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“Good,” he replied gruffly, stepping closer, hands tightening on my waistline. “I want that, too.”
A strange heaviness settled over us as the never-ending cycle of rain continued to pelt down. Like a pressured sensation. Like the air had grown thin around us.
He was staring down at me, looking both annoyed and excited.
It was a confusing look.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
A huge black Range Rover SUV pulled up alongside us then, breaking the weird tension and saving me from blurting out something dangerous. The tinted window rolled down and a woman’s head popped out.
“Johnny?” the woman inside the Range Rover called out. She was blond and beautiful and looked mildly horrified as she stared at us. “What are you doing to that poor girl?”
“That’s my ma,” Johnny muttered, glancing briefly at his mother before returning his attention to me. “Come on.”
“Wait!” I croaked out, gripping his arms before he could go, still balancing on one foot. “What about my shoe?”
Johnny glanced down at my feet and then behind me. Releasing a heavy sigh, he hooked an arm around my waist, pulled me to his side, hoisted me clean off the ground, and walked us over to the SUV. He yanked the back door open with one hand and deposited me in the back seat with the other before jogging back to the footpath to retrieve our discarded bags.
“I’m soaking wet,” I warned, feeling embarrassed at the thought of ruining the expensive upholstery of the car. “Seriously, Johnny,” I added with a shiver when he returned to the door with our bags. “I’m soaked right through my clothes.”
His lips twitched for the briefest moment, and then he shook his head as if waving off an unwelcome thought that had come to him.
“Ma, this is my, ah… This is Shannon,” he acknowledged, looking clearly uncomfortable. He cast a nervous glance at me and then turned back to his mother, clearing his throat twice before adding, “She’s my, uh… She’s new.” He shoved me further into the back seat of his mother’s SUV and then tossed both bags in alongside me. “I told her we’d drop her home.”
“Hello, Shannon,” his mother said, turning in her seat to flash me a megawatt smile.
“Shannon, this is my ma,” he announced gruffly. “I’ll, ah, go and find your shoe.”
He closed the car door then, locking me inside with his mother, and jogged away. Mortified, I slumped into the back seat of his mother’s Range Rover.
Well, this wasn’t awkward. This wasn’t awkward at all.
Trying not to hyperventilate with burning discomfort was surprisingly difficult considering I was sure full-blown hypothermia was setting in.
“N-nice to m-meet you, Mrs. Kavanagh,” I chattered, knees bopping restlessly as I rubbed my hands up and down my arms.
I was so unbelievably out of my comfort zone that I had no clue what to do.
Knowing that I was dripping water all over this kind lady’s leather interior wasn’t helping matters, either. “Th-thank you f-for the s-spin.”
“It’s Edel, love,” she replied, sounding distracted as she watched out the window. “What in the name of Jesus is that young fella of mine doing now?”
Muttering several profanities to herself, Mrs. Kavanagh pressed a button on the door and her window rolled down.
“Johnny!” she called out. “What are you doing running around in the rain, ya bleeding eejit? Get in!”
“He’s looking for a shoe,” I pointed out, cheeks flaming. “My shoe—I dropped it.” More like flung it. “He’s trying to find it for me.”
Mrs. Kavanagh turned around to grin at me, but her smile faltered, her expression morphing into a concerned frown.
“Oh god,” she gasped. “Look at you shaking. You must be perished.”
I was perished. I was beyond perished. My body was jolting violently as the dampness of my clothes continued to assault my skin.
Johnny’s mother turned the heater on full blast, and I groaned in relief as a wave of heat hit my face. She slipped the chunky knit cardigan she was wearing off her shoulders and draped it over my legs.
“Now, pet,” she said in a soothing tone. “We’ll get you warmed up in no time.”
