Page 68 of Lavender Lake
He let me go.
But now I no longer had the protection of his body against mine. I hastily covered my breasts by crossing my arms.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his steely gray eyes searching mine.
I nodded.
He didn’t say anything else; he just kept looking at me. And then he pulled back the shower curtain and got out. A moment later, the door to the bathroom opened and closed again behind him.
I slid down into the tub and didn’t move for a long time.
“We talked about this,” Declan said.
“No,youtalked, and I listened,” Hadley fired back.
Grimacing, I paused my descent on the staircase, but I forgot the second stair from the bottom squeaked. And apparently, it was loud enough to make Hadley and Declan stop arguing.
“Salem?” Hadley called.
I sighed, and then came down the stairs and into the den. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Please interrupt,” Hadley said.
Declan raked a hand through his hair, and then looked at me. “Maybe you can talk to her. She’s not hearing me.”
He stalked from the den and Hadley called after him, “I love you!”
“I love you too!”
The door shut, leaving me alone with my twin.
She sighed.
“Was that about you riding horses?” I asked.
“No, actually, it wasn’t.” She bit her lip.
“What was it about then?”
“Can we talk while we make dinner?” she asked. “I promised Muddy we’d take care of it.”
“WhereisMuddy?”
“With Lucy, drinking in the back of General Merc, if I had to guess.”
“She earned it,” I said. “Have you seen Bowman?”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“Just curious,” I lied. “I don’t want to get interrupted while we’re talking.”
More like I didn’t want to face him after he’d seen me stripped down to my marrow.
“You snap the peas,” she said. “I’ll take care of the trout. Thankfully, Wade already gutted them for me.”
“Your ex-boyfriend is bringing you fish?” I asked. “Is that like an Idaho mating ritual or something?”
“Oh, please. He and his dad limit out every time they go. They went fishing today and did it again, so they were giving them away this time. And you haven’t met Wade’s girlfriend yet, have you?” She opened the butcher paper and revealed several trout, still with their heads on.
