Chapter Fourteen
CREW STEPPED OUT of the bookstore, into the cool evening air.
The streets of Allure were quiet, the streetlights throwing low shadows across the sidewalk.
Most of the other shops had already been closed when he’d arrived.
He hadn’t planned on coming here when he’d left the ranch.
He’d only wanted to get the hell away from the tension that consumed him whenever he ran into Dare.
He’d run into him at dinner, but Dare hadn’t said anything.
That was the problem. Crew could handle outrage, but the hateful sneers made him feel like he was the target of Dare’s every conversation.
That made him paranoid.
He’d tried to chill out in his cabin, but his thoughts were too loud, ricocheting between Birdie, Dare, his run-in with Cowboy, and his session with Colleen. After wearing a path in the cabin floor, he’d finally snagged his keys and taken off.
He told himself he was trying to outrun his own thoughts, getting away from the source of the tension.
It wasn’t until he’d driven past Birdie’s shop, which was closed, that he’d admitted to himself how being close to her steadied him in a way nothing ever had.
That was probably fucked up, since she could barely stand to look at him, but the pull was too strong to deny.
He walked around the corner, heading for the parking lot where he’d left his SUV, and was halfway down the sidewalk when he saw Birdie coming out of a bar across the street.
Her hair trailed over the shoulders of her long suede coat, fringe dancing from the arms. A guy followed her out, and they stood on the sidewalk talking.
Possessiveness hit fast and uninvited. Crew ground his back teeth against it.
She wasn’t his to be jealous over, and she would never be, but that didn’t stop his muscles from cording tight as the guy across the street leaned in.
Birdie laughed, but it wasn’t the carefree laugh she’d shared with Crew.
It sounded polite, but it still floated into Crew’s ears.
A reminder that Birdie had briefly made the world feel dangerously simple.
With her, he’d existed without bracing for an accusation or…
fuck, he didn’t know what, but he hadn’t felt that type of ease since before he’d lost his brother.
The guy said something that had Birdie shaking her head.
His posture changed from relaxed to more rigid and irritated, and he leaned in again.
This time Birdie stepped back. The guy grabbed her arm.
Crew started moving, but before he could cross the street, Birdie yanked her arm free, getting as close to the guy’s face as she could at five foot nothing, and blasted him.
“Don’t you ever put your hands on me! If you think grabbing a woman will make her want you, you’re even more clueless than you are boring.”
She spun on her heel and stormed off, but Crew stayed put, watching the asshole like a hawk.
BIRDIE’S PULSE WAS still racing when she pulled into the driveway of her hundred-year-old brick home. It was only two bedrooms, with a cute front porch and a rooftop deck out back that made the house look like it was hiding a castle, but she loved it.
She cut the engine and texted Rebel.
Birdie: Why are men so freaking entitled?
Rebel: Your date? Do I need to track the bastard down?
Birdie: No. I handled him, but I’m not built for this dating life.
Rebel: Okay, drama girl.
Birdie: I’m being serious. How is it possible that I’m almost thirty and have met exactly ONE man who made my head, heart, and body sing?
How unfair was it that he’d crushed her that very same night? Why couldn’t she just hate him for it? And why can’t she stop thinking about him?
Rebel: I don’t want to know about your body singing.
Birdie: Maybe I should get a dog.
Rebel: No pets. You’d have to remember to feed it.
Birdie: Are you saying I’m not responsible? I’ve taken enough shit from guys tonight. You’re supposed to build me up! Tell me I don’t need a dog because I’m beautiful and funny and smart and the right guy is going to walk into my life any day now!
Rebel: That’s way too many words for a dude.
Rebel: Love you, and yeah, all those things.
She grabbed her bag and headed up the walkway, mentally bitching a blue streak.
“Hey, Trouble.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs, and she spun around. Crew appeared out of nowhere on the sidewalk. How had she missed him standing there? And why was she so happy to see him? “Do you enjoy scaring the hell out of me?”
“Sorry,” he said in a low voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that her pulse was racing for a whole different reason.
“No,” he said immediately. “I saw you in town. Outside the bar—”
“So you were stalking me?” Could her safety radar be that far off?
“No. I was leaving the bookstore when I saw you and that guy. He seemed pushy. I stuck around to step in if he got too aggressive, but then you handled him like a freaking boss.”
She stood a little taller with that compliment.
“I just wanted to make sure he didn’t follow you home,” Crew said.
Her heart squeezed. She’d been shitty to him Wednesday night, and he was still watching out for her? “So you followed me instead? Like a stalker?” she teased.
He almost cracked a smile. “I was making sure he didn’t cause you more trouble. I got his license plate just in case.” He stepped forward, holding out a piece of paper. “Better safe than sorry.”
She took it slower than necessary, wanting to drag out their encounter. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry you had a bad night,” he said. “But you look beautiful.”
“Thanks. It wasn’t bad, just boring until the end. We had no chemistry. I think you broke my chemistry meter.”
“That so?” His lips quirked.
“Yes. Now that I know what this feels like”—she motioned between them—“everything else falls flat.”
His jaw tightened, stifling a smile that the amusement in his eyes gave away.
“It’s not funny. You ruined me,” she said, stifling her own smile, because it was completely ridiculous and utterly true.
“I didn’t—”
“You did,” she said, and the truth tumbled out.
“You didn’t think I was too much, and you were so easy to be with.
You were funny in this quiet, confident way, and careful with me but not afraid to take control.
” Emotions stacked up inside her, and she was unable to slow herself down.
“We clicked right away, and you’re mysterious enough that I didn’t turn into a firehose.
Except Wednesday night. I definitely let it rip that night.
But that’s because now I’m stuck in the real world, where Vikings don’t exist. They just hit the people you love with their car,” she said hoarsely.
“Then show up and turn your life upside down.”
Crew went as still as a statue, like she’d struck bone.
“I’m sorry.” She rushed forward, touching his arm, wishing she could take it back. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Yes, you did,” he said. “It’s the truth.”
She threw her hands up, sadness overtaking her.
“You’re right. I did mean it, and I’m still sorry.
I don’t know what to do with all these feelings.
I should hate you. Or at least dislike you for what you did to me, and for hurting Dare and Billie, and scaring the fucking daylights out of all of us that night.
We almost lost them. But I don’t hate you.
I can’t. I can’t reconcile a man who would do that with the guy I was getting to know. It doesn’t make sense.”
He nodded, his gaze trailing down to the grass. “It doesn’t make sense to me, either.”
The grief and confusion in his voice tugged at that tender place he’d unearthed inside her. When he met her gaze, the sorrow in his eyes told her his emotions were genuine.
“Do you want to come inside and talk?”
His jaw flexed again. “More than anything, but only if you’re sure you want me to. I understand if you don’t.”
“Really, Ragnar?” she said, exasperated. “After everything I said, you think I don’t want to try to understand this?”
His expression softened. “I’m just giving you an out, Trouble.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s the other thing. You make Trouble sound like a gift.” She tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s go, Viking.”