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“Yes, Buck. They do.” She deadpanned.
I bit my lip, holding in the proud smile trying to burst out.
Buck stepped back from the side of the car, cocking his head back toward their vehicle as he made eye contact with his partner.
“Well, you folks have a good night then.”
“Nice seeing you, Buck,” Alina called after him as he took another step back before heading toward his unit.
At her words, he faltered before making haste back to the squad car.
“It’s no wonder I fucking love you.” No longer able to contain the smile, I let my lips split into a beaming smile directed at Alina.
If she ever doubted her strength, she should call on this moment as evidence she was stronger than she’d ever given herself credit for. I turned away from her as her eyes grew wide, but she said nothing. Instead, I flicked on the signal, checked the side mirror, pulling back onto the road.
* * *
When we got back to the estate, neither of us moved from the car. I had shut off the engine and with it, the heater.
Alina had been lost in thought ever since we’d been let go by Buck. I had grown used to her moments of silence—they’d become a norm for us—and I tried not to get uneasy about where her thoughts were taking her or let the possibility of doubt from her thoughts creep into mine.
Before I spoke to her, my phone rang from my pocket. The tone snapped Alina back to the present, her eyes meeting mine as I pushed up for better access to my pocket. Her eyes fell on my phone and my fingers when I slid to cancel the call. It wasn’t anything I was prepared to deal with right now. The look of concern on Alina’s face filled me with guilt.
“Well.” I slid my phone back into my pocket while Alina continued to study me. “We should get inside out of the cold.”
Alina helped carry the things from our picnic inside without a word. Not until everything was packed away did she turn to me. Her silence up until then had become disconcerting, given the fun we’d had by the river.
“I’m going up to take a shower.”
“Everything all right, Alina?” I stopped her from moving past me by sliding my arm around her waist.
She froze on contact, with her whole body going rigid in my arm. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Her smile was forced when she dragged her eyes up to meet mine.
Something was bothering her, something had happened, and I had missed it.
“I don’t know. Maybe because since we left the river, you haven’t said a word to me, and you’ve barely been able to look at me.” With my free hand, I captured her chin, holding her face in position to meet my eyes. “Alina, talk to me.”
“It’s nothing. I really just want to go and have a shower and get into bed. I’ll see you later, okay?”
I dropped my hands, freeing her from the cage of my arms after her words stung with rejection. “Okay, yeah. I’ll show myself out, shall I?”
I didn’t wait for her answer, and she didn’t stop me. Instead, I turned to leave as she made her way up the stairs.
I sped out of there without a clue of what had just happened and without asking any questions about how we’d gotten here.
* * *
As soon as I got home, I grabbed my phone that had been dumped on the seat next to me. I played the voicemail before I hit the redial button.
“Callum!”
Her excitement grated on my nerves. Tilly McLean and I had dated briefly, casually,very casually,and I thought we’d had a mutual understanding of what our relationship was going to be. The multiple phone calls and sexy photo messages had me believing otherwise. I’d broken it off with her a while ago, and it was beginning to really piss me off that the message had not gotten through. I couldn’t spell it out any simpler for her.
“What do you want, Tilly?” I asked dryly, disinterest filling my tone.
“I, well, you see…” For the first time, she was at a loss for words. It was surprising, to say the least, because the woman still attempted to form a sentence with my cock in her mouth.
“Spit it out, for Christ’s sake.”
