They both froze. The moment was supercharged with unspoken attraction.
Luckily, Maddon chose that exact moment to come outside. “What are we doing sitting around here for? Let’s go!”
Chapter 8
When Imani, Maddon, and Garrett pulled up to the SanDusky, the parking lot was full. It was a tradition that on Sundays, different neighborhoods would come together for a good old-fashioned game of football.
Imani knew she would run into old friends. Considering she had no idea how long she would be home, it would be a great place to see everyone just in case she didn’t get around to it before leaving.
Maddon drove while Imani sat in the back of the SUV behind Garrett. He’d offered the front seat to her, but she preferred the unobstructed view of everything going on around and in front her. Truth be told, it was easier to study him.
On the drive over, Maddon talked and talked and talked. He never liked awkward silences, so he filled in the gaps with his own voice.
Imani was confident that Maddon hadn’t noticed Garrett’s responses to questions were vague at best. Her family was just too trusting and always willing to help strangers. In this day and age, that was dangerous. It wasn’t enough that they knew about Garrett’s personal problems but not much else.
She could kick herself for not asking more probing questions earlier, and she hadn’t had a chance to look him up on the internet. Her mind seemed to turn to mush when she was around him. Imani made a mental note to do it as soon as she got home. Did he live in Chicago? Where was he coming from and why? What did he do for a living?
No, Garrett hadn’t murdered anyone in her house . . . yet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t some Dexter type character. Some serial killers were charismatic like Ted Bundy. And, given that he still had one more shot at dicing them up in their sleep, since he would be staying with them until tomorrow, she figured she’d better get to looking into it. Garrett seemed nice enough, but one could never know for sure.
Imani sighed. There were so many questions, and so far, no answers. Maybe she was looking for a reason not to be attracted to him.
Several times on the drive over, Imani would look up into the rearview mirror only to catch Garrett watching her. Their eyes would connect for brief periods of time until the other realized they’d been staring. She didn’t like how just a glance made her feel tingly all over.
Once Maddon parked the SUV, he got a call on his cell phone. Imani could see the slight frown appear on his smooth forehead through his rearview mirror. He looked down at it then back up. “Hey, y’all go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
Garrett got out and then opened Imani’s door. He reached for her hand to help her out of the truck since it sat fairly high off the ground. A gentleman. She held her breath as her heart flipped—dammit. There it was pitter and pat.
Imani did her best not to make eye contact, but when his hand touched hers, her eyes flew to his. For moments, they both stood motionless. The energy between them was too hard to ignore.
“Good thing I’m leaving tomorrow. Otherwise, we might have to deal with all of this tension between us.” His thoughts tumbled from his lips.
Imani should have been relieved at the revelation that she wasn’t alone in her attraction, but she was conflicted. He’d spoken what she’d been thinking. At the very least, she should have been insulted. Did he think she was an easy lay? She wasn’t offended. If anything, knowing it made her pulse race.
She would never have wanted to be someone’s stress reliever, except maybe with him, as her mind went immediately to the possibilities.
Imani decided to respond as if he’d insulted her. He hadn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. “You do realize that’s piggish behavior, right? We just met.”
Instead of accepting his help out of the truck, Imani hopped down on her own, then started walking towards the field, more irritated with herself than with him.
Garrett closed the door. He was over six feet four, so it took no time to catch up to her. He seemed to do it easily. “You would never know based on how you keep looking at me. No one has ever accused me of being a Saint. Anyway, sex is just sex.”
Busted. She was embarrassed but tried to defend herself. “Don’t you mean me catching you staring at me?” Imani stopped walking then turned and looked up at him, squinting just a bit from the glare of the sun in her eyes. “For some women, yes, sex is just sex. For me, absolutely not.” She hesitated as if contemplating her next words. “You do realize you’ll let her win if you accept that logic.”
His jaw clenched, and he started walking leaving Imani standing there alone. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He was sarcastic. “I’m curious. Is everyone in your family a therapist?”
She lagged just a little behind but spoke loud enough for him to hear. “Didn’t you say it was therapeutic? Anyway, I think you can see from our own problems that’s not the case. We’re just real people trying to live life.”
Garrett started to feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time, guilt. He was taking his frustrations out on Imani and being
