Page 61 of Ink and Ashes
“Holland, wait up.”
I spin around to find him jogging to catch up to me on the stairs.
My shoulders fall. “Look, Colson, can we not do this right now? I’m exhausted?—”
“You aren’t safe here,” he interrupts.
My brows furrow. “What are you?—”
“You have a target on you, and I don’t trust that whoever’s behind all this isn’t going to come after you again.” Colson walks the three steps up to where I stand, forcing me to crane my neck to meet his gaze.
Then he says four words that shock me to my core.
“Come home with me.”
My jaw falls open as I stare up at the big, surly man—the one who has spent the past five weeks denying my opinion at every turn—in absolute disbelief.
Did he seriously just ask me to come home with him?
“I beg your pardon?” I say, eyes wide. Surely I didn’t hear him right, because there’s no way in hell I’m going home with this guy. No matter how attracted to him I may be, he’s reminded me plenty that I still don’tknowhim, and in the state of vulnerability I’m in,nothing good would come from that.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here alone,” he says, and I continue to stare.
“I don’t feel comfortable going home with someone who essentially amounts to a stranger. I can take care of myself.” I cross my arms over my chest. “And I’m not alone. Mary and Emmett are here.”
“Believe me, I know you can,” he mutters, running a hand through his short, tousled hair. “What about when they go back to their place tonight, though? I know they’re right next door, but?—”
I shake my head, cutting him off. “It’s not happening. First of all, I barely know you. You say you believe me now, but for the past few weeks you’ve been nothing but an ass to me. I appreciate that you’re putting effort in now, but I can’t just flip a switch and trust that. And I’m pretty sure your girlfriend wouldn’t be too happy about another woman under your roo?—”
“What girlfriend?” he cuts me off to ask.
My brows pull together. “The picture on your bedside table at the station. I figured she was your girlfriend.”
His eyes flash with an emotion I can’t place before his features harden again. “She’s not.”
“Sorry. I just assumed.” I swallow, waiting for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. So I continue, “Either way, I’m still not going home with you. I’ve been alone for a long time, taking care of myself. If you’re really that concerned, you can book a room here. But I’m not leaving.”
Colson’s brows furrow as a low growl rumbles from his chest. “Fine.”
With that, he turns and walks back to his truck. I stand there frozen, watching as he pulls out of the lot without a single glance back at me.
What the hell was that?
I watch him drive off before forcing my feet to move, carrying me up the rest of the stairs and through the front door.
Mary is waiting at the desk, a look of worry filling her features the moment she sees me. “Oh, Holland. Cassidy called us a whileago and let us know what happened. Are you okay?”
I gulp, trying to keep the tears at bay.
I’ve been involved in plenty of dangerous cases—usually people involved in politics who have money to buy others off. I’ve received my fair share of threats throughout my years on the job, but something about all this makes me feel so much more…exposed. Unprotected. Endangered.
And the idea of being caught in a fire scares the absolute daylights out of me.
“I’m fine,” I rasp. “Just shaken up. I wasn’t nearby when it happened, so I’m just a little freaked, knowing someone intentionally tampered with my car.”
And that if I don’t stop, chances are good I’m next. But I don’t say that out loud.
She rounds the desk, taking my hand in hers. “Understandable. Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay.”
