“Okay, okay. Ah. No. I don’t have a signal. It’s Akira’s phone.”
The burst of excited chatter on the other end of the line was loud enough for Akira to hear. She raised an eyebrow as he cast her a discomfited glance and moved into the other room, shutting the door.
Good thing the walls were so thin in these cheaply made cabins. She only had to tiptoe over and plaster herself against the door to eavesdrop, and his muffled words came through loud and clear. “Kati, calm down. No, I don’t know why she’s here. No. No.”
Silence. Then, “Well, why did you tell her where the cabin is?”
More quiet. A long-suffering sigh. “She’s smart. I’m sure that’s all she needed to figure it out.”
At least he acknowledged she was smart. She would ignore the sigh.
“Relax. You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle Akira.”
The hell he could. Akira sniffed. Men didn’thandleher.
There was no warning before the door opened. Startled, she pitched forward, steadied by a strong grip on her biceps. His eyes grew wide before he hastily righted her, his surprise morphing into discontent. “Of course she’s not here to cause trouble.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. She would happily cause trouble. However, there was a fine line she needed to walk right now between pissing him off so much he kicked her out and maintaining the arm’s-length distance that kept him safely away from her squishiest parts.
It would be easier to keep him at arm’s length if his hand hadn’t remained wrapped around her arm. Why had she not worn long sleeves?
He spoke into the phone, but his gaze burned into Akira. “Have fun at Kristen’s, and I want you to contact me immediately if anything changes. I’ll go down the road and check my messages every couple of hours.” He hung up and glared at her. “Are you eavesdropping?”
“That’s kind of a dumb question,” she pointed out. “What else would I have been doing, checking for termites?”
Another gusty sigh left him. They were getting annoying.
He sidestepped her, heading back to the kitchenette.
“Um.” She glanced pointedly at her upper arm. “As much as I enjoy being dragged around, could you maybe lighten your grip a little?”
He looked down and pulled away as if she’d scalded him, backpedaling until he bumped against the counter. His cheeks flushed a dull red. “Sorry. I’m, uh. I didn’t realize.”
She massaged her arm. It tingled where he’d touched her.
“Here.” He handed her the phone. There was no brushing of fingers this time. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
He hesitated before speaking, every word dragged out of him. “Do you…want some coffee?”
Ask him what you came to ask him and leave.
But she was the one who had pulled out two mugs. A pink mug no less. “Sure. Black.”
He poured the coffee and passed it over the counter. Akira grabbed the mug and took a bracing sip, her eye twitching at the hit of caffeine. Did Jacob ever sleep?
“Too strong for you?”
His tone was carefully neutral, but damned if she’d give him a single reason to feel superior. Trying to hide her grimace, she placed the mug on the counter. “Nope. I— Wait, is that skim milk? I didn’t realize. I love skim milk in my coffee.”
“Do you?”
“It’s my favorite.” She poured in a dollop of watery milk, until the liquid turned creamy brown. “Kati okay?” she asked when it was clear he wasn’t going to be forthcoming.
He gave a terse nod. “She had a change of plans. Going to another friends tonight, but she won’t be picked up until much later.”
Yeah, right, Akira thought cynically. “See? Told you there was a good reason.”
