I take it from him and jump back in the passenger seat as he buttons his shirt and turns the heating up in the car. “You don’t have a dash cam on this car, do you?”
He chuckles, turning the engine over. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Is there?” I smile and swat his arm.
“No. I turned it off.” He slowly drives back onto the bumpy dirt road.
I relax and pull the visor down to look at myself in the little mirror. “Shit. I look awful.” I lick my fingers and rub at the smudged mascara around my eyes.
Shane slows the car on the dirt road and grips my chin in his large hand, turning my head to face him. “You’ve never looked more beautiful than you do now.” He leans over, taking his foot off the accelerator and captures my lips, reiterating his words with a kiss.
My phone buzzes on the dash. Shane says, “Will your friend be worried about you?”
I’d forgotten all about Hazel at the bar. Grabbing the phone, I answer. “I’m so sorry I never told you I was leaving.”
“I was just getting worried. Are you okay?” she says, the music from the band playing in the background.
“I’m with Shane. He’s giving me a ride home.” I glance at Shane, hoping that’s what he’s doing. I don’t want the night to end.
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“See you.” I lift my bottom and slide my phone in my pocket.
Shane drives back onto the main road. “I’m taking you to my house.”
“Bu—“
“It’s not up for discussion. I need to make sure you’re safe, and I want a good fucking night’s sleep tonight.”
I clamp my mouth shut, peering at the dark circles under his eyes. “I was just gonna say, but what about my pyjamas?”
He flashes me a devilish grin. “You think you’ll be needing them?” A laugh huffs from his mouth. “That’s cute.”
I can’t help but mirror his smile. My hand reaches over the centre console and rests against his thigh, unable to get enough of him.
We drive up the winding hill in silence. My stomach flip flops at what the future holds for us. I still need to tell him my secret, but I want a few days of us like this before anything else can come between us. I already have the impending doom of coming clean with my sister.
Inhaling a deep breath, I think just one thing at a time. Let’s get that over with, then I can buy a pregnancy test and maybe Shane and I can do the test together like a proper couple.
He rests his rough hand over the top of mine as if he can sense what I’m thinking, then brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. I know in my heart, he’ll be there for me, whatever happens, just like he always has been. I should never have had any doubt.
“Can I ask, why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Join my live, block my subscribers, break in to my home…” My belly flutters with all the memories.
He kisses my knuckles again. “You lied to me about the ring light. I wanted to check you were ok and not in some sort of trouble, but once I saw you touch yourself, you awoke something dark in me, and I couldn’t put it back in its cage.”
“I’m sorry I lied.”
He gives me a sideways glance as he brings the car to a halt outside his home. “You forgot I can tell when you’re lying.” His lips lift in the corner.
I huff out a small laugh. “How did it go?” I put on a gruff voice. “I’m trained in the art of body language, nightingale. I’ll know when you’re lying.”
With hooded eyes and a dopey grin, he pulls the handbrake and grips my face in his rough hands, then swoops in and crashes his lips to mine, his kiss full of all his dark desires and a promise of his love.
Pulling back from my lips, but still gripping my face in his hand, he says, “I broke in to give you an escape, and also because I couldn’t get you out of my mind. You’ve always had my heart since you were a little girl, but talking to you on the live, you seeped into my veins, burrowed into my bones, and found your way into my soul.”
