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His head fell forward, his forehead resting against mine as the smile on his face grew wide. “I guess we gave them fish something to talk about.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes at him.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Callum
If I were struck down dead at this moment, I would die happy. Alina and I lay half-naked on the blanket, our heads resting together in silence, staring up at the stars.
Her little body was wrapped up in my shirt, hanging down past that sweet little ass of hers. I loved how it looked on her.
“Want to hear something funny?” Alina asked.
I rolled onto my side, taking all of her in while waiting to listen.
“Sometimes, I would go outside in the dark after a nightmare and look for stars, imagining you were doing the same thing. I felt safe, even though I was completely alone.”
Her confession surprised me, not just because of her thinking of me after everything that happened, but because I had done something similar, wondering where she was. Even in the great expanse of the sky, there could have been a moment we were both looking at the sky with a glimmer of hope and connection to show we were still deep-seated by some invisible string between our two hearts.
“You were never alone. I promise you that.”
Once the air was too chilled for us to stay out, we packed up the picnic and climbed back into my car. Alina was quiet for a long time during the ride. I squeezed her hand resting on mine. Turning to face me, she offered a faraway smile.
“Oh, hell.” My eyes flicked from her face to the rearview mirror, where the flash of blue and red illuminated, then back to her. Fear gripped her as she panicked, watching the side mirror. “It’s all right, darlin’.” I squeezed her hand before releasing it to flick the turn signal lever before pulling over.
“Were you speeding?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
I eased the car to a stop, and the hairs on my neck prickled as I wound down my window. Digging through my pocket, I pulled out my wallet holding my driver’s license.
Two cops climbed out of their car, both with flashlight beams breaking through the semidarkness. They separated and flanked either side of my car.
“Callum McArthur? Is that you?”
Once I shielded my eyes from the flashlight, Buck’s cheeky wide smile greeted me, and I relaxed. But beside me, Alina was still tensed.
Buck’s partner was shining his light inside the car, highlighting Alina’s naked legs.
“Hey, Buck. Is there a problem?”
“Seen a car coming out of the Juniper’s intersection. So, we thought we’d better check it out. Lots of young ones go up there, you know, up to no good and that sort of thing.” He waggled his eyebrows at me before they widened, finally taking in Alina’s and my state of undress.
Alina sat nervously in my shirt on her side of the car, tugging on it as she attempted to conceal more of her skin. I wore only my jeans so that we could complete a dry outfit between us.
“Who you got in there with you, Callum?”
Alina squinted when she was blasted with the full beam of light.
We had been to school with Buck. He was about as sharp as a box full of rocks but generally harmless.
“Alina Simpson, well, as I live and breathe, I thought you’d inherited your momma’s standing in this town and was on the highway to the cuckoo house.”
At his rude remark, my skin prickled. Contempt at his disrespect and lack of professionalism fueled my need to defend her.
“Oh, hi, Buck. You’re a cop now?” Alina crossed her arms while a smile crossed her mouth. “Huh. Growing up, I remember you being more interested in breaking the law, and now, here we are, you’ve got a job and one that is to uphold it at that.”
“Yeah, well, people change,” Buck answered a little too defensively, sliding his flashlight back into this belt.
