Page 104 of Exposé

Watching you.

Following.

Keeping tabs.

"I got a call from a friend for a quick repair around the corner. I needed to take a breather..." my smile broadened. "If you know what I mean."

She grimaced. "You got that all done in an hour?"

"Less than." I pocketed my phone. "Want me to walk you to your car?"

She looked around me as if checking out my ass, our gazes clashing, making my heart stumble. "Where are your tools?"

"I didn't need any. He had them. He couldn't quite get the seal right on the toilet." I moved and slid my arm over her shoulder, and she jerked out of my arms with a look of disgust. "Don't worry." I held out my hands for her to see. "I wore gloves,andI washed them before coming out here."

Ava raised both brows and laughed. "Sorry."

I wrapped my arm around her for a second time, and she sank into me. My body absorbed her warmth as I kissed her forehead. "I get it."

We walked down the sidewalk, and she steered me towards her car, where I'd been before changing the battery on her useless tracker.

The agency really needed to up their budget for new ones.

Her hand slipped my arm off of her shoulder with a gentle smile.

I sighed, stopping her in the parking lot. "Okay, what gives?"

"What do you mean?"

"First, on Sunday night at the festival, you grew cold and took off, and then now. Do you have a dislike for affection?"

She drew in a deep breath, her arms crossed over her chest, her bag hanging from her hand. Her breasts plumped up, drawing my attention, my mind reliving the night with my face between them. "It's not that, but in a way, yes." She gave me a disarming smile. "I have a way of keeping people at arm's length."

"You don't say..." I laughed and nudged her.

She smiled, and heat fired her cheeks into a cherry-red. "Hey, it's a serious condition."

"I believe you."

"Seriously." She kicked at the ground, her arms tightening around her. "I should get therapy, but it's been with me for solong it's practically a part of me now." She let out a hollow laugh and looked away, the unease bleeding off her as though she'd torn out her own heart and stomped on it for me.

A pang hit my chest, and the laughter died away as I tipped her chin up with my knuckle. "Hey. It's fine. We all have our quirks."

The hum of passing cars filled the pause between us, and I let the silence settle.

Her shoulders dropped ever so slightly. “Quirks.” She looked up, a hint of a wry grin tugging at her lips. “That’s a polite way of putting it.”

I lowered my hands and tucked them into my pockets. “I mean… I’m not going anywhere.”

Unless my orders change...

She shifted her weight, her guard wavering, and the bag at her side swung, making a soft, hollow sound. “You should know my walls don’t crumble easily.”

I nodded. “Then I’ll just… wait at the gate.” Our eyes clashed with a steadiness that had my feet cemented to the ground.

Where the hell did that come from?

Ava and I both came from damaged backgrounds, neither one comparable to the other, but damaged all the same.

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