Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
Sage
Iwake with a start, heart pounding, lungs seizing. It’s the kind of panic that pulses when I remember something important.
Nova.
Looking around, I take in the dark furnishings and the naked man lying beside me with the sheets settled on his hips. He doesn’t have a clock on either of the nightstands. The sun is shining bright enough through the small crack in the curtains to tell me I’m late. I can’t be late.
I start to ease from the bed and sigh. I don’t have my car.
“Go back to sleep, pet.” Barrett’s groggy voice is muffled by the pillow.
“I have to go. I’m late.”
“For what?”
I open my mouth to tell him, but then close it. “None of your business. I need to leave. Now.”
He sighs as he pushes up from the bed, taking the covers with him.
I scramble to clutch them to my chest. He smirks as he eyes my hands over my breasts while sitting back on his heels, gloriously naked.
And hard. His cock, the massive thing of beauty, stands tall, pointing toward me as if it knows exactly what it wants.
“It’s important. I have to go.”
His eyes narrow. “Get dressed. I’ll drive you.”
“Home. You’ll drive me home.”
“Did you forget what transpired last night, pet?”
I blink, trying to pick out which event he might be referring to.
“You watched me kill a man.”
“Considering that’s what brought us together, I don’t see how that’s an issue.”
“Ah, but you’re not supposed to be this far involved.”
“And who’s fault is that?”
“Yours, pet. You didn’t listen.”
“So because I witnessed something I already knew about you, I can’t go anywhere?” I’m ignoring the fact I panicked over who he murdered. Assassinated. Is there a difference?
“You’re forgetting the rest of last night. Or early this morning.”
“We fucked. There’s nothing special about that.” My cheeks heat with the lie. I felt more deeply with him than I ever have with anyone else.
His lips lift in a not-so-friendly way and he leans forward. Before I can say anything more, his hand grips my jaw. “That sounds like a challenge.” He pushes me back.
My body clenches, begging for him to prove me wrong, but it isn’t enough to forget where I’m supposed to be right now.
I don’t have a choice.
“Okay! I concede. Please. This is important, but I can’t go in what I wore here. You have to take me home first. And I need to find my phone.”
Barrett stops and his grip on my jaw loosens. After a moment of studying my face, he nods. “Let’s go.”
Fifteen minutes later, we’re on our way to my house so I can change into clothes that aren’t baggy sweats and at least put a bra on.
I’ve called Nova’s counselor’s office to let them know we’re running late, not as late as I thought, and I’ve tried calling Nova with no answer.
I’m vibrating in the passenger seat when Barrett pulls up outside of my house, and I open the door, before he has the car fully in park.
“Sage!”
I ignore his growl and race up the walkway to meet a locked door.
“Where are my keys?” I whirl on him following close behind.
He has my keys in his fist. I don’t have time to question where he had them stashed or when he grabbed them between carrying me off last night and this morning.
“In case I wasn’t clear before or I haven’t given enough hints, I’m in a hurry. ”
Nothing I say makes him move faster, but he reaches around me and unlocks my door. I’ll worry about getting my keys back from him once I’ve changed and I’m ready to leave.
Another ten minutes and I have clean clothes on and I look a little better than decent enough to go out in public.
Glancing at my clock on my nightstand, where a sane person places their time-keeping apparatus, I see Nova’s appointment is supposed to start now.
When I called the receptionist, I said we’d be about ten minutes late. I’m pushing that barrier now. Damn it.
Running down the stairs, I hold my hand out so that when I pass Barrett standing near the door he can pass me my keys, but he doesn’t and I skid right past him.
“Now. I need to go now. Please, give me my keys.” Knowing I don’t have time to argue with him, I force sweetness and a touch of begging into my tone.
“I’m driving.”
“Barrett, you can’t. I swear I will call you as soon as I’m back.
Anything you ask for, but please, let me go.
” The longer he stares back at me, the more I’m sure I’ll have to concede to him once again and let him drive.
Getting to Nova and taking her to her appointment is more important than winning against Barrett.
He holds out my keys.
“Thank you,” I say, thick with gratitude. I snatch my keys and run out the door, not worrying about closing it behind me.
I’m lucky traffic is thin. Nova is in the same place as the last time I picked her up, sitting on her couch, ready to go and bouncing her legs.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Nova. I called their office, they know we’re coming.”
“Why are you late?”
“I overslept. I’m so sorry. Come on.”
She blinks up at me and after a moment, she sighs.
I’m worried I’ll have to pull her up, or worse, cancel her appointment, when she finally stands.
Once I have her settled in the car and we’re on our way, I relax a little.
I’m still switching lanes often and driving a few clicks over the speed limit to get us there, but at least we’re on our way.
“You didn’t say how your last session went.” She isn’t talkative when she comes out, and I don’t push her. It isn’t my place to know what goes on in her sessions. As long as she’s getting help, that’s all that matters to me.
“It was fine.”
“Do you like the counselor? If you don’t think she’s a good fit, we can find someone else. Not everyone meshes well together.”
“She’s fine. Why did you oversleep?”
“I didn’t sleep well last night.” Not a lie considering I barely slept at all.
I keep my eyes on the road even though I feel my sister staring at me.
I recognize the heat of her stare that she used to use when we were growing up and she tried to figure out what I’d done so she could avoid getting in trouble alongside me.
Relief whooshes out of me as I watch her walk into the office, knowing we made it and I didn’t let her down. But I almost did, and that was enough to piss me off.