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“Jim,” Kane responded without taking his eyes off of me.
My perusal of Kane was broken when Jim stepped in front of me, “You good, sweetheart?” I looked into Jim’s eyes, my uncle who wasn’t related to me by blood but whom I had known all my life. I was grateful he was giving me this time to pull myself together. Steeling my spine, I nodded at him. He smiled at me and squeezed my shoulder, “That’s my girl, give him hell.” He turned and went to the front, saying something to Kane on the way out that I couldn’t hear.
We were alone for the first time in weeks and I had absolutely no idea what to say. The comfort I felt at seeing him again was laced with anxiety and doubt. Why was he back now? Did he know about the baby? I chewed my bottom lip nervously, waiting for him to say something.
“Hey, Fred,” he smiled at me sadly as he came closer to where I sat. His movements were slow, like he was afraid walking too quickly might spook me.
“What’re you doing here, Kane?” He winced at the harshness in my voice. But I couldn’t help it, the anger and loneliness I had been feeling were bubbling to the surface. The man I was in love with had left me without a word and now he was back, expecting…something. I didn’t know what but I was unsure if I had anything left to give.
When he remained silent, I stood and walked to the back office, locking up the money in the safe and turning off the lights. I finished shutting everything down, ignoring him completely until all that was left was the alarm and the back door. Looking at my watch, I was surprised that Gray wasn’t here yet, he had said he would be the one following me out tonight.
Before I could start to really worry, Kane spoke. “He isn’t coming, I told him I’d take care of you.” His arms were crossed and he stared at me with his jaw clenched, frustration clear in his expression.
“Lovely, I guess this means you and my brother are talking again? I just got a new coffee table so it’s nice to know that’s safe.” I gestured angrily at the door, waiting for him to do his sweep of the parking lot so I could leave. The desire to be in my home and away from this irritating situation kept me from tearing into him further. I hated how tense and uncomfortable we both were.
“Lock it behind me,” he instructed before disappearing out the door. This part terrified me every night, when one of them would go out there, alone, looking for danger. My heart raced waiting for him to come back, I may have been angry with Kane but the thought of him getting hurt caused me to lose my breath. I froze, not wanting to make a sound until I was sure he was safe.
“It’s clear,” I heard muffled through the door. After setting the alarm, I stepped outside and locked the door while his eyes swept the lot. “Where’s your car?”
“Crap,” I drew out the word as my head dropped back on my shoulders. “It wouldn’t start this morning and Mom brought me here. Gray was supposed to drive me home tonight.”
A smile bloomed on his face, “Looks like I’m your chauffeur tonight, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.” I narrowed my eyes before stomping past him toward his truck. Thankfully I didn’t live too far away, all I had to do was get through this car ride and then I could lock myself inside my house and think about what it meant that he still stared at me like I was his.
30
Kane
Everything about Winnie’s posture indicated she wanted nothing to do with me. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and she was looking out the passenger window even though it was pitch black and she couldn’t see anything but her own reflection. She had scooted as close to the door as possible and was giving me the silent treatment.
It hurt for her to treat me so cold, but it wasn’t like I didn’t deserve it. I knew disappearing on her like I did meant risking everything we had started to build. She may have been trusting me with her safety at the moment but that’s where her trust ended. It would be a battle getting her back but I had never been more determined to win in my life.
“What did Jim say to you?” she asked, still looking at the damn window. I pursed my lips to keep from smiling, Winnie never was good at the quiet game.
“Hmm?” Oh, I knew damn well what she was asking but I also wanted her to talk to me more. If playing dumb got that to happen then I was going to be the biggest idiot in the world.
She huffed, turning to look at me, “In the diner, when he left. He whispered something to you that I couldn’t hear. What did he say?”
“Ah, that,” I tapped my fingers on the center console like I didn’t have a care in the world. “Nothing much, just a bit of a warning.”
“A warning?”
“Yeah, he reminded me of what he used to do before he retired.”
“What do you mean? I thought he was a cook.”
I burst out laughing, barely able to keep my attention on driving. “Is that what he told you he did?” A line formed between her eyebrows as she thought, I wanted to kiss it away but I knew that would be taking it too far right now. I pulled myself together enough to give her the truth, “He was an interrogator, baby.”
“An interrogator? What does that mean?” She didn’t baulk at my use of ‘baby’ which I took as a good sign.
“Wasn’t my specialty but if I had to take a guess, he did what needed to be done to get the information that was needed.” War was a nasty business, each side was always looking for a way to get a leg up. That didn’t make it right, but I could see how crucial getting information from the enemy could be to saving the lives of your fellow soldiers. Once again, I was glad as hell that I was out.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. I nodded my head, that about summed it up. When I smiled at her, she seemed to remember she was mad at me and turned her adorable nose up in the air before looking away again.
We drove the next few blocks in silence with me trying to figure out a way to get her to talk to me again. I was trying to arrange the words in my head to explain to her why she should give me another chance but everything sounded stupid. Before I knew it her house was coming into view, her old Jeep tucked away in the carport. Shit, I should have taken longer to get here. Before I could even put the truck in park, she had her purse clutched in her fist and was jumping out.
“Winnie, wait!” I shouted, grabbing my keys and chasing her to her front door. She already had her key in the lock and I could tell she wanted to get inside before I could follow.
