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“There’s no chance Mom will bother looking there,” I said. “There are only three thousand people—pretty much impossible any of them will know about the Cordovas and recognize me. Especially when it’s over a thousand miles from home and across a national border on top of that.”
“We’re going to stick out.”
“Not if we pretend like we’re normal people. I think I can manage that. Can’t you?”
Rafael glowered at me, which didn’t have the effect he was probably going for. Instead of feeling chagrined, my body temperature rose by about five degrees.
The man was smoking-hot, what can I tell you?
“You’ll be bored out of your mind,” he said. “What are you going to do with yourself for days on end?”
“I don’t know, I think I could use a little peace for once. And there’s the skating rink.”
Rafael let out a snort. “I doubt that’s anything like you’re used to either.”
I resisted the urge to punch him. “Ishouldn’tbe skating anywhere like I used to. Mom will have her people monitoring all the nice rinks in the major cities—that’s the first place she’ll look. And I picked Hobb Creek specifically because for such a small town, it’s got a pretty nice arena. It’s not hyped up in a way Mom would notice, but I found a few people talking about how good it is on more obscure sites online.”
Rafael simply sighed. “And this house you’re thinking we’ll rent. It just happened to be available immediately?”
“It looked like the owner has been trying to rent it for a while.” I shot my bodyguard a pointed look. “Which is another good thing, because it shows that this town isn’t a happening spot in high demand. It won’t be on anyone’s radar, especially the Deadly Rose’s.”
At least, I sure as hell hoped it wasn’t.
“We’ll see what condition it’s in.” Rafael shifted his stance again, but rather than continuing his skeptical comments, he fell into silence.
His large frame looked a little squished even in the Grand Marquis’ spacious seat. Although in comparison to my Mini Coop, I’d bet he considered it a step up.
He’d appreciate it more when he wasn’t using it as a hotel room as well as a vehicle.
Maybe I did owe him a quick stretch break, though. My joints were starting to tingle with the need for a good stretch too.
I peered through the windshield at the tree-lined fields we were passing now, crops I couldn’t identify swaying in the gentle late-summer breeze. Where would be a good spot to pull over for a couple of minutes?
What I caught sight of first made my heart leap in my chest.
I jerked straighter in my seat. “Hey! Look, there’s the sign. We’re here!”
Rafael’s dark eyebrows rose, a gleam of relief in his burgundy eyes. "Hobb Creek, Ontario," he read. "I guess this is our new ‘home, sweet home.’" His soft-yet-steady baritone held the hint of a smile tucked away in it, though it didn’t show on his lips.
Typical Rafael. You could tell him he won the lottery, and I’d bet he wouldn’t crack a grin.
I had to admit, it was calming having him by my side. I’d never expected him to go on the run with me.
He was still the stone-faced man I’d known since I was ten years old, but if there was one reminder of my old life that I didn’t mind having with me, it was him. Nothing shook him. There was no one I’d ever been able to count on more.
He pushed himself up taller in the seat, and I let myself quietly appreciate the swell of muscles in his biceps while ignoring the itch in my fingers to touch them.
Maybe now that we’d be living together, he’d rethink his resistance to getting close in other ways.
I cruised past the sign, easing off the gas so we could get a good look at the town rather than speeding through it. “The house is on River Street. Watch for that.”
Pointed rooftops came into view up ahead. We drove past a smattering of houses and then along what was clearly the main street.
Several pedestrians strolled along the sidewalks. The storefronts on either side looked quaint, but the people themselves could have fit in back in Austin just fine. They hefted grocery bags, pushed strollers, or scrolled through their cellphones.
It reminded me a little of Sixth Street, only, y’know, a trillion times more rural. A pang of homesickness rang through my chest, but it was softened by a swell of hope.
I could be happy in a place like this, couldn’t I?
