“Can we talk?” he said.
I considered that. Then I buzzed him in and went to open the door. I heard a motorcycle rev and then he shot into the driveway and parked. The gate shut automatically behind him.
Shane got off the bike, slipped off his helmet and tussled his hair. I watched him set the helmet down and when he walked up to me, he smiled.
But it wasn’t his usual flirtatious, ultra charming smile. Just a tentative smile. “Hey,” he said as he approached.
“Hey.” I eyed his motorcycle. It was more of a sport bike than a Harley. “You know I have friends in the West Coast Kings?” He wasn’t a biker, in the patched-into-a-club sense, clearly. But he’d know who the Kings were. Everyone knew who the Kings were.
Friendswas maybe a stretch, though. I had one biker friend, for sure.
“Uh… I heard,” he said. Of course, he had a friend in the Kings MC, too; Lex. But he scratched the back of his head, considering that. “Is that a warning?”
“It is.”
“Alright,” he said, coming up the steps. “How are you doing?” And if I wasn’t mistaken, it seemed like he actually cared.
“Oh, peachy. My marriage is falling apart. But the weather’s decent. How are you?”
“Sorry to hear that.” He looked up at the house. “Okay if I come inside? Or do you want to talk out here?”
I dropped back into the house. “Come in.”
Shane followed me inside and I shut the door behind him. “Take your shoes off. Jesse doesn’t like dirt on his floor. Do you want coffee?”
“Sure. If you’re making some.”
I headed back into the kitchen and poured him a mug. He wandered in, looking around.
“So this is how a rock star lives,” he mused.
“This one does. Did you really come over to check out Jesse’s taste in appliances? Or did you have something to say?”
He looked at me. There was none of the usual slyness or that dark air of danger about him right now. He didn’t look like he was up to something, which was new. I had a feeling that usually Shane Madrigal wanted me to think he had an ulterior motive, whether he really did or not. Same as in high school.
Not today, though.
Good. Because I really didn’t need any of that bullshit today.
“Yeah.” He pulled up a stool at the island. “I have something to say. On Dane’s behalf.”
“I figured he sent you. Or how would you know I was staying here? Unless you’ve been stalking me…”
He smirked a little. “Not stalking. He sent me. To vouch for him.”
I slid his coffee in front of him and changed the subject. “Do you want any sugar or anything in that? I don’t have cream. Fridge is kind of empty right now. I’ve been in and out.”
“Right.” He took a sip. “I’m good, thanks.”
I studied him. “Can I ask you something totally off topic?”
“Sure.”
“Where were you yesterday?”
Yeah, so I was paranoid. But someone was out to get Dane. And it had to be someone close to him, if they were leaving me creepy giftsinsidethe penthouse.
“Uh, what time are we talking?”
