Until she loped back into the hall and stopped at his feet to look up at him with a whine.
He grabbed the leash and twisted it around his hand to keep her close.“She’s probably upstairs.”Not wanting to track more water into the apartment, he called out, “Nat?”
“Hey.”She appeared at the top of the stairs, her face flushed.“You’re back sooner than I expected.”In the fifteen minutes he’d been gone, she’d changed into a T-shirt and linen pants, combed out her hair, and put on eye makeup.“I guess you didn’t take the umbrella.”
“Sadly, no.”He reached into the small bathroom and grabbed two towels.If wiping down Blitz ruined one of them, he’d pay for it.He gave his own hair a quick rub and slung the towel over his shoulders.Then he trapped Blitz between his feet and started wiping her head, using his knees to keep her from slithering away, while she tried to turn it into a game.Glancing up at Natalie again, he frowned despite how pretty she looked.“You going somewhere?”He didn’t remember making any plans.
Her gaze darted to the floor and she opened her mouth, shaking her head as if trying to conjure a response.“I…just wanted to be ready for the day.”The cheer in her voice rang false.
He could feel his brow furrow as something tugged as his mind.Had he caught her doing…something?
She smiled and took the first step down the spiral staircase.“I think I saw a mop in the closet down there.”
His gaze strayed to the narrow ledge under the bathroom window where Natalie’s small collection of toiletries had been haphazardly arrayed when he brushed his teeth earlier.The shelf stood bare.Loosening his grip on Blitz, he walked fully into the small space.No shampoo in the shower.Only one toothbrush in the cup next to the sink.No makeup bag on the counter.
His heart flailed like a dying fish as he returned to the hallway and found Nat paused halfway down the stairs, her brows cinched together as she watched him emerge.When she clocked his expression, her cheeks flamed and she bit her lip.
He forced himself to maintain eye contact, weary with the hurt and anger that clawed at his skin.“You were going to leave.”His words fell like daggers into the charged air between them.“Weren’t you?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
NATALIE’S BLOOD JACKHAMMERED through her veins.If the damn rain had waited another few minutes, she’d have been out of here before Ford returned.It would’ve sucked not seeing him again, but at least she wouldn’t have had to face his accusing eyes.Not that their feelings mattered right now.
“Were you really going to leave without telling me?”The disbelief in his voice, low and raw and dark, cut her deep.
“Yes, because someone—” She cleared her throat.“They took Erik.”Her nose prickled, but she wrestled back the useless tears.
Ford frowned.“That’s your brother, right?The swimmer?”
She nodded, fighting her rising panic.Also surprised Ford remembered her rambling diatribe about Erik being a stellar swimmer, while she topped out at the doggy paddle.She’d been ridiculously proud of him for getting a swim scholarship to Arizona State, and had probably talked about it too much.Her throat tightened at the memory.“It’s me they want.I can’t sit by and do nothing.Erik’s innocent and it’s my fault this happened.”
“You’re innocent too.”Ford held up his hands in apparent frustration.“I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to help him, but you don’t need to sacrifice yourself out of a misguided sense of guilt.”
“I haven’t been innocent in a long time.”
His brow furrowed.“What doesthatmean?”
She shook her head, not ready to go there.“Never mind.What matters is that I poked the bear, and if I don’t do something quickly, my family will pay for it.Again.”
“Fuck.”He ran a hand through his damp hair, making it stick up in rows, and stared at her for a second.“There has to be something we can do.”
There he went with “we” again.
“There’s somethingIcan do.”Natalie swallowed hard, the scar tissue on her chest throbbing.“It’smethey want.”
“Nat—”
“Don’t try to talk me out of leaving.I won’t change my mind.”
He glanced at his watch.“You’ve had less than an hour to think about it.Can we at least pause a minute to think through the options?”
And just like that, she was back to “reckless” in his mind.“You’vehad less than an hour.Given your opinion of me, you might find it hard to believe, but I stayed up half the night doing my homework.I’m not just rushing into the fight.”
“That’s not how I think of you,” he said softly, his frustration obvious in the set of his shoulders, the lines around his mouth.“Wait, you found outlast night?”
Shit.Maybe she was reckless after all, because she’d meant to keep the timeline to herself.Actually, she’d meant to be gone when he returned so she wouldn’t need to have this conversation at all, but…fuck her life.
If she could’ve, she would’ve crossed her arms.Instead, she put a hand on her hip.“Yes.”
