He smirked as if he’d just read my mind. “I don’t need to take a girl to a secret location to fuck her in the back of my car. I could do that on the side of the road. A few people have told me about it. And for the record, You’re the only girl I’ve paid any attention to since moving here.”
That made me way happier than it should’ve, but I’d be damned if I let him know that.
“Come ere.” He tapped his hood, indicating for me to sit.
I left my bag and cell on the passenger seat and went to where he directed. With zero effort he lifted me up and sat me down on the warm metal, positioning himself beside me.
From up this high we could see the lake spread out below us like a glittering piece of glass. The air itself seemed fresher, purer. This was undoubtedly a beautiful place, but it didn’t hold a candle to the gloriously inked man beside me, currently running his eyes up and down my legs. I was glad I kept things shaved.
“You’ve got a thing for butterflies.” A matter-of- fact observation, not a question.
When he said it, I absentmindedly reached for the pendant that I once wore around my neck, but that was gone now.
It was the reason there was a bold red one tattooed on my foot, which had hurt like a sonofabitch, another on my hip, and a third hidden within the large cross inked on my back.
“It’s just a tattoo.” I wiggled my ankle to give the effect of moving wings.
“No tat is just a tat, and you’ve got a charm hanging inside your car.”
“That’s an air freshener.” I crossed my legs and got comfy. “When did you see the inside of my car?”
He adjusted so that we were shoulder to shoulder, though his arm dwarfed mine by three times. “When it was parked in my driveway and outside of the restaurant.”
“Oh. That’s a better answer then you saying you were stalking me. Though you do know where I live somehow.”
“If I admitted to always watching, would you really mind?”
What? I narrowed my eyes and looked over at him. “You’re joking, right?”
He slid off the hood of the car and moved so that he was standing in front of me. “I know you don’t know me, but there’s no denying there’s something here.” He waved his index finger between us. “So, how about this. I ask you two yes or no questions, and you do the same.”
I pondered that. I wasn’t too sure what I could gleam from a yes or no question, and he still hadn’t answered my pervious.
It seemed as if we were determined to dance around one another with words, neither giving too much away.
“That’s not going to tell me your name.”
“Sullivan. My last name,” he clarified.
Rhett Sullivan.
“Morkav,” I retorted. “It’s Ukrainian, my dad’s side of the family.”
“Annika filled me in on what happened so don’t feel compelled to rehash unless you want to. If you do need to talk, I’ll listen.”
Of course, she did. I guaranteed she’d told him where I lived too. There wasn’t anything to add to the last part of his confession. I never willingly discussed my parents. The wound was too raw, too fresh.
When he didn’t say something as stupid as, I’m sorry for your loss, I let out a breath of relief. The astounding number of people that offered me meaningless condolences was mind-blowing. Worse was getting asked if I was okay.
How the fuck could I be alright? They knew my parents were dead, the how and the why. They knew I’d been left completely alone. I understood at twenty-two I was supposed to be grown and independent.
I knew life was full of loss, bad shit happened and there was nothing I could do except move the hell on, but I would never outgrow my mom and dad.
“So, two questions?” I forced some pep into my voice, needing a swift subject change. I uncrossed my legs and re-adjusted how I was sitting.
“Two,” he confirmed, stepping closer.
Thinking of what my life had been like the past few weeks and all the things still coming my way… I needed him to say yes to this even if it was a lie.
“Am I safe with you?”
He placed his hands on my knees, rubbing the skin gently.
As we were now, with sunlight streaming through the trees, I could see the swirls of glittering onyx and tinges of blue at the edge of his eyes, enclosing the metallic silver. It didn’t feel like he was staring at me, but through me, right to my rotting core.
This had likely been his version of an icebreaker, not anything to take too seriously. Or, so I thought. He pulled me towards him, spreading my legs and positioning himself between them. My dress rose up way beyond the point of decency, I didn’t bother trying to fix it.