Page 41 of Cold Foot Curse

“I hugged you first,” he pointed out as he made his way into the kitchen and put the pizza box back in the fridge.

“Right.” And then she’d taken it to a place she was never allowed to take it. What was she doing? Caring for a man this intensely was against the rules of her bloodline. Heichmans didn’t bond. It was the only way to keep everyone safe. She could be friends, and that was it. Friendship would save the people she cared for. Friendship and nothing more.

Kade was right to keep his distance.

She was wrong for encouraging more.

“Um, I’ll meet you outside,” she rushed out, and shoved her phone into her back pocket, and grabbed the keys off the table and then marched straight outside to have a mini-panic attack out of his view.

She pressed her shoulder blades against the garage and scanned the street as she tried to convince her lungs that oxygen was good for them. She needed to steady the panting, so she blew out a long breath, and then another, and another.

The door clicked closed and she pushed off the garage and forced a smile onto her lips. His eyes were soft and worried, and she hated it. Before he could say anything, she snapped, “I’m fine.”

He nodded and then gestured for her to lead the way.

“I have to lock the door,” she said low, and she did so. She wouldn’t admit to more weakness, but she was afraid Derek or Samuel, or even Connor would show up here and take her back.

“You’re scared,” he rumbled.

“I’m not scared of anything.”

Kade pursed his lips and nodded, then shoved his hands into his pockets. “What job did you get?” This was the second time he’d tried to change the subject by talking about her new job, and this time she allowed it.

“Have you seen that auto parts shop up on Rue Street?”

“Cliff’s?” he asked, recognition sparking in his eyes.

“Yeah, Cliff’s.” She set a relaxed walking pace heading up the sidewalk, leading him deeper into the neighborhood. “They had a few old, beat-up cars sitting in the parking lot with fair prices written onto their windshields, so I went in and just talked to the guy up front. Just chatting. Curious, you know.”

“You’re wanting a car?”

Jess shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. I don’t know if I’ll be here long enough that a car would be life changing.”

“You can use my truck while I’m at work, if you want.”

Shocked, she glanced up at him to see if he was serious. He looked serious as hell. She cleared her throat and shook her head. “You can’t drag me through life, Kade. I’m not a puppy you adopted from a junk yard. You don’t need an anchor.”

“You aren’t an anchor, Jess. Take that back.”

“I’ll feel like one if you keep taking care of everything for me.”

Kade was quiet for a minute after that, and they just walked. “They were hiring?” he asked as they turned on Mason Avenue.

“I’d seen the hiring sign on the window when I went in there, but I don’t know anything about cars, so didn’t really register it. But the guy up front asked if I was looking for work, and if I could drive, and if I had a driver’s license. And then Cliff came out and talked to me about how the lady that worked for them driving parts to different shops had just moved to Idaho, and they were desperate for a driver.” It was getting easier to talk to him as they walked. “Well, I told him I don’t know shit about fuck about auto parts, and he said they would literally load the parts I needed, and give me the invoices with the addresses to take them to, and that I would pick it up soon enough and be able to pull orders in a couple months.”

“You’re a parts runner?” he asked, and she could hear it there—the pride in his voice.

A smile stretched her face. She couldn’t help it. She hid it by looking at the pavement in front of them. “Yeah. I filled out the paperwork. I start training on Wednesday, and the pay is really fair. Want to hear the best part?”

“It gets better?” he teased.

“I get a company car.”

“Holy shit, are you serious?” The excitement was growing in his voice, and did he understand what he was doing for her? Each time he showed his genuine excitement for the good things that happened for her? He was making her own her value. He was encouraging her growing confidence.

“Want to see a picture?”

“Hell yeah,” he said, stopping them as she pulled her phone from her back pocket and pulled up the picture.

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