I doubted that.
“Please tell me he hasn’t run you off, too.” She stepped in front of me, brows furrowed. “I know you probably think hanging out with me isn’t worth—”
“No. It’s okay.” I ran a hand over my forehead. “He didn’t run me off — he won’t.”
She looked so relieved I thought she’d collapse. “Good. I have to go, but I’ll fix this. I promise.”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing to fix. He isn’t your problem.”
A strange look crossed her face. “But he kind of is. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
Nodding, I watched her head back to her house. I grabbed the empty bags. What the hell had that been about? Never in my life had someone disliked me so strongly. Shaking my head, I dumped the bags in the trash.
Daemon was hot, but he was a jerk. A bully. And I’d meant what I said to Dee. He wasn’t going to scare me off from being friends with his sister. He’d just have to deal with it. I was here to stay.
Chapter 4
I skipped posting on my blog on Monday, mainly because it was usually a “What are you reading” type thing and I wasn’t reading anything new at the moment. I decided my poor car needed a bath instead. Mom would be proud if she had been up, seeing that I was outside during the summer and not chained to my laptop. Other than the occasional gardening stint, I was typically a shut-in.
The sky was clear and the air carried a light musky scent mingled with pine. Soon after I’d gotten started with cleaning the inside of my car, I was amazed at how many pens and hair ties I found. Seeing my book bag on the back seat caused me to cringe. In a couple of weeks I’d be starting a new school, and I knew Dee would be surrounded by friends — friends that Daemon probably approved of, which wasn’t me, because he obviously thought I was a crack dealer.
Next, I got out a bucket and hose and soaped up most of the car, but when I reached over the top of the roof, all I ended up doing was soaking myself and dropping the sponge a dozen times. No matter which side I tried to attack the roof from, it wasn’t working Cursing, I started picking out pieces of gravel and grass from the sponge. I wanted to launch it into the nearby woods. Frustrated, I ended up tossing the sponge into the bucket.
“You look as if you could use some help.”
I jumped. Daemon stood a few feet away from me, hands in the front pockets of his faded jeans. His bright eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
His sudden appearance had startled me. I hadn’t even heard him. How could someone move so damn quietly, especially as tall as he was? And hey, he had a shirt on. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful or disappointed. Mouth aside, he was drool-worthy. I snapped out of it, preparing myself for the inevitable verbal smackdown.
He wasn’t smiling, but at least he didn’t look like he wanted to kill me this time. If anything, his expression took on a mask of grudging acceptance, probably how I looked when I had to give a book I’d been excited about a less than stellar review.
“You looked as though you wanted to throw that again.” He gestured to the bucket with his elbow and the sponge floating on top of the suds. “I figured I’d do my good deed for the day and intervene before any innocent sponges lose their lives.” I brushed a few strands of damp hair out of my eyes, not sure what to say.
Daemon bent quickly and snatched up the sponge, squeezing out the excess water. “You look like you got more of a bath than the car. I never thought washing a car would be so hard, but after watching you for the last fifteen minutes, I’m convinced it should be an Olympic sport.”
“You were watching me?” Kind of creepy. Kind of hot.
He shrugged. “You could always take the car to the car wash. It would be a lot easier.”
“Car washes are a waste of money.”
“True,” he said slowly. He knelt down and began cleaning a spot I’d missed on the fender around the tire before tackling the roof of the car. “You need new tires. These are about bald and winter’s crazy around here.” I didn’t care about my tires. I couldn’t figure out why he was here, talking to me, when the last time we’d spoken, he’d acted like I was the antichrist and practically had me pinned to a tree, talking about ways to get dirty. And why hadn’t I brushed my hair this morning?
“Anyway, I’m glad you were out here.” He finished with the roof in record time and picked up the hose. He flashed a half grin at me and started spraying the car with water, the suds running down the sides like an overflowing cup. “I think I’m supposed to apologize.”
“You
Daemon faced me, eyes narrowed against the bright sun, and I barely dodged the spray of water as he tackled the opposite side of the car. “Yeah, according to Dee I needed to get my ass over here and make nice. Something about me killing her chances of having a ‘normal’ friend.”
“A normal friend? What kind of friends does she have?”
“Not normal,” he replied.
He preferred “not normal” friends for his sister? “Well, apologizing and not meaning it kind of defeats the purpose of apologizing.”
He made an affirmative noise. “True.”
I stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” he dragged the word out, working his way around the car as he continued to rinse off the soap suds. “Actually, I don’t have a choice. I have to make nice.”
“You don’t seem like a person who does anything he doesn’t want to do.”
“Normally I’m not.” He moved around to the back of the car. “But my sister took my car keys and until I play nice, I don’t get them back. It’s too damn annoying to get replacements.”
I tried to stop it, but I laughed. “She took your keys?”
He scowled, returning to my side. “It’s not funny.”
“You’re right.” I laughed. “It’s freaking hilarious.”
Daemon shot me a dirty look.
I folded my arms. “I’m sorry, though. I’m not accepting your not-so-sincere apology.”
“Not even when I’m cleaning your car?”
“Nope.” I smiled at the way his eyes narrowed. “You may never see those keys again.”
“Well, damn, there went my plan.” A begrudging smile toyed with the corners of his mouth. “I figured that if I really don’t feel bad, then at least I could make up for it.”
Part of me was annoyed, but there was another part of me that was amused — reluctantly amused. “Are you normally this warm and sparkly?”
He headed past me and turned the water off. “Always. Do you usually stare at guys when you stop over, asking for directions?”
“Do you always answer the door half-naked?”
“Always. And you didn’t answer my question. Do you always stare?”
Heat infused my cheeks. “I was
“Really?” he asked. That half grin was there again, hinting at dimples. “Anyway, you woke me up. I’m not a morning person.”
“It wasn’t that early,” I pointed out.
“I sleep in. It is summer, you know. Don’t you sleep in?”
I pushed back a strand of hair that had escaped my ponytail. “No. I always get up early.”
He groaned. “You sound just like my sister. No wonder she loves you so much already.”
“Dee has taste…unlike some,” I said. His lips twitched. “And she’s great. I really like her, so if you’re over here to play big, bad brother, just forget it.”
“That’s not why I’m here.” He gathered up the bucket and various sprays and cleansers. I probably should have helped him sort things out, but it was fascinating watching him take charge of my little cleaning project. Although he kept tossing me the odd half smile, I could tell this little exchange was awkward for him. Good.
“Then why are you here, other than delivering a crappy apology?” I couldn’t stop staring at his mouth when
