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For a moment, my pulse spiked until Libby flopped onto the couch opposite me with a loud groan.
“Good Lord, Einstein. Show a little normalcy before you bring out all the crazy. We’ve talked about this.” She kicked up her feet to rest them on the table and turned her attention on me. “I put some makeup remover and another outfit in the guest bathroom. There’s already stuff in the shower if you want to take one. We can talk about whatever you’ve decided once you’re done. And in the meantime, I’ll explain to this one why you’re here,” she said with a jerk of her chin in Einstein’s direction.
Right. Because I was just running from a man . . . trying to figure out my next move.
I had a feeling Einstein wouldn’t believe the story as easily as Libby had.
And although every instinct told me to get as far away from her too perceptive stare, I’d passed out within minutes of arriving at the house the night before, so I still didn’t know what I was going to do . . . and a shower sounded like heaven.
“Thank you. I, uh . . . I really appreciate it.” I avoided Einstein’s eyes as I scrambled from underneath the blanket, off the couch, and hurried to grab my bag.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Einstein said, her tone suddenly subdued.
I looked over my shoulder in time to see Libby kick Einstein’s hip and glance up at me. “Don’t listen to—”
“Johnny didn’t like her. If he finds out she’s—”
“If he finds out what?” Libby challenged with a raised brow. “She needed help, and we’re helping her. By the time Dare finds out, she’ll either be gone or we’ll have a plan. Let it be his decision if Johnny finds out.”
“So you want me to keep it from him?” Einstein asked, frustration lacing her words.
“I’m telling you to let it play out how it’s supposed to. She didn’t ask to come here, I brought her. When you find out why, I know you’ll agree with my decision.”
Einstein regarded me silently, her wild yet intelligent eyes darting over my face. After a few seconds, she nodded. “Fine.”
From Einstein’s frustration and disbelief at Libby’s insistence that she not tell Johnny about me, I knew Johnny meant something to her . . . knew she meant something to him.
I wouldn’t have been able to accept the task easily if I’d been told to hide something from Kieran—something I knew he wouldn’t be happy about. There was an underlying tremor of panic deep in my stomach just at the thought . . . and it wasn’t even happening to me.
“I don’t . . .” I swallowed thickly under Einstein’s heavy scrutiny. “I don’t want to put Einstein in that position. I don’t want to put either of you in this position. I’m gonna go.”
Libby met my stare, then rolled her eyes and waved a hand in Einstein’s direction. “You’re fine. She’ll understand once I explain last night.” When I still hadn’t moved, she said, “I promise.”
I took a few hesitant steps, then turned and quickened my pace when Einstein finally looked away from me.
I wasn’t out of the living room yet when she mumbled, “I know her mouth.”
“Oh my God,” Libby groaned. “Get over yourself.”
I hurried into the guest bathroom and shut the door behind me, resting my forehead against the wood as I took deep breaths to shake off the lingering feeling of being interrogated by a look alone. Finally pushing away from the door, I walked over to the sink and hefted my bag onto the counter next to everything Libby had left for me.
Another pair of sleep shorts and a fitted tank—like the ones I was already wearing from her—makeup remover, and everything to dry and style my hair. Glancing up at the mirror, I grimaced at the stranger I found there.
The contacts were still in and my hair was wild, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The hours of running and sleeping had smudged and smeared my makeup, creating thick, dark circles around my eyes. I looked like I’d kissed death and had lived to see another day.
Lines and circles.
Images from the night before slammed into me, nearly knocking the air from my lungs as it all came rushing back.
They’d come for me, and if I hadn’t followed Conor, they would’ve had me.
If Conor had been there, who knows what they would’ve done to him.
Had they known? Had they known I was supposed to be there alone . . . unprotected for the first time?
I pushed the thought from my mind. They couldn’t have. But the threat was still as real as it had always been, and I wondered how this would all end.
I hurried to turn on the shower when my eyes started burning with unshed tears, then grabbed for the makeup remover while waiting for the water to warm up. But despite how hard I tried to choke back the tears, despite how hard I tried to wait until I was under the cover of the streaming water, they continued to fall as I scrubbed at my face and stripped out of the borrowed clothes.
