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“We’re driving.”
“Driving?” Her jaw dropped. “That has to be three thousand miles.”
“A bit more, actually, but yeah.”
She couldn’t read a damn thing on his face. He couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t be trapped in a car with him for days on end. “This is your grand plan?”
“I sold off everything I could and shipped what I could to the Heron. The rest is in my truck, including you.”
Like she was luggage? “And you didn’t think to pick up the phone or come over here and discuss that with me?”
“What’s to discuss? All we have is the Heron. We’re in the same pile of shit, babe. While you were wining and dining with Kain, I was taking care of business.”
“So you’re just pulling up stakes?” Kain asked. His quiet voice dried up all the venom she was tempted to spew.
For the first time, a hint of emotion touched Shane’s face. “I don’t have a choice, brother.” He grinned, and his whole face changed. It softened him, and his eyes actually crinkled at the corners. “You’ll just have to make sure to come visit me, Daddy Warbucks.”
“Oh, don’t start calling me that.”
The smile slowly slid away. “I talked to the men and to Gerry. They’re all glad that they’re going back to work next week.”
“I told your father I’d take care of them.”
Realization that more than just her life had changed radically sank in. As much as she hated Lawrence Justice for what he’d done to her, she’d at least had her mother to lean on. Shane had no one. And he was going across the country to start over. A strange place and a strange woman were now the center of his life. She took her bags in one hand and rounded the island. She didn’t know how to deal with the flood of new feelings.
She didn’t have a choice but to walk by Shane.
He grabbed her wrist before she could pass him. The grip wasn’t hard, but he definitely wasn’t letting her by. She looked up at him.
“I’m going to try and make this as painless as possible for both of us.”
Not sure what to say or what to do, she nodded and tugged. He held on for another moment, his thumb brushing over the center of her palm before he let go. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the truck. I promise.”
“Damn right we will.” She stopped in the doorway, looked back at Kain, and mustered up a smile. “Thanks for entertaining me, Kain.”
“I think you have that backward, `ânela.”
Kain had made sure her days were so full that she didn’t have time to think about what Shane was doing, but he couldn’t control her nights. Her body ached for something she’d never had before. It wasn’t like she and Shane had been close, but her body certainly craved him. She felt empty and itchy. The musky amber scent of him had those hints of cedar again.
He smelled of wood and autumn and home.
Of all the things she loved and wanted to hold close.
What a cruel trick of fate. She held her head up and went through the living room and up the stairs. She needed to pack. It was time for everything to change.
Again.
She tossed her bags on her bed. How long would it take to go cross-country? Trapped in a confined space with Shane and his Oscar impersonation was not what she’d call a good time. Would it be any cheaper to drive than fly? Remembering her bank account’s status as well as her credit cards, she definitely didn’t have any choice but to be at his mercy.
That made her belly cramp.
She took care of her own. She didn’t like to be beholden to anyone, and yet here she was. Beholden to a near stranger who knew her more intimately than anyone else and yet didn’t know the real her at all.
She snapped that particular box of ugly shut and dumped the clothes she’d bought out of the bag. Two pairs of cords, long-sleeved T-shirts in an array of colors she’d never thought to choose for herself—thank you, personal shopper chick—two pairs of jeans, one she was wearing, along with half a dozen bras with matching panties. Had she bought them for herself? Or just in case Shane got her naked again?
No. For herself. She happened to like pretty undergarments, dammit.
She folded the oversize fleece she’d picked up thanks to the cool nights in Monterey. She’d make do with what she had and get her ass home. Then she could figure out what to do with Shane and the Heron. Her phone buzzed, and she dug it out of her pocket. Bells. Her finger hovered on the Answer button when a knock on her door made her pause. She tapped Ignore and stuffed it back in her pocket. “Yeah?”
