“‘Love you, too.’”
He didn’t say anything.
Brynn plucked at the hem of her pillowcase. “Wife?”
“No.”
She let go a shaky breath. “A little late for me to be asking, but I’m relieved to know I didn’t commit adultery.”
“You’re safe on that score. In fact, you’re safe on every score.”
He flung back the sheet and got up. Moving to the window, he checked the parking lot. “Our friend is still there.”
The phone he’d gotten from her dad had been charging on the nightstand. He unplugged it and checked the readout. “Good to go. You’d better start calling anybody you trust with your new number.” As he made his way toward the bathroom, he scooped his jeans off the floor.
Startled by his abruptness, Brynn sat up and held the sheet against her chest. “Are you coming back?”
“No. I’ll keep a lookout. You want the bathroom first?”
She gave a small shake of her head and pulled the covers up to a more modest level. “You go ahead.”
“I won’t take long.”
He didn’t. She’d heard the commode flush. The shower ran for about ninety seconds. Several minutes later, he came out. He was wearing his jeans; his hair was still wet. He didn’t look her in the eye. In fact, he didn’t look at her at all.
He picked up his shirt, went to pull it on, and noticed that the sleeves were inside out. He flapped the shirt to shake loose the bunched fabric. “Why don’t you sleep for a while. If he leaves, I’ll wake you up.”
“You should sleep, too.”
“Heard that already. From Dash.”
“You talked to him?”
“Texted him while I was in the bathroom. Sent him my new phone number.”
“Has he heard anything more from Wilson?”
“No, and I asked.”
“Maybe they’re responsible for the car outside.”
“If they had tracked us here, we would know it. They wouldn’t be covert.”
She thought so, too, which made her even more leery of the policeman outside. Wilson and Rawlins were a threat, but they were restricted to abiding by the law. The worst they could do was detain her and prevent her from getting to Violet in time.
A corrupt lawman posed much more danger, as did Goliad and Timmy, who were lawless and would go to extremes on behalf of Richard Hunt. She only had to look at Rye’s left hand to be reminded that they could strike with violence. “You never put anything on those cuts.”
“They’re fine.” One of the sleeves was still bedeviling him.
“Stop fighting with that. If you won’t lie down, at least sit down.”
“Why are you nagging me?”
“Why are you acting like an ass?”
He stopped wrestling with the shirt and threw it down. “Because it would be a shame to ruin a really great fuck with stupid and pointless conversation.”
She held his stare for a moment, then rolled to her other side and tucked the covers beneath her chin. “If our cop hasn’t left within an hour, I’ll take my chances and sneak out. You’ll enjoy that. You’ll be free of me.”