His gaze narrowed as he stared down at her. “You need to stop apologizing.”
She shrugged. Addie didn’t understand what was wrong with apologizing. Plus, she could be apologizing for a number of things.
Like the fact that you just puked all over his boots.
She glanced down at them. She should offer to clean those. And should she ask him if he had a girlfriend?
No, then he might think that she was interested in him.
You are interested in him . . .
Yes, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Addie, I didn’t give permission to look away from me,” Cash said sternly.
Whoa.
Her gaze shot back up to his. That was one firm voice. And not one that she could ignore. She pointed to his boots.
“Don’t worry about my boots. The puke will come off. I want you to listen to me. I don’t know why you puked, but I could guess. No, keep looking at me.”
Shoot. She hadn’t even realized that her gaze had shifted away from him.
“I won’t remind you again,” he warned as a set of headlights hit them full beam.
She winced and held her hand up to shield her eyes. Thankfully, it drove past and she could breathe easier.
“What the hell?” Cash muttered as the car turned and the lights hit them again. The car parked in front of his truck as Cash gently nudged her behind his back.
“Stay behind me. I mean it, Addie. Disobeying me right now will make me very unhappy.”
Right. And they wouldn’t want that.
Sheesh.
She’d been trying to sound sarcastic, but the truth was that she didn’t want him to be unhappy. She wanted him to smile. What would he look like when he smiled?
God.
Maybe it was better if she didn’t know. Because he was already ridiculously attractive. That might send her over the edge and she wouldn’t survive.
A car door opened and her stomach tightened.
You are not going to vomit.
It was probably just someone stopping to check that they were okay.
Still, she had a strange feeling in her stomach. And she wished Ralen were here. How far away was that gas station?
Cash stood casually, his entire demeanor relaxed and uncaring. Still, there must have been a part of him that was concerned. Otherwise he wouldn’t have told her to stay behind him, right?
“You folks all right here?” A large man stepped out of the car. He had to be half a foot taller than Cash, with wide shoulders and a muscular build.
Those nerves in her stomach built.
She had a bad feeling about this. She looped her hand into Cash’s belt. He probably thought she was nutty, but for some reason, she just needed to hold onto him.
He didn’t even glance back at her so maybe he didn’t feel her hand around his belt.
