Page 31 of Tangled Up In You

A small smile played around his lips. "That's true. One for the road?"

"Goodnight, Adam." She gave him a gentle shove into the hallway and followed him back down the stairs. When he'd left the building, she locked the doors and set the alarm and then returned to the apartment. She headed straight for the kitchen. She needed more tea, so she could hopefully calm down enough to sleep. Despite her bravado with Adam, she was not looking forward to the night ahead of her.

Rituals, she reminded herself. She'd act just like she had when she was a little girl: finish her tea, brush her teeth, change into PJ's, play some calming music, and maybe leave the lights on like she'd done when her mom was out late at night, when she was alone and the shadows seemed like monsters. Unfortunately, the burglar was real and far more dangerous than an imaginary monster. She needed to figure out what he was looking for, and she needed to do that soon.

ChapterNine

Adam didn't sleepat all Saturday night, waking up Sunday in a bad mood. He'd felt out of sync since he'd gotten injured, but it was Molly's arrival that had really thrown him off. He needed to stay away from her. She was sexy. She was beautiful. She kissed like a goddamned dream, but she was not for him. She was too impulsive, too reckless, too into woo-woo stuff that he didn't believe in.

When he'd dropped her off last night, he'd told himself to say goodbye and mean it, but then someone had crashed through her back door and made it clear that Molly had real trouble on her hands.

How could he walk away from her when she needed help?

Someone was after something, and he needed to figure out what that something was before Molly got hurt.

While the intruder had been happy to break in when no one was in the shop, the level of desperation might increase as Molly upped the level of security. There was a small window of time where the shop was still vulnerable, and that provided the best opportunity for another run at the store.

He got up, took a shower, and dressed. He wasn't in a real rush since Drew was hiking this morning, so he didn't have to worry about getting breakfast for anyone but himself. As he was about to head down to the kitchen, his phone rang. It was Brodie. "Hey, what's up?"

"I was going to ask you that. Drew was supposed to be here at eight-thirty. It's eight-fifty. Is he coming?"

"Damn! I thought he left awhile ago. I told him to leave by eight. Hold on."

He walked down the hall and threw open the door to Drew's room. The kid was fast asleep, sprawled diagonally across his bed, his computer open beside him. Judging by the empty energy- drink cans on the floor, he'd been up half the night on his computer. There was no way Drew was going to make the hike.

He turned his attention back to the phone. "Sorry, Brodie. He's still asleep."

"No problem. We'll catch him another time."

He slid his phone into his pocket, then kicked the door shut behind him, enjoying the startled groan that Drew let out. He followed up by opening the curtains and letting the sun hit Drew right in the eyes.

"What the—" Drew put up a hand against the bright sunlight. "What are you doing?"

"It's morning, Drew. You were supposed to meet my friend Brodie for a hike, remember?"

"What time is it?"

"It's almost nine. I made an effort to get you a spot on the trip, and you bailed. That's not cool."

"I forgot to set my alarm," Drew grumbled. "It's not a big deal."

"Itisa big deal. You agreed to go. You made a commitment."

"So, what? Are you kicking me out? Sending me home? Your duty is done?" Drew challenged, anger now burning in his sleepy eyes.

He had a feeling Drew wanted him to say yes, that he wanted to be kicked out, that he needed someone to blame. "Is that why you didn't set your alarm?" he challenged. "Because you could have just said no to the hike."

"Dude, I just forgot. Why are you being such a hard-ass?"

He blew out a breath of annoyance. He was being a hard-ass, and he was annoyed with both Drew and himself. "I'm going to make breakfast. Why don’t you take a shower and then join me?" He didn't wait for an answer.

As he headed to the kitchen, he wasn't completely sure Drew would join him for the meal, but he needed to do something productive. He also had to try to talk to Drew. They had yet to have any kind of conversation that hadn't turned antagonistic. They couldn't spend the next two months like this. Maybe he could find a way to communicate over pancakes. From what he'd seen so far, the best time to get Drew's attention was when he was stuffing his face.

An hour later, Drew entered the kitchen. He had showered, but he still had a sullen expression on his face.

Adam was sure he'd taken as long as he possibly could, but hunger had probably provided the final impetus. He pulled the food out of the oven where he'd been keeping it warm and set it on the kitchen table. He was actually starving, but he'd wanted to wait for Drew. Thankfully, he'd shown up before lunchtime.

For several minutes, they just ate. He wanted to have a conversation, but he didn't want to do it while they were both hungry. When he'd finished his pancakes, he set down his fork and said, "I want to apologize, Drew. I was disappointed that you'd missed the hike. I thought you would have enjoyed meeting people your age."

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