A connection like this is undying, undeniable.
At least I knew that now. I knew I’d always been right about Blade.
I’d been right to trust my feelings.
I turned to him, smiling into his eyes, his kiss soft and sweet as he pulled me close. I snuggled up against him, reveling in the feel of his solid chest, his massive arms wrapped tightly around me.
“Why did you come here?” I asked, finally.
“You mean this afternoon? Now?”
“Yes.”
He hesitated and I felt his body stiffen slightly, which alarmed me. Lifting my head, I looked up at him and saw reluctance in his eyes.
“Is something wrong?”
“Maybe we should get dressed for this conversation,” he whispered.
The spell broken, I untangled myself from his embrace and stood staring down at him, his massive body wrapped in my grandmother’s patchwork quilt.
“Tell me,” I demanded, grabbing a t-shirt from my dresser and pulling it over my body.
He sat up, shaking his head. “Gimme a minute,” he growled.
He pulled himself out of bed and slid on his jeans, which made me regret having asked anything at all once I couldn’t see all of his body anymore. If he hadn’t alarmed me so much with his answer, I may have taken the question back completely, if I could do so.
When he was standing in front of me with his fly respectfully buttoned up, he looked over at me seriously.
“I wanted to talk to you about Maggie.”
“Maggie?” I asked, confused. “What about her?”
“Well, she’s about to be eighteen, right?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Well, do you know where she is? Like, exactly? Right now?”
“School’s out by now, so she’s with her friends, Blade. Do you want to tell me what this is all about?”
“I’m just saying, with everything going on, with some asshole out there killing girls, it might be a good idea to keep a closer eye on her.”
I cocked my head, trying to make sense of what he was saying.
“A closer eye?” I repeated. Had he come here to criticize my parenting? Maggie was a handful sometimes, but she was a good kid. I didn’t feel the need to be a helicopter parent and she was, indeed, almost eighteen. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She got great grades in school, she was active and social, I wasn’t really too worried about her, other than what effect the divorce was having on her relationship with Derek.
“I don’t understand,” I said, finally. I grabbed a pair of shorts and slid them over my thighs. “You came here to tell me to keep a better eye on my kid?”
“No, not exactly. But sort of. I’m just saying, kids do stupid shit. We certainly did.” He flashed me a sheepish smile.
“Maggie isn’t me. And she’s a good girl. Also, I’m a phone call away if she needs me. I don’t think I need to worry about her, unless there’s something you aren’t telling me?”
He ran a hand through his hair, and I swallowed hard. He was still standing there without a shirt on, and I could still feel him inside me, feel his tongue on mine, feel his hands sliding over my skin, and yet irritation was settling in and I hated it.
“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head.
I shook my head, trying to understand what he was trying to tell me.
“That’s why you came here?” I demanded again.
“Yes. And to see you.”
I couldn’t shake the irritation. I didn’t need anyone butting into my business with the girls, and I certainly didn’t need someone who hadn’t been around in decades to tell me how to raise them.
I was already so over-sensitive to all the things I might be doing wrong and his criticism didn’t help.
What did he even know about life in Savannah anymore?
“Maybe I should leave,” he said. “I didn’t mean to piss you off.”
He moved to walk around the bed and picked up his t-shirt from the floor, sliding it on and taking even more of that delicious flesh away. I wanted to ask him to stay, but I couldn’t find the words.
I’d known the moment he kissed me that this was a fleeting thing.
Watching him walk out the front door again so soon after walking through it felt like a knife piercing my heart, but I endured it silently. I lifted my chin, swallowing my words.
Swallowing my pride.
“I’ll see you around, Rose,” he said, as he walked out.
“See ya,” I managed to mumble, my heart crumbling to pieces in my chest.
Chapter 30
BLADE
What the fuck just happened?
My cells were still buzzing from receiving the most physical stimulation they’d had in decades, and within literally one hour, I’m back on my bike and roaring back down the road like some rejected asshole.
I was furious.
I was confused.
I was fucking hurt, to be honest.
She’d taken everything I said and twisted it. I didn’t tell her about the fucking list because I didn’t want to frighten her. I didn’t tell her I’d seen Maggie at the cemetery because I didn’t want to be a fucking snitch and get in their business.
I certainly wasn’t accusing her of being a bad mother, for fuck’s sake.
The wind rushed past me as I squeezed the throttle of the bike, the vibrations of the old clunker a little rougher than the beautiful Harley I’d restored back home.
Home.
This place wasn’t home anymore. I looked around at all the deceptive beauty around me — the trees, the moss, the water, the incredible architecture, the gardens, hell even the graveyards were immaculate and breathtaking, but underneath it all was a constant tension and unpleasantness — and to be blunt, shit just wasn’t real, it wasn’t as pretty as it looked.
Just like Hank said the other night.
And even Rose wasn’t home anymore. After that scene, I had no idea what she was.
“Fuck!” I shouted, my helmet swallowing the sound.
I hadn’t meant to make love to Rose. My god, I didn’t even expect to touch her at all. I cursed, thinking about how
