The little lines beside her eyes crinkle as her indignation returns with a vengeance. “Triggering? I can’t believe you said that.Wow. Where’s your forklift, Reed?”
“My what?”
“To haul around all this audacity. You must have backed it in here on a flatbed.”
She clicks her tongue, shaking her head. Despite being several inches shorter, she manages to look down at me. I’d be impressed by that if I weren’t utterly baffled by her reaction.
She knows damn well what she did.
“Whatever, Lila. This isn’t the time to be gaslit down memory lane. Just tell me where you’re going in such a hurry.”
Her pretty copper eyes flash with realization, and a tiny gasp escapes through her succulent lips. “Oh, crud. You’re right. Idoneed to hurry.”
“Talk to me, or I’m not letting you go.”
Silence stretches for a few moments. She bunches her lips to the corner of her mouth, bouncing her gaze around so she’s looking everywhere but at me.
Seemingly doing an about-face, she timidly asks, “Where are you parked?”
“Um.” I pause, searching for an appropriate response or the hidden meaning in her question.
Yes, I know where I parked my car.
No, I don’t have a clue why she’s asking. After the earlier forklift comment, I don’t want to walk into another trap. We’re wasting time.
Plus, I don’t like not knowing things around this woman.
While I turn over my thoughts, she softens before me. All her earlier frustration seems to turn to mist, floating away from us. Now there’s only the diabetic-coma-causing woman she shows the world.
Her mask is back in place, which gives me a hint of comfort.Thisis the woman I know how to handle. Not the viper she was inside her apartment.
Using a faux-pleasant tone, she says, “Reed, listen. I just realized something. And it changes things.”
If I narrow my eyes at her any further, I won’t be able to see. “Go on.”
“Well, you were right about one thing. ItwasSilas who called. He took something without permission when we broke up. He’s finally agreed to return it, but only if I go right now.”
“In the middle of the night? That’s shady.”
“Yes,that’swhat I just realized. Itisshady. Exactly.” She nods, her eyes shimmering with an easy vibrancy that’s simultaneously forcedandnatural. Odd. “And since I don’t particularly trust him, I think it would be great if you went with me.” More vigorous head nodding, which threatens to activate my dirty mind.
With a bit of effort, I push away thoughts of how I’d love to see her nodding that way as she wrapped those lips around my cock. “So you want me to come for your safety?”
“Since you’re all up in my business tonight, it would be foolish to turn away your protection for what will hopefully be my last encounter with Silas.Ever.”
Some of the lightness she’s forced into her facade dulls a bit when she finishes, revealing how much she really dislikes him.
“Sure. Did you want me to drive? Is that why you were asking about my car?”
“Actually, I think it would be best if you drove yourself. Behind me. If I show up in a stranger’s car, he might get spooked. He’s crazy paranoid.”
“Then I’ll ride with you.”
She flicks her gaze to the night sky. “I guess that might work.Buuut... I bet it would still spook him if he saw you in my car.” Shaking her head, she tugs in a hiss of air through her teeth. “I think you following me in your own car would be best. Just stay like a block away so you’re there if I need you, but not so close he drives away before I get my stuff.”
I don’t like this. If she gets the chance, she’ll try to give me the slip. I just know it.
Yet I refuse to send her to meet this jerk alone. Not with so much doubt swirling through my mind about him. He’s clearly unstable. Plus, she seems frightened of him.
