“You don’t need to take me home, August,” I said.
“You’re right. I don’t, but I was leaving. If you don’t want a ride, by all means, make your own way home.” He paused by the entrance of the inn, waiting for me to decide.
I all but flung the phone at Aidan Michaels and raced to the revolving doors As soon as we were outside, I said, “I’ll kill that man someday.”
August glanced at me, eyes bathed in shadows, shadows I’d put there. Not all of them, perhaps, but some. We didn’t talk as we walked to his pickup, and we didn’t talk as he drove me back home. When we reached my street, August finally spoke.
“You’re not serious about leaving Boulder, are you?”
“I am.”
“You’re still a minor.”
I stared up at the darkened apartment. Was my uncle already sleeping?
“Jeb will understand that I can’t stay in Boulder. He’ll understand that I can’t obey a man… an’t trust.”
“You don’t have to leave. Liam won’t harm you.”
“I know Liam isn’t that spiteful fifteen-year-old boy, but every time I’ll look at him, I’ll remember that he was complicit in killing my father.” I touched the door handle. “Besides, my leaving will benefit you.”
“How?” he asked sharply. “How will it benefit me?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Um. Did tonight’s gathering make you forget about the mating link?”
“The mating link doesn’t bother me, Ness.”
“How can it not?”
“Does it bother you?”
“No, but I’ve sworn off men.” I raised a smile I wasn’t really feeling. Mom used to say that if you smiled in spite of being down, your emotions would eventually catch up with your face. “Anyway, August Watt, I promise I’ll write this time.”
He stared fixedly ahead of him. I was tempted to lean over and plant a kiss on his cheek but chickened out. I got out of the car and shut the door, then climbed the steps. The pickup didn’t pull away. August was probably waiting for me to go inside. A gentleman till the very end…
I rang the doorbell. Seconds passed. When a minute went by, I rang the doorbell again but heard no footsteps. Was my uncle not home?
Frowning, I went back down the stairs and knuckled the passenger window. August powered it down. His phone was already ringing, and then my uncle’s voice came on the speakerphone.
“Yes, August?”
“Ness was trying to get home, but she doesn’t have her keys.”
“I’m at Headquarters, watching over our asset with Derek and his son. If you swing by, I can give you the key.”
I bit my lip. “What time will you be home?”
“I won’t. I don’t want to risk those bastard Creeks freeing Everest’s murderer.” His desire for vengeance palpitated through the phone.
“Okay, we’ll figure something out,” August said.
When he hung up, I said, “I can-” I had been about to say drive myself there and back, but Jeb had taken the van. Shoot. I was stranded. “Actually, do you mind giving me a ride?”
He nodded, and I got back inside.
Pulling away from the curb, he said, “I don’t like the idea of you sleeping here all by yourself. Not with the Creeks in town.”
“I lived six months on my own in a real crappy neighborhood.”
“You weren’t on my watch then.”
“I’m not on your watch now either.”
“Ness,” he sighed. “Please give me a break tonight.”
I nibbled on my lip and relented. “What did you have in mind?”
“You can stay with me tonight.”
“Um.” The seatbelt felt like it was cutting off my breath. I hooked my thumbs underneath the taut fabric and tugged.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.
Yeah. But his place was one big open space. Taking the couch wouldn’t give either of us much privacy. “I could go to Frank’s-”
“He might not get home until late.” He’d already started driving toward the warehouse.
I sensed reminding him that Evelyn would be there would do little to change the course of my evening. “Fine, but I’ll take the couch.”
“The bed’s more comfortable.”
“It’s your bed.”
“It’s also my couch.”
A ghost of a smile made its way to my lips.
“Do you know how many girls would love to be in your shoes right now?”
“My shoes are starting to hurt my feet, so I don’t think many.”
He side-eyed me, and although there wasn’t much light, his eyes seemed greener. “There’s the Ness Clark I know and adore.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled softly, and it smoothed the spiny ridges of this strange night.
After feasting on leftover lasagna, I showered and changed into one of his T-shirts that smelled so strongly of him it made my head spin. Did I also smell like sandalwood and sawdust now? Or did August smell like me? Or maybe our scents had mixed and created a completely different aroma.