“You know that guy?” Matt asked, his disbelief evident.
I nodded. “Yeah. I used to . . . work for him.” What else was I supposed to say? How to explain? I was engaged to his brother, but then I fell in love with him, then I got pregnant and told him I loved him. Then he left me. Yeah, not even I wanted to try and make sense of that pathetic story.
“What’s he doing here?”
Good question.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’m sure it’s nothing. He can just be a jerk, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you positive?” Matt asked. “Because I don’t mind waiting. I’ll follow you home, make sure everything’s all right.”
“I’m sure. It’ll be all right. I promise.” I smiled. “But thanks so much for wanting to stay and help.” Because it was nice of him. Matt was a nice guy, a good guy, and I didn’t take that for granted. Impulsively, I gave him a hug. He was hard and solid in my arms, hugging me back in the slightly awkward way of a big guy who was aware of his size and didn’t want to unthinkingly crush something much smaller than him.
I stepped back and Matt considered for a moment, studying me, then gave a reluctant nod. “Okay. If you say it’s all right, then I guess it is.”
“It is,” I reiterated.
Steve waved at me and I thanked him, too, watching as they got in their separate trucks and left.
I pondered just walking to my car and driving home, but that would only be delaying the inevitable. Best to see what Kade wanted and send him on his way. Then at least I’d get a decent night’s sleep.
Fat chance of that happening, I thought with a sigh, heading back inside.
Kade had moved to the windows of the pub, startling me as I opened the door to go back inside.
“Were you watching me?” I asked sharply, my eyes narrowing.
“No,” he said flatly. “I was watching the quarterback.”
Before I could retort, the music suddenly got louder.
“What the hell is that?” Kade asked over the strains of Florence and the Machine.
I sighed. “Danny likes to turn up the music after closing and sing while he cleans the kitchen.”
Kade’s eyebrows flew up. “He sings this?”
I laughed unexpectedly at the look on Kade’s face. “No. He likes me to sing, too.” It had become our little ritual, Danny and me. Once he’d heard me singing to myself, he decided that belting tunes out after closing was a great way to “clean out the old pipes,” as he put it. Once everyone was gone, he’d put on different music and turn it up. It was fun and helped pass the time while I finished my work. Sometimes he came out and we’d sing something together before we locked up.
Kade didn’t say anything to that, his eyes searching mine. I liked the song playing, had once listened to it all the time, but now it made me think of Kade, which just tore me to pieces.
I sighed, exhaustion overtaking me. It had been a long day.
“Why are you here?” I asked, passing a hand tiredly across my eyes. “What do you want?”
He didn’t answer immediately, and when I finally glanced up, he was frowning, his brows drawn sharply together.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said. “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be with Blane.”
If he’d said he wanted me to dye my hair purple and dance the hula, I couldn’t have been more surprised. My mouth hung open until I finally closed it with a snap.
“I’m what?” I hissed, feeling the anger rising inside me. Had I heard him correctly?
“You’re supposed to be with Blane,” he repeated.
“I’m supposed to be with Blane? Are you kidding me?” I was fuming now. Deciding I’d better do something else before I flew at Kade in a rage, I spun on my heel and started stacking chairs on tables. The morning crew did the sweeping, so the night crew just had to get things ready.
“No, I’m not kidding you,” he retorted. “Blane—”
I whirled, cutting him off. “If you say that again, so help me God, I’m going to throw this chair at your head.”
The idea that I might actually hurt Kade was laughable, but he shut up, his lips pressing into a thin line as his eyes narrowed.
I turned away and resumed my task. After a moment, I saw Kade in my peripheral vision, copying my movements and stacking chairs on tables. Sooner than it would have taken me to do alone, it was done.
The lights went out, leaving just the ones by the bar lit. I figured Danny must be about done in the kitchen. Sure enough, I’d just gone to get my purse from under the bar when he poked his head out.
“I’m finished back here!” he called. “See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Danny!” I hollered back. He went out the back way and locked up, while I took care of the front. Kade followed in silence.
I walked stiffly to my car, drawing from my energy reserves, which were dangerously low. Gravel crunched under our feet, ratcheting up the tension lodged between my shoulder blades. When I got to my car, I took a deep breath before I turned around to face him.
“Listen, Kade,” I said, “you made it damn clear that you want nothing to do with me, or the baby. So you should just leave. You’re pretty good at that.” And if my voice held more than a trace of bitterness, I thought it was my due.
Kade’s face was stark in the harsh light of the streetlamp in the lot. If I hadn’t known him and had happened to bump into him like this, I’d have turned and run in the opposite direction. The hard edge to him that had been so prominent when we’d first met was back with a vengeance, a malevolence that made a chill creep down my spine.
He took a step closer, but I stood my ground. I’d never let Kade intimidate me into backing down before, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to do it now. He was so close, I could feel the heat from his body, though we didn’t touch.
“I’m here to do something else I’m pretty good at,” he said roughly, the deep blue of his eyes seeming unfathomable.
I swallowed. Hard. I wasn’t proud of the images that flashed through my mind then or the way my body was exulting in how close he was. The slight breeze stirred, sending a waft of his scent my way. A shaft of pain flashed through me even as a shiver of arousal whispered across my skin. I bit my lip against the moan that wanted to crawl from my throat.
“And what’s that?” I managed to ask, my voice mortifyingly breathless.
“Keeping you alive.”
CHAPTER TEN
Kade followed me home, something I didn’t really have a choice in. I hadn’t asked what he’d meant by his reference to keeping me alive, and didn’t want to know. I’d had enough worrying about those who were intent on physically hurting me. At the moment, I was much more concerned about my emotional well-being.
The gravel road was long and dark, the beams from my headlights cutting through the blackness. I’d left my porch light on, though, so I didn’t have to find my way to the front door in the dark.
I didn’t look around when I unlocked the door. The crunch of Kade’s boots as he walked through the gravel made it impossible to miss his approach. My hands trembled and I had to fuss with the key more than usual before it finally turned in the lock.
I walked through the living room, pausing to flip on a light once I reached the kitchen. It was a country kitchen, homey with lots of light oak cabinets and trim, and I liked it a lot. I dropped my purse on the counter and went to the little laundry room down the short hallway that led to the garage to shuck my shoes. I took off my apron and socks, too, then tossed them into the washing machine for later. When I returned to the kitchen, I saw Kade taking everything in.