Page 42 of Bones

I was about to grab the pen to ask more when his phone beeped.

And beeped.

And beeped another hundred times—or so it seemed.

“Shit.” Eyes squeezed tight, he hung his head back. “Should know better than to mention work on my day off.”

Whatever was going on, it must’ve been catastrophic because his phone began to ring.

With a few muttered curses, he stormed across the room. “What?” he snapped with all the gruffness and none of the tenderness he used with me. He listened for a few seconds before saying, “I’ll be right there.”

And then he hung up on whoever and turned back to catch me just as I was sneaking Victoria a slice of bacon.

Oops.

His mouth tipped on one side before falling into a scowl again. “I’ve gotta go into work, and I’m not sure how long it’ll take. Once shit goes bad, it snowballs, and I’m there till after close. Want to come with?”

I did. A lot. And not just because I was curious about his job…

Plus, everything else about him.

But when I glanced down at myself, I was reminded that my only clothes were my torn and tattered dress and his oversized comfort wear.

You would only be in his way anyhow.

An embarrassing mute he’d have to field questions and garner pity about.

I grabbed the pen and started writing.

Is it okay if I stay here? I understand if you don’t feel comfortable. I can go?—

The ink was dragged across the paper when he stole it. “No, you can’t.”

Contrary to what I’d written, though, I clearly didnotunderstand because panic and mortification tightened my body.

The former because I had no backup idea. No ID. No cash or cards. I had nothing but the clothes on my back.

And even those weren’t mine.

The latter was thanks to just how immediate and vehement his answer was. Logically, I knew it was weird to ask to be left alone in his home. Heck, it was weird that I was even there. He didn’t know about the force that’d guided me to him because normal people didn’t experience visions, voices, and forces. I was just some rando from the woods. That alone was sketchy. I could be a very bad cat burglar for all he knew.

But, ouch, his fierce rejection hurt.

What am I going to do?

Thisis why I should’ve spent the night planning and not…

Hoping I masked my emotions better than I was able to suppress them, I smiled and began to stand.

I knew I failed when a mirrored flash of panic went across Deke’s face.

“Shit, that’s not what I meant.” He crouched in front of me and halted my progress, forcing me to sit again. Even with me in a chair and him ducked low, he was taller than me. “You can’t go.” His eyes squeezed shut, and he ran a large hand down his face. “Not that you can’t… you’re not a hostage… but I don’t want…” With a heavy, frustrated sigh, he opened his eyes to meet mine. “It makes sense for you to stay here since I’m guessing your purse was with your stolen shit?”

It was easier to go with that instead of having to explain that I didn’t have a purse because I also wasn’t allowed to have any money or a phone to carry in said purse, so I nodded.

“You need to cancel your cards.”

Done and done.

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