Page 174 of Rock Chick Rescue

“Hey,” I said as I walked by, surprising myself by sounding cool instead of freaked out.

His eyes did a full body scan. Then, slowly, he shook his head.

Okay, I was done with being cool.

I made a beeline for the bathroom, leaving him to lock the door.

I washed my face and tore a brush through my hair. With effort it went from Freaky Diva to Charlie’s Angels.

The house was dark when I opened the bathroom door, a dim light coming from the bedroom.

Eddie was in bed on his side, covers up to his waist, chest bare, head in his hand, eyes on me, face still unreadable.

Eek!

I turned off the light, slid off my shoes, tore off the dress and pulled on the camisole that was still lying on my bag. I left the bottoms for another day.

I crawled into bed and settled, my back to him.

Eddie didn’t move.

“Thanks for letting me in,” I said to the wall, attempting to gauge his mood.

No response.

“Goodnight,” I tried.

He moved, settling in, obviously on his back, not touching me and not speaking either.

Hmm.

There were a few of problems with this. First, I was wide-awake and coasting on a serious wave of adrenaline, adrenaline that needed to be worked out somehow, and I knew how I’d prefer it to be worked out. Second, I was too freaking shy to do anything about it. I definitely wasn’t able to make the first move. Last, I was pretty certain Eddie was ticked off, so even if Iwasn’ttoo shy, he clearly wasn’t in the mood.

Instead, I fidgeted, I moved, I turned and I tried to count sheep.

I was rearranging my pillows for the third time when Eddie’s arm came out and hauled me across the bed, tucking me into his side.

Finally.

“Jazzed?” he asked.

“Um…yeah.”

“Stun-gunning angry black women in bars on Colfax’ll do that to you.”

Wonderful.

Darius told on me.

“Darius,” I said.

Eddie didn’t answer.

“I tried to be a mediator, I swear. I even offered to buy her a drink. But apparently Indy stun-gunned her a few months ago. Then she called Ally a bee-atch, which Ally didn’t like. Then she punched Daisy in the eye. Then Daisy jumped her, and Ally jumped them, and they started rolling around on the floor.Thensome other woman shoved Indy and—”

Eddie interrupted me, “You can stop talking now.”

I closed my mouth and laid there a second, pressed up against his warm, hard body.

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