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“I have to go,” Cash says into the phone. “Ari’s here. Let me know if you get any more information.”
A pause, and then, “Thank you. Yeah.” One corner of his mouth tips up. “I’ll ask her.” Another pause. “Okay. Bye.” Then he ends the call and slips the phone in his pocket.
“Ari, hun.” Cash walks over to me, looping his arm around my waist and kissing my cheek. “You don’t need to wait for an invitation to come in. You live here, too.”
I turn into his chest, wrapping my arms around him. “I didn’t want to interrupt if it was something important. And you looked upset. I wasn’t sure…”
His lips brush across the top of my head, lingering. “I’m not going to have any secret conversations in the kitchen. And I won’t keep secrets from you.” One hand strokes up and down my back. “I was frustrated, not upset.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“Want to?” Cash sighs. “Not really. But you should know, too.”
My stomach flips over. “What is it?”
“I was just on the phone with Cole. He spoke with the investigators and the police, and they found the source of the leak. There was a hole in the furnace flue pipe, and it was leaking carbon monoxide right into the house.”
“But what about the detectors? I know the house has them, and I checked all the batteries when the clocks changed.”
“The batteries were dead,” Cash says, his body tensing. “You’re sure you replaced them all?”
I pull back to look up at him. “I’m sure.”
“The police believe it was just an unfortunate accident.” His jaw clenches. “But…”
My voice rises. “You don’t?”
“I don’t know, Ari.” Cash cups my cheek, his gaze shadowing. “I want to believe it was a fluke. But I’d like to besure. So I’ve asked Blade and Arrow to do some more investigating.”
My good mood is definitely gone now. I hadn’t thought about the leak at my house as anything other than a scary accident, a faulty detector, a broken furnace—but hearing Cash talk about further investigation, my mind starts jumping to other terrifying possibilities.
Like Kyle sabotaging my carbon monoxide detectors and causing a leak.
“Hey. Don’t freak out,” Cash soothes, a bit too late. “Ari, it’s fine. I’m sorry. You’re here, you’re safe, and I’m probably just overreacting.”
He smiles, but it looks forced. “You’re not the only one who was scared yesterday. I’m sure I’m making something out of nothing.”
I’m not so surenow, but I appreciate him trying to defuse my worries.
And he has a point. I’ve never seen Cash that scared before. Not even when his grandmother fell off the front porch in high school and broke her hip—I was with him that day—and he looked worried, scared, but in control even at just seventeen.
But yesterday? When I saw Cash running toward the ambulance, he looked more than scared. He looked terrified.
So maybe I shouldn’t be quite so worried. I reassure him, “It’s okay, Cash. I’m not freaking out.”Much.
He searches my face, guilt and concern still shadowing his features. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I bare my teeth in a giant grin, teasing a smile out of him. “So let’s not talk about it anymore. What about dinner?”
“Well.” Cash leans down to kiss me softly. “Cole made a suggestion, and I was thinking it might be a good idea. He’s going out this evening with his fiancée, Maya, and one of his teammates, Leo, is bringing his new fiancée, Georgia. He asked if we wanted to meet up, play some pool or darts, just unwind a little.”
“Where?”
“The Hop-less Horseman. Have you been there? It’s pretty low key, not too crowded, and we could order some food there, too.” His eyes meet mine, questioning. “If you don’t feel comfortable going out, we can stay home. I just thought it might be nice for you to go somewhere that isn’t here or work.”
Part of me wants to say no, to stick with my original plan of dinner at home and then seducing Cash. And not going near the restaurant I was abducted from, which is only a couple blocks away from the Hop-less Horseman.
But then again, it would be nice to do something normal and couple-y with Cash. A date. To go out and meet his friends, have a beer, to do something normal instead of being controlled by this constant undercurrent of fear.
