Page 44 of Hiss and Make Up
“Oh, shut up.”
He smiled and leaned against the headrest. It wasn’t a denial. “How are you so sure you know my type anyway?”
“You’re kidding, right? Did you not notice that she looks almost exactly like a certain girl you dated?”
Marc’s mouth hung open a little as he stared at her, her eyes straight ahead, her jaw set. He knew exactly who she was referring to. Even if he didn't think the similarity was as striking as she did.
But he’d never told her he and Kassie went out in high school. She obviously found out somehow.
She turned into his driveway, pulled the emergency brake, and left the engine running.
“Aren’t you getting down?” They weren’t the words he wanted to say, but they were the only ones he could force out of his mouth.
“I’m waiting for you to get out so I can go home. What does it look like I’m doing?”
Running. She was running away.Again.
That was why she’d stopped answering his calls all those years ago.
His heart raced. He was losing her.
But he couldn’t exactly make her stick around if she didn’t want to. And he was ninety-five percent certain she didn’t want anything to do with him. The other five percent was wishful thinking.
“I thought you wanted to take a look around Dad’s workshop?” His desire to keep her with him a little longer won out over his desire to keep her out of this mess.
“Right.” She hesitated. “The stolen stuff.”
“I mean, the cops have already been through it all.” Dang it. It was true, but why was he giving her a reasonnotto stay? “But now that we know all of this other stuff, maybe something new will stick out.”
She thought for a second, then cut off the engine.
Marc got out, while Sierra opened the back door and took the dog’s leash.
“Where are you going with that?”
“I’m not leaving him in there. Besides, you have a fenced yard, and he probably has to go to the bathroom after that burger.”
“So you’re gonna let him crap in my yard?”
“I’ll clean it up. Calm down.” Her nose wrinkled, and she looked at the dark sky. Admiring the stars the same way they used to lie on the ground and look up at the sky on cool nights like this. “You smell that?”
He took a whiff of the air. “Yeah. Home sweet home, right? You don’t remember how people always burn trash out here?”
“They haven’t cracked down on that by now?”
He walked her to the back gate, holding it open for her and the dog. “Not really. Someone’s still burning something at least once a month out here.”
“It smells awful.” She waved her hand in front of her face.
“Yeah, it always does. You won’t smell it once we’re in the shop.” He flipped the switch to turn on the backyard floodlights. “It’s right around the corner.”
“I remember.”
She smiled back at him, and his heart lurched.
* * *
Sierra swatted mosquitoes from her bare arms under the floodlight. She could go back to grab her flannel shirt from the car, but it smelled like stray dog now. Plus, she wasn’t sure she could make herself walk out of that yard.
