Page 42 of Summer People
My eye twitches. Is she fucking with me?
By the way she frowns and shrugs helplessly, I don’t think so.
Crossing my arms, I rock back on my heels. “I don’t think you understand birds.”
“That’s definitely true.” With a nod, she steps around me toward the window.
I catch her arm. “What are you doing?” God dammit. She’s barefoot and she’s trying to getcloserto the broken glass? Does she have any sense of self-preservation at all?
Brow furrowed, she lifts her chin. “I’m going to check out what happened and clean it up.”
“No you’re not.” I loop an arm around her stomach and pick her up, then back away.
“Why are you always carrying me?” she huffs.
“Because someone needs to take care of you.” And I’ll be damned if it’s anyone but me.
She glares. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning up a mess, and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” She stomps over to the closet, her hips swaying in the teeny-tiny pink shorts that are going to haunt me for days.
I turn away and mentally recite lines of code to keep my body from reacting. As I step closer to the window, glass cracksunder my boots. A bird didn’t do this. Half the window is lying in shards on the floor. Hands on my hips, I study the jagged pieces still attached to the frame, then scour the floor.
My heart lurches when I see it.
Fuck.
Crouching, I pick up the softball-size rock. This is exactly what I was afraid of. “Didn’t break itself, Princess.” I stand to my full height and heft the weapon used to shatter the window.
Across the room, her eyes drift closed. Her lip trembles and she curls in on herself, but only for an instant. She swallows audibly and pulls her shoulders back, and when she opens her eyes, they’re clear of any inkling of fear.
“Kids and their pranks.” Despite her bravado, her voice cracks on the wordpranks.
I move across the room, dropping the rock on her blue Formica countertop as I go. Every part of me wants to offer her another hug. Give her some sense of safety.
But she steps back as I approach, making it clear she doesn’t want me to touch her. Message received. I will, however, do everything I can to make sure she feels safe.
I take the broom from her and turn to get started on the mess. She doesn’t say anything, but her attention on me is palpable as I sweep up the glass. Once I’ve dumped it into the trash, I zero in on her. “Get your shit.”
“What?” she crosses her arms.
“I’m not leaving you here, and Sutton’s alone next door. Get your shit. You’re coming to my house.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off.
“I will carry you out of here if I need to, but I will not leave you here alone when someone is clearly fucking with you. If you want anything for the night, get it,” I growl.
“You’re so bossy,” she snaps as she spins around and stomps off. In less than a minute, she’s back, wearing flip-flops, with her phone in her hand.
When we’re out in the cool night air, I pull the front door shut behind me and engage the cheap lock. Looks like I’ll need to borrow Cank’s boat again so I can install deadbolts on all her doors. Not to mention get a few more cameras.
“Why are you up?”
Her voice is quiet, but in the dark silence, it startles me. Maybe I should hedge around the question, but after tonight, after what I did to her costar, I have a feeling I’ll need to give her some truths I don’t share with anyone.
“I’m breaking into a bank.”
With an adorable snort, she shakes her head. “Sure you are. Very sheriffy of you.”
Exactly. I have no law enforcement qualifications. I didn’t even think to put on a pair of gloves before I picked up that rock. I’m such a dumbass. The only thing I know is code.
