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“Oh. Sure.”
CJ lifted a brow. “My tat?”
“Maybe later.” I looked behind him when a couple strolled in the front door. “Looks like you have customers anyway.”
CJ moved away to take care of the customers while I took care of Tobias’s tattoo, then cleaned up my workstation, my mind heavy. I’d never been a hearts and flowers kind of guy. Hell, I’d never wanted to be. But if I’d gotten carried away enough last night to make Faith want to run away from me, I couldn’t let that stand. I had the sudden urge to buy her chocolates and roses and spout poetry I didn’t even know. And not just to salvage this charade I had going... but because she deserved all the best things.
I raked a frustrated hand over my head and began to pace. “Fuck!”
I was a restless beast by the time Mateo texted me that she was on her way home. One glance at the time told me she was trying to sneak in while she thought I was in the middle of my shift. She wanted to avoid me. To hell with that.
I caught Tobias’s eye and tilted my head toward the door to let him know I was heading out, then bolted up the stairs to let myself inside the apartment. Lancelot was snoring away on his bed in the corner, so I left him there and kept the place dark as I moved toward the bedroom.
Her suitcase still sat in the corner, so I grabbed it and hauled it toward the far wall, then sat on the bed so I was between it and the door. My body was tight and as electric as a live wire by the time the front door opened. Still, I didn’t move.
The door closed and her soft voice murmured a greeting to the dog as she flipped on the lamp in the living room. Then the hall light.
For some reason, she didn’t bother turning on the bedroom light, heading straight for where her suitcase had been, only to freeze when she found the spot empty.
“Looking for something?”
She screamed and jumped with her hand to her mouth, stepping back two steps before stopping. “Holy shit! Adam! What the...” Her hand moved from her mouth to her chest. “What the fuck?”
“I could ask the same.”
She flipped on the light and glared at me. “I have lunatics trying to kill me and you think it’s funny to wait for me in the dark and give me a heart attack?”
I blew out a breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you; I’m just wondering why you’re sneaking in.”
She took a calming breath and patted her chest as her body language relaxed, and I watched her face as a myriad of emotions from fright to irritation moved across. Embarrassment. Hurt. “I’m not sneaking,” she said, her eyes landing on the suitcase. “And why are you here? I thought you were working.”
I homed in on that last word, on the tone of it. The acidic quality in her voice. Something was very off. “You’re leaving?”
She faltered. “Adam—”
I rose and moved closer, examining her face. “Did I hurt you? Last night? Is that what this is about?”
Confusion clouded her eyes. “What? No. I told you—”
“No? Then why the fuck are you sliding in here in the middle of my shift to grab your shit like a coward?”
Her gaze flared like twin blue flames. “A coward? Fuck you, Adam Bishop!” She tried to shove past me for her suitcase, but I grabbed her arm.
“Faith...”
She ripped her arm from my grasp and glared up at me. “Get out of my way.”
“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on here.”
“If you don’t know...” She glanced behind her at Lance’s whine and lowered her voice a notch. “If you don’t know, you’re a bigger idiot than I am.” She glanced down, giving away the emotion she was holding back.
“Well, then call me an idiot, because I don’t know,” I gritted out, clamping my jaw shut to dial it back. I breathed in deeply and brushed the hair behind her ear, cupping her face, making her look at me. “Please.”
Tear-filled eyes met mine again, angry and hurt. “The bridge, Adam? Really?”
I kept my gaze pinned to hers, searching the depths of her eyes for several long moments as my confusion ebbed and her words sunk in. Her angst wasn’t about last night. It was about earlier today. Somehow, she’d been there—the car I’d heard—and she thought...
My heart began to pound so hard I thought I’d be sick.
