Page 19 of Reading Between the Lines
Tallus stared at the stretch of highway in front of us. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know.”
Tallus sighed with evident frustration.
I squirmed, knowing I was being a pain in the ass. “I’m not trying to annoy you.”
“I know.”
Communicate, I reminded myself. “I’m functioning on no sleep, and my brain isn’t processing properly. It’s… hard to talk when my brain cells aren’t aligning.”
“I know.”
I was tired and hungry, but the mere thought of returning to the ticking house of pink Ivory fucking Lace for a nap made my skin crawl, so I drove aimlessly.
“Pull up a map of Port Hope.” I motioned to Tallus’s phone. “Find the location of the high school and the library. Look up where the Mandels live.” Delaney had given us her home address, but I wasn’t familiar enough with the town to know where it was in relation to those key areas where her son had supposedly been on the day he ended up in the river.
While Tallus browsed, I took us back to Port Hope. Once I hit town, I aimed for the drugstore I’d noticed when we arrived the following day. Parked, I killed the engine and reached for the door handle. “I’ll be back.”
Tallus glanced up from his phone with a frown. “Drugstore? What are we doing here?”
“I need Tylenol and earplugs.” At his confusion, I added, “It was this or the hardware store where I could buy a hammer for less money and smash all those fucking clocks. I slept for shitlast night. I’m tired and cranky. I need a nap before we chat with that woman again, or my self-restraint might suffer, and I could get us fired before we begin. I need this money.”
Tallus smirked. “I love it. You’ve become so self-aware.”
I glared.
“What? You have.” He gestured to the drugstore. “You’re choosing a practical solution as opposed to a violent response. That’s some decent problem-solving, Guns. You’ve made the right choice. I’m so proud.”
“I don’t like what your face is doing right now.”
“It’s called being smug, darlin’.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Dr. Peterson would be proud too. He might even give you a gold star. We should call him.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m not doing this to please him. Or you. I’m doing it to keep my ass out of jail and hopefully earn enough money to pay my fucking rent so I’m not homeless and jobless come the new year.”
Tallus’s smirk almost cut through my exhaustion. He popped his seat belt and leaned over the console, snagging the edge of my jacket before I could escape.
“Come here.” He kissed my snarling mouth as he cupped my scruffy, unshaven jaw. The rigidity in my muscles loosened at the contact, and I kissed him back, hostility instantly draining. Intimacy with Tallus was easier every day. Sometimes, I focused so hard on the things I couldn’t do that I forgot to be proud of the obstacles I’d already conquered.
Like kissing.
“You’re a bit grumpy today,” he said against my mouth.
“I’m tired.”
“It’s a big bed. Would you share it with me if I promised not to cross the invisible line in the middle?”
“It’s not that. It’s… Tallus.”
“Never mind. We could relocate to a motel and get two rooms.”
I’d considered it a hundred times, but the truth was, not only did I desperately want to overcome the whole shared bed aspect of our relationship, but I couldn’t justify the cost. Tallus had no idea how close to bankruptcy I’d taken the business. I’d hinted here and there but never gone into detail. All his training would be for naught if I couldn’t bring in more jobs or at least keep the clients who hired me. As it stood, Delaney was footing the bill for food and accommodations since the job was outside Toronto city limits. I couldn’t afford to take us somewhere else, let alone pay for two rooms.
“No. It’s fine. I’ll get some Tylenol and earplugs and take a nap.”
