I’d never forget it and I’d always be thankful for it.
I drank my beer. Luke drank his. I put the empty bottle on the pub set and watched the movie.
Then I fel asleep cuddled into Luke.
*
“Babe,” Luke said low. I opened my eyes and looked up.
He’d reclined on the couch and I was tucked into his side, my back against the couch, my head on his chest.
“Bed,” Luke said.
I nodded.
We got up and he walked to the door taking me with him, arm around my shoulders. He stopped at the door, kissed my nose and looked at me a beat. I bit my lip.
“Jules,” he said.
“Yeah?” I asked.
He stared at me a moment before answering. “I was He stared at me a moment before answering. “I was playin’ a game,” he told me.
It was my turn to stare at him. Somehow that hurt and I didn’t need any more of that. I had way, way too much of that.
“Now,” he went on, “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doin’.” Oh my God.
Neither of us said anything. There wasn’t anything to say.
Then without another word, he was gone.
I locked the door behind him, armed the alarm and got ready for bed in the bathroom.
I settled in bed, Boo curled into the smal of my back.
I felt sadness seep through me, no anticipation, no hope.
I knew Vance wasn’t breaking in.
I worried about Luke and me. I liked him, he was cool and he was funny and in an alternate universe I knew something would have happened.
It couldn’t, not now.
I was in love with Vance.
How did that happen?
I lay in bed knowing I was hugely fucked. Somehow my life had gone total y out of control. The Fortnum’s gang of Rock Chicks had adopted me. The Nightingale Investigation Team had accepted me. Luke wanted me.
And al of this had Vance tied up in it and that hurt me.
I definitely needed to round up Roam and Sniff and get my ass to Nicaragua.
I pul ed a pil ow to my stomach, hugged it close and tilted my head to stare at the moonlight.
With effort I forced my mind to stil .
Then I fel asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Hush
I was certain I was awake though I hadn’t opened my eyes and I knew with a sleepy body scan that I couldn’t be.
There was heat at my back and a weight on my hip. It was ful -on heat, definitely not Boo. I snuggled backwards into it figuring if I was going to have a good dream, I was going to go for the gusto.
The weight at my hip moved, slid up to my waist then down, curling around my bel y. The heat behind me was solid. Both I knew were no dream.
My eyes opened.
Then I turned.
Vance was in bed with me.
He was awake, very awake and staring at me, face blank. I was also now very awake and staring at him, face probably not blank.
My heart had stopped. I felt something crawling through my system, something weird, good mingled with bad.
Fear and hope.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
I had turned within his arm. It was stil around my waist, hand curled into my hip against the bed. When I asked my question, his fingers bit into my hip as they tightened.
“Had duty in the surveil ance room last night,” was Vance’s mysterious answer.
I blinked at him. Then I remembered.
Oh my God.
The cameras.
How in the hell was I always forgetting the cameras?
“Crowe –” I started, my heart beating now, double time.
“I did not like what I saw,” Vance interrupted me, his voice underlining his words and a shiver slithered across my skin at his tone.
“Crowe –” I began again.
“He touches you again, there’s gonna be a problem.” The tone of his voice, if it could be believed, was deteriorating and I got the distinct impression there already was a problem.
Um.
Yikes.
“Crowe –” I tried again.
“I want to know you understand me,” Vance kept going.
“Crowe –”
“Do you understand me?” he asked. He sounded supremely pissed off now and edging toward impatient.
“Please listen to me –” I started.
“None of it. Watchin’ TV together. You curled up to him on the couch and definitely not his tongue in your fuckin’
mouth and his hands up your fuckin’ shirt.” His voice was getting dangerous or, I should say, more dangerous and his face was no longer blank.
“If you’d just –”
“Jules, do you fucking understand me?” He was keeping his control but I could tel just barely. I could tel this because his eyes had gone hard and his mouth had gone tight.
That was it.
I sat up and shouted, “Shut up, Crowe!” He came up with me, face like thunder, eyes flashing and I knew he was ready to blow.
One look at his face and I thought, fuck it. It was now or never.
I stood next to my barking, snarling Rottweiler, ripped the plastic off a big, huge, juicy steak with a thick, meaty bone in and threw it to him. He nabbed it in mid-air, settled down and started gnawing.
Then I pounced.
And final y I surprised Vance Ouray Crowe.
In the beginning he thought I was going to fight him.