bungalow. The porch light highlighted the explosion of flowers in the white boxes on the two front windowsills. Large flowerbeds looped around the perimeter of the house, packed with plants and foliage of all shapes, sizes and colors.
They hadn’t spoken during the walk, and he’d kept his hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets to keep from reaching for her.
Back at the bar, he’d needed to comfort her. To touch her. To feel for himself that she was okay.
But now it wasn’t acceptable. Not when they stood outside her turquoise door. An awkward silence he’d never experienced with Eve made him uneasy—made him second-guess how to act and what to say.
“Well, thanks for…everything.” Eve dug in her purse for her keys, hesitating when she found them. “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure.” He waited for her to step inside before following and closing the door behind him. Curiosity had him peeking around her, the open concept allowing him a view of the tidy living room and kitchen beyond.
Eve kicked out of her shoes and made a beeline for the couch. She sank against the light gray cushion. “I should offer you something to drink or eat, but I don’t have it in me to play hostess.”
He snorted. “Don’t worry about it. I could use a drink, though, if you don’t mind me poking around your kitchen.”
She waved a hand in a go-ahead gesture.
He noted the simple and polished furnishings and the way framed photos added splashes of color to the tan walls. The same simplicity met him in the kitchen: clutter-free marble counters and no streaks on the stainless-steel appliances. The whiskey she’d mentioned at Tilly’s sounded appealing, but he opted to search the refrigerator for a couple of cold beers instead.
“Grabbed one for you in case you wanted it,” he said, rounding the sofa to sit beside her. He passed her the brown bottle then opened his top and took a sip. The cool liquid slid down his throat and relaxed the tight muscles along his shoulders. He’d had a bitch of a day before he got to Tilly’s. Since he’d walked into that god-awful scene, the day had gone straight to hell.
Damn, he was a self-absorbed bastard.
Nothing that had gone wrong in his day could compare to the horror Eve had endured.
“What’s that look?” Eve narrowed her eyes, but the exhaustion clinging to her like a burr kept him from spilling his thoughts.
He took another long pull from the bottle. “Nothing. Just worried about you. I hate the thought of you here alone all night.”
A light blush stained her cheeks, and she busied herself opening her beer. “I’ll be fine. I’ll make sure the doors are locked, and a few drinks of this will knock me out cold. Now that the adrenaline has leaked from my system, I can hardly keep my eyes open. It’s been a long week.”
He cringed. She’d obviously only invited him inside to be polite. He should have seen her safely inside then made his own way home. He’d be lying if he told himself not wanting her to be alone was his only motivation for accepting her invitation. Eve had piqued his curiosity from the first time they’d met. Always matching him word for word with a smart-ass comment and able to hold a conversation about what players the Colts had traded in the off-season.
She was unlike anyone he’d ever met, and he couldn’t pass on the opportunity to see a different side of her. To see where she let her guard all the way down at the end of a long day. The place she called home.
“I’m sorry. I’m intruding. I really just wanted to see you here safe and sound, and now that I have, I’ll get out of your hair.” He set his bottle on the end table beside the sofa and stood, wiping the condensation from his palms onto his thighs.
“I didn’t mean you had to go. Honest. I was just saying…well, I don’t know what I was saying.” She let out a long breath. “Please. Sit. Finish your beer. Tell me something about your day. Anything to take my mind off what happened tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
She grabbed his forearm and pulled him back down beside her. “Yes. Positive. Why were you walking by the bar so late? Hope Madden’s not working you too hard.”
“Work’s been steady—crazy, actually—but that’s not why I was heading to see you.”
“You were coming to see me, huh?”
The tiny smirk that slid up the corner of her mouth urged him to tell her more. “I needed a drink,” he said, grabbing his beer and saluting her. “And some good company to take my mind off a phone call with my sister. I’d hoped you’d let me in, even if you’d already closed.”
She frowned. “Is everything okay with Tara?”
