Page 53 of Echoes in the Storm
I lean out around Duke and poke my tongue out at her. She gives me a cute little finger wave.Cow.
“Did she call you, or did you call her?” I ask Duke as I return to fixing the butterfly. “There. All done, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Cammie.”
I manage to stave off the hug and restrict it to a pat on the shoulder so that her butterfly doesn’t turn into a Picasso tribute on my shirt.
“I called her,” Duke answers as he drops into the vacant seat.
I giggle at the sight of him crammed on a kids chair, his knees up around his ears. “Let me guess. Spiderman?”
He wrinkles his nose at the idea. “Nah. Set of lips, right here.” He taps his cheek with a thick finger.
“Whatever rocks your boat, I guess.” I rinse the brush and go to dip it in the red paint when he stops me.
“Not painted.”
What?
“Set of lips, babe. Right here.”
Oh, I get it now.Oh.
I lean in and place my mouth to his cheek, dotting a gentle peck on his unbelievably sharp stubble.
He makes a throaty grumble as he rests a hand on my knee. “Better.”
“You’re amazing, you know that? For coming out tonight.”
He chuckles, reaching around me to scoot my chair closer to his. “I admit I faked being on Facebook most of the car ride here so I could light up the interior. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Any bad guys jump out of the bushes yet?”
His face falls, his eyes hardening. “It’s not a joke.”
“And I’m not kidding,” I say with a straight face, doing my best to un-wedge my foot from my mouth. “I want to know if I need an escort to my car later.”
He smiles, seeming to pick up on my regret, and reaches out to tap the underside of my chin with his finger. “I think you’ll be okay.”
As much as I love this sudden turnaround back to the cute and cuddly Duke, I can’t fight the need to look around and check who watches. What will they think? This guy rocks up in our town a few days ago, and here I am, getting up close and personal already? Shit—what if the gossip gets back to Jared? The arsehole would use that against me in a heartbeat.
“What’s the matter?” Duke leans back, his hand sliding off my leg.
“It’s not that I’m embarrassed—”
“But I’m being too forward around your friends,” he finishes with an ache in his tone.
“They’re not my friends—that’s just it.” I glance over at Jacinda, who lifts a hand in acknowledgement. “I don’t know who to trust, who has my best intentions at heart.”
“These people love you,” he says, as though surprised I would think otherwise. “When I came into town the other day on my own, you were all they could talk about. ‘Oh, you’re staying with Cammie,’” he mimics. “‘You two will get along great’. ‘She’ll enjoy the company. Such a lovely girl, that she is.’” He twitches a quick smile. “Even got another warning from your cousin.”
I chuckle at the voices he puts on, imagining the old ladies around town giving him their two cents’ worth, not to mention my overzealous relatives. “I’m sorry about him. He’s just protective since Jared left me how he did.”
“Oh, no,” he says with a chuckle. “It wasn’t just him. Archie was another who passively told me he’d rip me apart if I was an arsehole to you.”
“Great.” I roll my eyes. “So you’re just being nice because you’re scared of a mechanic and a cop.”
“Hardly. I’m being nice because I want the car fixed and to stay out of jail in the meantime.” He winks, a playful grin on his heavenly lips.