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Still, I stowed my phone and tried to chill.
I was losing my mind, but so long as she was safe, it didn’t matter.
Chapter 22
Ariel
Daisy blew a strand of hair from her eyes, white paint across her nose from a previous attempt. “You’re sleeping together, then?”
“Not exactly, though technically he stayed in my bed. And there were…shenanigans prior to that.”
She grinned. “My favourite thing in the whole world.”
I chewed my lip. Around us, paint dried on the walls. It had taken me a hot minute to bring myself to talk about Jackson. Daisy had been patient, waiting me out, though it was obvious I had more to say than just about the trackers he found this morning.
For some reason, now I’d started, my words about him dried up again, just like the paint.
“Any further news on Mia?” I asked instead.
“I offered her the job. She was thrilled but needs to find somewhere to live for her and her daughter and that’s a problem. There aren’t many options around here, and she has to leave her current home.”
“Right. Because of the trouble she’s in. Did she explain any more about that?”
“Nope. I liked her enough to trust that she isn’t a bad person and I didn’t want to pry.”
I’d got that sense, too. “So they need a little house. Maybe there’s someplace in the village?”
“Ben’s talking to Gordain about it. Apparently there are some old cottages out the other way from the hangar. He started repairs but needs a concentrated effort to make them liveable. He’ll ask for volunteers,” she explained. “Okay. Back to your news. Did you like what you and Jackson did together?”
“God, yes.”
“Do you want to do it again but you’re worried about asking?”
I pointed at her with my paintbrush. “Yes! Exactly that. How did you know?”
“Because it’s hard giving yourself over to someone like that. It takes either trust or a complete surrendering to the moment. You don’t fall into that last category, at least not when it comes to people, so it’s nice to know you trust him.”
“That part’s easy. He’s been vetted already by my brother and Ben. They both like him.”
There was also the fact Jackson was slowly opening up to me. I was dying to know what had happened with his family, but at the same time, receiving that amount of information felt almost dangerous, though I had no idea why.
“Is there any point where trusting someone too much becomes a bad thing?” I asked.
“Only if they’re a bad person who turns that around and uses it against you. Like you know all their secrets, therefore you’re now also responsible for fixing them.”
Jackson didn’t fall into that category. He didn’t rely on anyone as far as I could see.
“I like him as your sexploration buddy,” my friend said.
“Say that word again?”
“Sexploration. Sexplore him until you’re both exhausted.”
I laughed and dipped my brush in the paint, continuing on down the line of masking tape. We’d made good progress, and the paint had gone on nicely, only the edges left to finish. When we were done, there were cookies waiting, cooling on a tray downstairs.
A knock echoed through the house.
Both Daisy and I went still.
