Page 18 of Carry Me Home
“Oh, you’re alive.” She shook her head, her red braid bouncing, looking crestfallen.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” I said.
“It’s all right,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll see a dead body someday.”
That shocked a laugh out of me. “Do youwantto see a dead body?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ll like it, but it would be interesting.”
“You’ll see one eventually,” I said. “Most people do.” Of course, usually it was the body of someone you loved. A parent, grandparent, or spouse. Probably better not to mention that.
Her head tilted and she looked off to the side. “Have you ever seen a dead body?”
“Yes.” Hundreds, probably. I didn’t keep count.
She looked to the other side. “Did you like it?”
“No.”
My fingers dug into my thighs as I waited for her next question. What the hell was I going to say if she asked me whose body, or how, or any of the other questions a little kid had no business getting answers to?
But she didn’t ask. She just nodded like that was enough.
The breeze kicked up and she twirled away from me, her arms stretched out like wings. I stared at her red braid whipping in the wind.Déjà vu.
“Are you a bird?” I asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “I’m a girl.”
I laughed, but shit—she was a girl, and too young to be out here alone. “Are you lost?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
I tried again. “Where’s your mom? Or…your dad?”
She lowered her arms and slowly turned around again. She looked sideways, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I’m not supposed to tell strangers personal information.”
“Maya! I told you not to go further than the rock. You scared me.”
Red hair. Brown eyes. A mouth I couldn’t stopped thinking about.
“I’m at the rock.” Maya pointed to the rock I leaned against. “I didn’t go past it.”
She looked, then did a doubletake. A flush climbed her cheeks.
A slow smile spread across my face as I looked up at her. “You finally found me, Ace. What took you so long?”
7
JANIE
That was twice nowthat Jack Price had stolen my breath. He didn’t need a hand on my throat; his words worked just as well.What took you so long? The audacity.
I gaped down at him, my mouth flapping open like a hooked fish as I took in all six-foot-two-inches of leanly muscled, gorgeous man sprawled in front of me. That sexy little smirk playing in the corner of those full lips he had once pressed against my core and made me come undone. Blue eyes sparkling up at me like he was remembering it, too. And then he winked at me.
Winked.
It was a little much, to be honest.
