Page 48 of Defiant
Was he eager to see me? The thought shouldn’t even cross my mind. I shouldn’t care if he wanted to see me or not, not after the disaster yesterday was. I threw a look around before getting in Jacob’s car, wondering if Dante would roll up on his bike and threaten him, too. Because apparently Dante was always nearby, even when it didn’t look like he was.
Stalker.
Crazy guy.
Crazy stalker who was devastatingly sexy, but whatever.
Jacob didn’t look at me when I got in, which I expected. I buckled my seatbelt slowly, being sure to tug at the strap a bit, make as much noise as I possibly could. When I saw his hazel eyes flick toward me, I gave him a grin.
“Hi,” I said, smiling widely. “Long time no talk.”
He said nothing, though his lips did purse into a frown.
“Ah, is Mr. Grumps extra grumpy today?” I asked, earning myself a scowl from him.
Finally, he opened his mouth and said, “Don’t call me that.” When I said nothing, he added, “Where are we going? The diner will be busier, since it’s a Sunday.”
“Your place.”
His hand tapped the steering wheel, and he appeared as if he tried his best not to freak out on me. “We are not going back to my place.”
“Yes, we are.”
Jacob glared at me, finally turning his head to look at me and not just use his peripherals. He looked like he was about to say something, but whatever it was caught in the back of his throat. He ended up speechless.
Damn. Did I look that good?
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a grin. “Cat got your tongue?”
He swallowed, quickly looking away from me before muttering, “Yeah. A fucking cat.” He said nothing else, putting his car into gear and driving off.
I stared at him as he drove, wondering if I should say something. This was not his usual grumpiness. Was that phone call on Friday too much? I mean, I wasn’t the one who did the calling, but it wasn’t like I’d hurried to hang up on him or anything. I might’ve egged him on, but I didn’t think it would affect him this much.
“Are you okay?” I questioned, my voice quiet and unsure. Maybe I was going about this all wrong.
“Fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.”
“I’m fine,” he growled out, giving me a frown as he made a right-handed turn.
“Anything I can do?”
Jacob said nothing, and he continued to say nothing, even as he drove us to his place.
So, we wound up here anyways, although he didn’t want to come here. Interesting.
He practically flew out of his seat once he’d parked the car, not bothering to wait for me. I had to hurry to catch up to him. By the time I reached his side, he was already at the door to the building. I eyed him up as we got on the elevator, and he purposefully ignored me.
I didn’t like it.
Half a dozen locks sat on his apartment door, so it took him a few moments to unlock each one, but once he did, he pushed in, not holding the door open for me behind him. The jerk.
Now, of course, I understood why he had so many locks. Ollie’s sons and what they did to him.
As I let the door close behind me, I shrugged off my jacket, tossing it onto the island counter in the kitchen. The living room and kitchen were pretty much one big room in here. I heard him groan behind me as he worked on locking every single lock.
No Dante would be busting through that door, nor would he be popping in through the window, unless he wanted to climb.
