Page 40 of Legal

“That was… never mind,” I said, glancing around. What if more of Daniel’s friends were around? I was a little weirded out at the moment. What if they noticed Chase and me together? He was only a few years older than them. Oh, God, what if I’d caved in? I couldn’t even imagine someone catching us looking a little too friendly together and reporting it back to Daniel.

“Are you okay?” That was up for debate, but I nodded. “I thought you ended up leaving without me. You weren’t where I left you.”

“Sorry about that. These lines were shorter. But you know”—I did another scan around me—“I would like to leave.”

“Now?”

“Yes, and I really don’t need an escort. I’m fine. You can stay. I’m a big girl; I’m perfectly capable of seeing myself home.”

“Like hell.”

“Like hell I’m a big girl, or like hell I’m capable?”

He sighed. I wasn’t trying to be difficult if that’s what he thought. I just didn’t want anyone to see us. Until I ran into Ben, the possibility of who could be lurking about hadn’t even occurred to me.

“I’m walking you home, and I don’t want you giving me shit about it, Jillian.” I saluted him, not in the mood to lock horns. As long as we left, I was good. The sky was growing darker by the minute. It had to be almost nine. “Let’s go grab your stuff and we’ll head out.”

“You don’t have to talk to your friends first?”

“I already did.”

We went back to the grassy area, navigating through chemical clouds and hopping over people. I relentlessly smacked at mosquitoes and wondered if I needed to spray myself down just to make it out alive.

I wrapped one of the blankets around me like a shawl and Chase carried the rest. He steered me out by my arm, and once we made it to the pavement, the little bloodsuckers left us alone.

The walk home left me somewhat in a zone, and by the time we entered my driveway, it was fully dark. I glanced down to see what had me feeling really, really good.

“Have we been doing that the whole time?” I asked, commenting on my hand encased in his.

He laughed. “Yeah, pretty much. I couldn’t have you stumbling and falling down on the sidewalk, could I?”

“Did we talk?”

I must have appeared a complete ditz asking those questions, but I really couldn’t remember much. It’d felt like the entire walk home was in a mind-numbing fog.

“Nothing I can repeat. I don’t want to get slapped.”

Holy shit. What did I say? He touched my mouth; I assumed to close it, but his touch had the opposite effect. It made me want to force it open wider.Better to swallow you up, my dear.

“I’m kidding, Jillian.” He stroked my cheek briefly before removing his fingers. “No, we didn’t talk much at all. You were lost in your own world.”

“What about the car?” It was something that just popped in my head. “I’m figuring you all drove together.”

“I gave Con my keys. He’s the responsible one of the two. Either I’ll walk back up there, or I’ll have him pick me up when they leave.” He smiled. “It all depends on how long I’m needed here.”

In the safety of my private driveway, in the dark of night, I could come up with plenty of ways he’d be needed. “They don’t mind that you took off on them?”

“Nah. They were in the process of hooking up with some women when I found them. They’re plenty occupied.”

“And you didn’t want to be part of that?” I wasn’t asking because of a weird jealousy thing; I was just curious. He saw me home, knowing that he might not get anything in return when he could have found a little something in the beer tent. I didn’t want to hold him back.

He gave me a strange look. “No, I came tonight for you.”

Maybe I should make it worth his while then? I might have giggled just a little thinking about it. I wasn’t even sure. He rubbed his eyebrows and shook his head a little. He probably thought I was a total whack-a-mole.

The wheels turned another crank. Hmm… Maybe hedidcount on getting lucky with me tonight. He did hand over his car keys before he knew I wanted to leave early. The little fucker was planning on being alone with me, even after the fireworks. I knew it. But whether or not he was betting on his dick joining the party remained undetermined. I could just ask him—he seemed honest enough. But when it came down to it, did I really care?

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

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