Page 20 of Critical Strike

“Yes.” Her voice sounded funny. Did she always talk like she couldn’t pronounce words right?

“I’ll take Khan out and look for any problems. How about you take a shower?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

The hot water had her feeling somewhat human again. She didn’t linger, unsure of how long Luke would be gone.

She made a face as she put back on yesterday’s clothes. She’d gotten out with the computer drive and Khan.

And her life. She’d just have to be thankful enough for that.

She came out of the bathroom and found Luke standing at the window, peeking at the parking lot through the curtains.

Khan meowed at the sight of Claire, except he didn’t come to her. He rubbed against Luke’s legs.

“Wow.” Claire stared. “I’ve never seen him do that to anyone but me.”

“I got him some beef jerky from the gas station.” Luke’s smile made her stomach do a flip, despite her traitorous cat.

Claire kept on rubbing her hair with the towel, even though it had never been thick enough to take long to dry. Her hands just needed something to do.

“What now?” she asked.

The smile disappeared, his lips drawing into a thin line. “We keep moving. First, we’ll need to make a stop to buy some stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need another change of clothes, if possible.”

“Me, too. And some other stuff. We can stop at a superstore. I have some cash.”

She grimaced. “I’m going to keep a list of what I owe you.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

“It is to me.”

He was already doing so much for her that she’d never be able to pay him for. Case in point, sleeping in a chair and watching over her so she could get the rest she needed. What was the price tag on that?

She would damn well pay back what she could. The idea that he possibly thought she was using him crushed her.

“Okay.” He nodded, his brown eyes still somber. “If it’s important to you, you can keep track and pay me back.”

“Thank you.”

He respected her feelings. That meant more to her than he could know.

He led her back out to his truck, opening the door for her. Khan jumped in and she climbed in behind him.

“Where are we going to go?”

Luke started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. “I spent a lot of time thinking last night.”

While he was guarding her. “Thank you for letting me rest.”

He glanced at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. “You needed it.”

Her hopes sank. That wasn’t anywhere close to a romantic declaration, not that she’d been expecting one. But she needed to face the facts that maybe this attraction was completely one-sided.

“What were you thinking about last night?”

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