Page 61 of Take a Hike
“I admitted it was better than fine,” she muttered. When Kieran narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, she offered him a sunny smile. “Want to go to Denver?”
“Yes.”
“Hey!” Fifi protested. “We should at least rock-paper-scissors for it.”
“Why bother?” Charlie made short work of cuffing Tank. “I’ll win anyway. You always go with rock.”
Although Fifi huffed, she didn’t argue with that fact. “I get flustered.”
“Tell the sheriff hi from us!” Charlie grabbed Kieran’s hand and hustled him toward the door before Fifi could say anything else. “I’ll text if we find anything!”
As she hurried down the stairs, Kieran crowded close behind her, so when he spoke, it was right against her ear. “You okay?”
Turning her head, she nearly fell down the rest of the steps when she saw how very reachable his lips were. Kieran steadied her easily, which didn’t help her distraction. “Very.”
As if he could read her mind, a tiny smug smile touched his lips. It would’ve been obnoxious if it hadn’t been for the affectionate, almost tender look in his eyes. “Good. Let’s go find a necklace then.”
Fourteen
As she climbed into the passenger seat of his truck, hurrying at the sound of approaching emergency sirens, Charlie frowned at the VW Fox across the street. She was sure Rhys’s Jeep was somewhere close by as well. “Maybe I should drive.”
“Nope.” Kieran started the engine.
“How are you at dodging treasure hunters?”
“Fair to good.” He pulled out into the street and immediately turned left into an alley. Only seconds later, a sheriff’s department squad car flew past the entrance to the alley.
Internally, Charlie snickered at the “good” comment, remembering her conversation with her sister about his make-out skills, but she forced herself to stay poker-faced. “You’d have thought Fifi and Bennett would’ve given us a minute to get clear before they called in the cops.”
“They may’ve been a little salty about having to stay here on cleanup duty while we get to go search for the necklace.”
“Then Fifi should get better at rock-paper-scissors,” Charliehuffed although she wasn’t really annoyed, especially since it seemed as if they’d escaped detection.
Kieran made a strangled sound in his throat, the one that sounded like he was simultaneously holding back a laugh while also growling in annoyance that he’d allowed himself to be amused. It was so especially specific to Kieran that it was quickly becoming one of Charlie’s favorite sounds. He steered the truck carefully through the alley, maneuvering between two trash bins that made the space so tight Charlie found herself sucking in her stomach, as if she could make the truck narrower that way. Even though she knew it was a ridiculous thought, she held her breath until they’d made it safely through.
As he turned onto a street that wasn’t much wider than the alley had been, Charlie caught a glimpse of white in her side mirror. “Bones is on your tail.”
“The one who drives the VW?” His gaze didn’t even flicker toward the rearview mirror, as if he trusted her judgment so completely that he didn’t even have check for himself, which pleased Charlie an inordinate amount.
“That’s Bones.” She turned around to get a better view out the back of the truck cab, but the other car hadn’t emerged from the alley yet. “She’s also the one who’s apparently dating Rhys now, which is a good thing.”
He flicked her a questioning glance as he turned left again. “Why’s that?”
“Because it makes them happy,” she explained without taking her gaze off the road behind them. There still wasn’t any sign of Bones’s car, but she felt like she needed to be extravigilant since Kieran was trusting her to watch his back. At his skeptical-sounding snort, she reached over blindly to tap his arm. “I’m serious! I’m glad they’re happy. I’m not amonster.”
Even without looking at him, she couldfeelKieran’s skepticism.
“Fine. Rhys is the only competent one of that bunch. Hopefully love will distract him.”
His laugh came easier that time as he turned right onto the main road through town. A half mile behind them, Charlie saw the flashing emergency lights from a handful of sheriff squad cars.
“Oop, our buddy Tank’s bad day is getting even worse.” She grinned, happy about her part in that.
“Good.” His voice was so coldly furious that she spared a glance at his profile. “He deserves all that and more.”
“Awe,” she cooed, disguising the very real flutter of butterflies with a slathering of teasing sarcasm. “Your vengeful side is adorable.”
He shot her an exasperated look. “He was trying to kill you, Charlie.”
