“Jude—”
“Door.”
She huffed out a breath that sounded equal parts frustration and disbelief, but she let me steer her up the sidewalk.
The porch light snapped on when we got close enough.She fumbled with her keys, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.
“No one is here,” she said.
I stepped inside anyway.
Not because I thought she was lying or because I expected to find some psycho hiding behind a couch but because I needed to know.
The house smelled like clean wood and something faintly sweet underneath it.I didn’t take time to judge anything in it.Didn’t care about the furniture or décor or how big the place was, except to note that it was way too much house for one woman to be in alone.
I moved through it fast.
Living room clear.
Kitchen clear.
Hallway.
Checked the first bedroom, then the second, then the third.Bathrooms empty.Closets where it made sense to look.The back door locked.Windows secured as far as I could tell without getting stupid about it.
I wasn’t there to inspect the place; I was there to make sure nobody was in it.
When I circled back to the front, Ever was still standing near the door exactly where I’d left her, like she hadn’t decided yet whether to be offended or confused.
Probably both.
“What just happened?”she asked.
“The house is clear.”I stopped in front of her and jerked my chin toward the door.“Make sure to lock the door behind me.This place have a security system?”
She blinked a couple times like her brain needed to catch up with the conversation.“Um, yes?”
“Good.Set it.”
She stared at me.
“What time do you work tomorrow?”I asked.
That got another blink.“Did I just step into the Twilight Zone?”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.“What time do you work tomorrow?”
She dragged in a breath.“Uh, two to ten.Well, ten-thirty.”
I nodded.“Come by the clubhouse around ten.Does that work for you?”
Her mouth opened, then shut.Opened again.“Yeah,” she said finally.“That works.”
“Good.”
I should’ve left right then.
She was standing there in that pink top and those tight jeans, her hair messy from work and the night, and me walking her through the front door like I had any right to.All I could think about was how right it felt to be there.
