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“Oh, right. Eyesore.” I couldn’t quite keep the hurt out of my voice.
He studied me for a moment. “It’s not that bad. Just needs a little spiffing up.”
“I have all these ideas and drawings. Let me show you.” I shifted around to dig into my cubby that held my bus layout schematics. They were constantly changing since I was always fiddling with them, but he could get the gist from what I had so far. “See, I’m thinking of making a window seat type area by the back doors—”
“What the hell was my brother thinking, letting you bunk down just anywhere?” The question exploded out of him as if he couldn’t hold it inside a moment longer.
“Letting me? Uh, he has no say over me or my person.”
“It’s not safe.” His jaw locked. “I saw the kind of flimsy lock you have on this thing. If anyone wanted to break in, you’d have no recourse.”
“In the Cove? There’s been like one murder here in one hundred years. But you think someone would try to take me out? My biggest adversary is a cop.”
“Now I’m your adversary?”
“Not you, jackass. I mean your fellow officer.” I shifted to tuck away my schematics. He was obviously in no place to appreciate them.
Mav reached out to grab the papers in my hand, gripping my fingers when I would’ve yanked my hand away. “You worried about me last night. Now I’m worrying about you.”
“Dammit, that’s not fair,” I muttered, hating that my eyes prickled with heat. “I’m perfectly fine. I’ve always been fine living like this. I backpacked around the United States, and I never had any issues. You really think I will here?”
“I’ll worry,” he said softly, squeezing my fingers until I shook him off and put away my sketches.
He wasn’t about to let me off the hook that easily. He knee-walked onto my foam mattress pad, leaning over me to take out the drawings I’d just put away. Before I could respond, he tipped up my chin. “I want to see. And I want you to let me put a better lock on this damn bus.”
“Maybe later for the drawings.” I eased them out of his hand, and he didn’t resist.
I shouldn’t weaken in his direction. I couldn’t let him sneak past my boundaries and make me care about him when this…whatever it was between us was just temporary and probably wouldn’t add up to much.
But that worrying thing was damn intoxicating. I supposed we were alike that way.
So I offered him an olive branch.
“You can put on a new lock if it makes you worry less.”
“Thank you.” His thumb feathered over my lower lip. “But what would really make me worry less is if you spent the night with me. In my house.”
My breath sped up. “In your bed?”
His thumb stopped moving, but somehow that focused pressure right in the center of my lip was even more erotic. “That’s up to you.” Before I could try to come up with a response, he grabbed the small pillow beside my knee. “This your work too?”
It took me a second to blink enough to actually see it and not just his gorgeous eyes tempting me to throw all caution to the wind.
As if I hadn’t done that already.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat and touched the flowers embroidered on the pillow in browns, rusts, and golds.
“Late night activity too?”
I shrugged.
“For someone who claimed to sleep like a baby, you have an awful lot of late night hours free for this stuff. And these are so intricate. Must be tiny ass needles.”
“One can only stare at a screen for so long.”
“Tell me about it. It’s beautiful work. You’re supremely talented—in more than one way.” Still on his knees, he leaned forward to kiss me, his lips soft and hungry against mine. I could taste the chocolate ice cream he’d had and the rich flavor of him mixed with the sweetness made me inch closer, already wanting more. Our tongues barely touched before he was cupping my chin to draw me back. “So next stop is the yarn store?”
“Yeah. And the drugstore, then we’ll go pick up Francie.” His brow creased and I knew exactly why. “We’ll get some condoms,” I added, wanting him to know I wasn’t going to sneak behind his back and take the morning after pills.
