Page 25 of Kentucky Nights
“You-You didn’t.” Her voice shakes with the inability to cover her fear.
I grin, scratching the back of my head. “You don’t sound too convincing, Dru. Plus, I can smell your lie.” I tap my nose.
“I’m sorry.” She turns around to face me, and her beauty steals my breath.
“Don’t ever apologize for being afraid. You have every reason to fear me after what you have been through, but I promise, I am not going to hurt you.”
She crosses her arms and rubs her hands across them. She’s cold. Goosebumps arise across her flesh, a sensation I haven’t felt since I was turned.
“What’s crazy is that I believe you won’t hurt me. I don’t know why. You could at any minute. You could snap my neck when you decide you’re done with me. I just need a few more days, and I’ll be out of your hair. I need to call my friend, Carmen. She can come get me to take me home.”
I step forward, placing the half-drunk lemonade on the edge of the truck. “You don’t have to leave so soon. If you haven’t noticed, I’m the only one who works this ranch?—”
Romeo’s high-pitched neigh interrupts me.
“—Apologies. Myhorseand I work the ranch. I could always use another set of hands.” I know she needs the truth of why she can’t leave, and I’ll tell it to her. Soon. I just need more time to figure out what to say.
What do I say to someone who is afraid of me? I have a feeling she isn’t going to be too keen on being destined for a vampire.
She quirks a brow. “I have a job. I haven’t been there in a few days, and they are going to fire me if I’m not already. I have calls I have to make, and then I need to get back. You understand, don’t you?”
I swallow, hating that everything in her life is about to change. I’ve been there. I know what it is like to have plans and then have them ripped away from you.
“Of course I do. I can’t help that I enjoy your company is all, Miss Whitley.”
“Miss Whitley?” She shakes her head. “Sometimes you talk like you’re from another time.”
“I am, but I don’t really keep track of time, so I can’t give you an exact date of just how long I’ve been around.”
She leans against an empty stall, eyeing me as if she’s trying to figure out if I have another angle. “Just Dru, Kentucky.”
I tilt my chin in acknowledgement, unable to stop myself from grinning. “Yes, ma’am.”
That causes her to smile, and I know parts of my soul are tethering to her regardless of whether I want it or not.
“Why is it that I don’t want to be away from you?” she asks, rubbing her arms again. “Make it make sense because I can’t.”
I’m not ready to answer that. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to by the time this week is up. I open the truck door and grab my black coat. “Here, Darlin’. There’s no reason for you to be cold. May I?”
She nods, pushing herself off the stall. I drape the jacket over her, helping her with both sleeves.
“There. That ought to keep you warm, Dru.” I love seeing her in my clothes. Her hair against the dark black of the jacket reminds me of the sunset, the reds painting the night sky with the last breath of daylight.
“I think it’s a little big.” She holds out her arms and laughs when it falls to her thighs, the sleeves covering her hands by many inches.
I lean against the truck, my thumbs hooking in my belt loop, and say, “I think you look just right.”
“You sound like you’re flirting with me.”
I scoff, placing my hat on my head. “I suppose I am, but it has been a while.”
“How long is a while?”
“Years. I’ve lost count.” A small stab of guilt penetrates my heart when I think of Daphne. She wanted me to meet my mate. She never wanted me to not exist anymore. For some reason, she thinks the world needs me because it needs kindness.
I don’t think I’m kind at all. I’m resigned, and that’s a whole lot different than kindness.
Dru steps forward, and she doesn’t understand that the closer she gets, the harder it is for me to control myself. Her scent wraps around me like a blanket, warm and comforting like a hot day after being so cold.
