Page 57 of Out on a Limb
Andrew stuck to the edge of the lot, following the curving treeline that hid the main entrance until the last possible second. When there was no sign of Alan’s car he seemed to relax a little.
But the drop of his shoulders was short-lived.
As we drove toward my house he seemed to start tensing up again, shoulders creeping higher as his hand gripped the wheel. I watched the vein in his head, counting each beat of his heart as the clench of his jaw made it throb. “What’s wrong?”
His eyes narrowed and one finger lifted, pointing toward the entrance to the subdivision I’d lived in for almost two years. “Alan doesn’t happen to be your neighbor, does he?”
I followed the line of his pointing finger, catching a glimpse of Alan’s car as it turned into my neighborhood.
I struggled to swallow as I shook my head. “No.”
Chapter Twelve
Andrew
LIKE I DIDN’T already have enough to deal with tonight.
Collette sat a little straighter in her seat as she watched Alan’s car. “Is he going to my house?”
I didn’t want to answer that, so I kept my mouth shut. I’d learned a long time ago most people didn’t like to hear the truth, and that was what I brought to the table.
Her blue eyes shot my way. “Andrew, is he going to my house?”
Don’t answer.
Don’t answer.
Don’t answer.
“Probably.”
I braced for the freak out I knew was coming.
This was why I’d been steadily single my whole life. I could keep it together long enough to bring them in, but not long enough for them to stay. Eventually I said too many of the wrong things.
Missed too many of the emotional cues always working to escape me.
But Collette didn’t freak out at the truth I should have kept to myself. Instead her eyes narrowed.
“If that motherfucker hurts Phillip I’ll kill him.”
Not at all the reaction I was expecting. “I’m pretty sure Phillip can hold his own.” But, now that I was thinking about it, he shouldn’t have to. “Don’t you have a security system?”
A slow smile spread across her face. “You’re a genius.” Collette pulled her phone from her bag and swiped across the screen. Her head tipped up as I passed the turn into her subdivision. “Why didn’t you turn?”
“It’s probably not a good idea to show up in the truck that was just parked right next to his car while he,” I choked a little on the next words, “met with a lady of the evening.”
Collette’s head snapped my way. “Did you just saylady of the evening?”
“What do you want me to call her?”
“Sex worker? Escort?” She snorted out a little laugh. “Lady of the evening sounds like you’re eighty.”
“I thought you liked eighty-year-olds?”
The smile on her face changed to something I couldn’t figure out fast enough.
“Are you saying you want me to like you?”
