Page 12 of The Broken Note

“No reward.” She shifts in her chair. “But I never would have thought of that place if not for you.”

“There’s a ‘thank you’ somewhere in there.”

“Maybe,” she concedes.

I lean over her.

She sweeps her eyes closed and puckers her lips. Her mouth is the color of strawberries and I want to suck the life out of them.

You won’t be able to stop if you kiss her now.

I tap her nose with my thumb and reach for the seatbelt. “Buckle up, Brahms.”

Her eyes burst open and she flushes. “I’ll do it myself.”

“Too late.” I snap the seatbelt into place, pleased.

She thought I was going to kiss her.

Shewantedme to kiss her.

And I will.

After we’ve found her sister.

I toss her my phone. “Call Finn and let him know where we’re headed.”

“Please.”

“Please for what?” I start the car and watch the speedometer needle climb.

She folds her arms over her chest. “I’m not your servant. I’m not that guy you bribed at the pharmacy.”

“I didn’t bribe him—”

“You asked me for a favor.” Her eyebrows knit. “You need my help. Even if you’re barking, say please.”

“Please.”

She huffs, “Was that so hard?”

I force my eyes back to the road because she’s sexy when she’s angry.

She’s sexy when she’s happy.

She’s plain freaking sexy and it gets on my last damn nerves.

I clear my throat as I listen to her one-sided conversation with Finn. The call doesn’t last long. Finn isn’t much of a conversationalist.

“They said they’ll meet us there.” Cadey hands the phone back to me.

I nod.

We don’t say much on the way, but I notice her tapping her leg and watching every movement outside her window as we near the sanctuary.

The park is dark with only a couple solar lights planted like rocks in the soil. There’s something creepy and other-worldly about the tall, monstrous trees clawing at us with their branches.

“Watch your step,” I tell Brahms, taking her hand as she tries to maneuver the terrain in flip-flops.

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