Page 17 of Cream and Punishment
He seemed to take this as an invitation to walk out together, since he caught up to me in a few strides. Curse his long, muscular legs. Again.
“When you said you had the sleep schedule of a senior citizen, I thought you just went to bed early. Didn’t realize you also woke up before the sun.”
“Yep.”
Man, was I being rude? That sounded rude. He didn’t deserve that, especially from me, of all people.
“I work the opening shift at the bakery, so I have to get up crazy early every day.” I sent him a curious look, plodding down the stairs beside him. “What areyoudoing awake this early? You don’t have to be in to the field office until eight-ish, right?”
“Right.” He offered a sheepish smile as he held the door open for me. “This is when I work out. I’ve always been a morning person, and this guarantees I can exercise without distractions.”
I popped my umbrella open against the onslaught of rain. “Are there even any gyms open at this time?”
He shrugged, lifting his hood up over his head. “Most open at six, but I go to a twenty-four-hour one. Fits better with the unpredictable hours of the job.”
I paused, the raindrops hitting against my umbrella and jarring my hand. “But don’t some of your stings and surveillance and time-sensitive cases have you working, like, forty-eight hours straight sometimes? When do you sleep?”
He smiled, digging his keys out of his pocket. “Worried about me, Dekker?”
I sputtered. “N-no, I—well—actually, yes. Iamworried.”
If the guy died of sleep deprivation before I could even the karmic scales, I didn’t know how I’d live with myself. Plus, I wasn’theartless. I cared if he took care of himself, if he was suffering or not. And I’d already ruined his chance at happiness once. After he got back at me, he could maybe find happiness again. But not if he up and died.
He dipped his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. “Well, our squad doesn’t have it as bad as some of the others like anti-terrorism and gangs, so you don’t have to worry.”
Somehow, that wasn’t comforting. “Not as bad” didn’t equal “we’ve got it good.”
“When those kinds of weeksdohappen,” he continued, “I just take a break until I can get my schedule back on track. It’s not like I work out every day of the week.”
I squinted at him, checking for signs of deceit. Not that I’d be able to recognize them if I saw them since I was such a horrible liar myself, but it was worth a shot. He didn’t appear to be lying, though the poor lighting the building provided in the dark didn’t help matters, so I took his word for it.
“Okay, good.” I shifted my umbrella up and over to shield him from the rain, too. “Here.”
He flipped his hood up and flashed another quick smile. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. My car isn’t far from here. I can walk with you to make sure you make it safely to yours, though.”
I snorted. “What car? This is my cardio for the day.”
And, if I didn’t get my car fixed soon, it would be my cardio for the month, too. Ew.
“You don’t have a car?”
I shrugged, picking up my pace a little. I’d already talked too long. “No, I do.”
It just wasn’t in the land of the living at the moment, which he didn’t need to know. I still had to call a tow to take it from Lex’s complex to a mechanic. Maybe a necromancer. With the sounds poor Tilly the Toyota had been making before she died, dark magic might be necessary.
“But you’re not going to drive?”
“Nope. I need the exercise.” That was technically true, right? I wasn’t exactlylyingto him, no matter how much my stomach pitched with guilt. If he interpreted my true statements to mean Ichoseto walk even while having the option to drive myself, that was on him. Sort of.
He kept up with me, despite the fact that we were rapidly leaving the parking lot behind. “So you walk to the bakery at four in the morning every dayalone?”
“Noteveryday.” My shoes splashed through a puddle on the sidewalk. “I usually have Fridays and Sundays off.”
“Still. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
“That’s why I’ve got my umbrella.”
“That’s why you’ve—Dekker, an umbrella isn’t going to do much against an attacker, especially if they’re armed.”
