“Bro, she’ll be with us. Of course she’ll be safe.” Ralen winked at Addie. “And we’ll drive straight to wherever she has to go, then straight back.”
Cash turned to her with his hands on his hips. “What is so important that you need to go out and get it right away?”
Great. If he was going to escort her, he needed to know.
“Dotty said it’s period supplies,” Ralen said easily.
“Oh.” Understanding filled Cash’s face. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
Umm. Well. She hadn’t expected that reaction from him.
“Some girls can be strange about talking about periods,” Ralen said with a shrug. “Don’t know why, just a normal bodily function.”
“More normal than the things your body does,” Cash told him.
“Fucker,” Ralen muttered, turning to walk out.
“Is he all right?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about him.” Cash turned to her. To her shock, he reached up and cupped the side of her face. She froze in shock. What was he doing? Why was he touching her like this? And how could she get him to do it more often?
Chill, Addie. That’s not what you should be thinking.
Yeah, but she just couldn’t help herself, could she?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You can tell me anything. We’re a team, you and I.”
They were?
“Well, at least for as long as you’re here,” he said. “It’s you and me. I’m going to stick to you like glue until I put you on thatplane. Although I’d like to make it clear that I think you’d be safer here.”
He did? Why did he think that? Did he really think they’d be in danger if they returned to Las Vegas?
“It’s just a control thing, like I told you. So many aspects of my life are out of my control. But this is something I need to control.”
Did he mean her?
“Not in a jerk way, just in a, ‘keep you safe and happy and protected,’ way. And that sounded really creepy and weird, didn’t it?” He took a step back, and she could feel him pushing her away, not physically, but mentally, emotionally.
And she told herself that it needed to happen because she was leaving tonight, and also because there was nothing that would ever happen between the two of them.
But being on his team, even temporarily, was too much of a drawcard for her, so she found herself nodding. She wanted that.
“A team,” she said.
He nodded back at her. “Team Cash.”
Oh, no, she didn’t think so. “Team Addie.”
“Not happening,” Cash said. “I’m in charge, therefore the name should be after me.”
Addie just snorted. He was so full of it. It was definitely Team Addie.
18
Cash drove his truck to the nearest pharmacy. He still didn’t like this, even though they weren’t going far.
And he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
