Opening my mouth to protest, Cash cut me off before I could say anything. “Don’t argue with me, little dragonfly, I am not going to leave you out here on your own tonight. So, either you get your happy ass out of the car or you’ve got yourself a pissed off gargoyle sentry and these two rowdy beasties for protection.”
I weighed both options carefully. I didn’tknowCash. It could be a monumentally stupid decision to go to his house. Isn’t that how women usually were murdered?
But then a hoot of laughter echoed down the beach, reminding me of the idiots who thought it was fun to shake a car they didn’t own. Everything about them had scared me.
Nothing about Cash scared me, even if it realistically should have. He didn’t seem thrilled to have me working at Monstrous Ink, but unlike Ambrose he didn’t voice it out loud.
“Daphne.” Cash’s voice cut through the rousing internal debate that was rattling around in my head.
I leaned back against the seat and scrubbed a tired hand over my eyes. “Fine, I’ll come.”
Even if I get murdered, maybe I’ll at least get eight hours of sleep beforehand,I thought sardonically to myself as I hurried to shove as many of my things into my bag as possible.
“You can drive the car to my place tomorrow,” Cash said as I stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind myself.
“Uhh… no I can’t. Peep’s kinda broken down right now,” I told him sheepishly, watching the liquid silver of his eyes shift with irritation.
“Anything else I should know?” He asked as the dogs began to dance around his legs, clearly excited to get back to their walk.
Just that I have a crazy ex-husband who I ran across the country from that may or may not be looking for me, oh and that my name isn’t actually Daphne,I said inwardly, my mental tone sarcastic.
But I couldn’t tell him any of that. The less Cash or any of the people at Monstrous Ink knew, the better. “That I’m allergic to mangoes, so if you’re trying to murder me that’s probably the way to go?”
Cash’s eyes widened and a low, surprised chuckle rumbled out of his chest.
“So youdolaugh,” I gasped, watching as his expression immediately shuttered back to the same grumpy one he’d been wearing all day.
“Come on,” he muttered as he turned and began to walk back down the beach.
Cash’s legs were much longer than my own, so I had to jog to keep up with him. The two massive dogs didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping up with their master, in fact they seemed to relish the quick pace as they got their energy out.
After a few minutes I was regretting the fact that I hadn’t worked out since college. My calves were cramping and a sheen of sweat seemed to cover every inch of my body.
“How far is it?” I finally managed to ask Cash around a ragged gasp.
Cash, who had previously been facing forward without looking back at me, came to a sudden stop, causing me to run face first into his broad back.
“Ouch, you need brake lights or something, Mr. Gargoyle,” I grumbled under my breath as I took a shaky step back, rubbing my sore nose.
“My apologies, I forgot to change my pace to accommodate you. I’m not used to being around humans,” Cash said, ignoring my snarky comment. “We’re nearly there, though there will be some stairs.”
“Then just leave me at the bottom to die,” I groaned as we began to walk again, but this time Cash seemed to match his pace with mine.
Another quiet chuckle came from the gargoyle and for some reason the noise made me feel giddy. Though that was most likely from the sudden workout I was putting my body through.
“You will be fine, it’s not bad,” he rumbled.
“Says the gargoyle with long legs and calves of steel,” I said around a gasp as we finally made it to the bottom of a steep set of wooden steps that were built into the side of a sand dune. There had to be at least fifty steps to the top.
Cash released the two dogs from his grip and together we watched them bound up the steps like it was nothing.
“They can do it,” he pointed out as the pair disappeared out of sight.
“I think you’ll find that I’m built very different from a giant dog,” I quipped back.
Cash looked at me sideways, his features smoothing out into something more contemplative. “You’re very different from the quiet mouse of a receptionist that we all met earlier.”
I lifted one shoulder in a tired shrug. “Exercise makes me cranky.”
