Ten minutes later, Stevie stomped around the Double J truck parked next to Stone’s, refusing to let it get to her. She was going to confront this woman if it was the last thing she did. And the only way she was walking out of here was if Stone told her he wanted her to leave. It was interesting what could happen in the span of a few minutes. She’d gone from being full of self-pity to convincing herself that she was now the invincible thing that could take down the Hulk.
If she recalled correctly, the Hulk was invincible, but as God was her witness, she was going to prove Marvel wrong by the end of the day.
As she was banging her fist on the door, some of her courage wavered, but she squared her shoulders, determined to stand her ground.
Stone opened the door, his expression one of … was thatrelief?
She sure hoped it was; otherwise, he was about to get really angry because she was doing this.
“Hey,” he greeted, his gaze shifting past her to Nico.
“Reilly called,” Nico explained.
Stone stepped back. “Come in.”
“Who’s at the door? Oh. Oh, my goodness. I didn’t realize we were expectin’ company.” The woman flashed a smile, pretending to be self-conscious because she was wearing one of Stone’s button-downs.
And nothing else.
God. Could shebeany more cliché?
“Stevie, it’s not what it looks like,” Stone said.
She looked at Stone and flashed a smile of her own. “I know.”
Before he could launch into an explanation, Stevie marched over to Leah and held out her hand. “I’m Stevie. Stone’s girlfriend. And you are?”
“Leah,” she said, frowning as she put her limp hand in hers.
Stevie shook it once, then dropped it like it was a hot potato. She glanced down at Leah’s bare legs. “We should find you some pants. It’s cold. Wouldn’t want you to catch a chill.” Stevie met her gaze and smiled. “Because you’re leavin’.”
The woman sputtered, but Stevie didn’t give her a chance to spout whatever bullshit that was piling up in that big head of hers.
“We’ll be right back,” she called out to Stone and Nico, adding more honey than vinegar to her tone as she urged Leah back the way she’d come.
***
Nico wasn’t sure what to say ordo. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could sputter a word after watching Stevie introduce herself to Leah, then march the woman out of the room like it was her duty.
While contemplating whether to intervene, he held Jäger in his arms as he stood beside Stone, watching Stevie and the half-dressed woman disappear into Stone’s bedroom.
“That’s Leah, huh?”
“Yeah.” Stone huffed, looking as dumbfounded as Nico felt.
“Why’s she here?”
“She’s insane,” he said, his tone lacking any inflection at all.
They stood in silence for another few seconds, staring at the empty space where Stevie had just been. Nico was trying to figure out what to say when Stone turned, gesturing toward the towels on the floor.
“She poured beer down her shirt. On purpose. Then asked to borrow one of mine. She doesn’t do anything without an ulterior motive.”
Nico glanced at the puddle and then toward the bedroom. “You turned down her offer to go back to Houston.”
“More than once.” Stone glanced at Jäger as though seeing him for the first time. “Shit. Let me clean that up.”
It took Stone only a few seconds to get the spill cleaned up. When he did, Nico set the puppy on the floor, figuring he couldn’t possibly cause any more of a ruckus than there already was.
