Chapter Thirty-Two
“Ominous - threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments.”
Piper
My favorite song was playing on the radio when Dex pulled into the driveway of his townhouse.
As Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” played, I mouthed the words.
After a few minutes of us just sitting in the driveway, the car idling, I realized he wasn’t moving.
I turned my head and looked at him. He was watching me. I felt my cheeks heat under his gaze.
“What?” I asked.
“You like this song?” He smiled.
“No. I just mouth the words to songs I really hate,” I said sarcastically but with a smile on my face.
“I do that all the time too.” He grinned. “Why is it the worst lyrics always get stuck in your head?”
I laughed. “I don’t listen to songs I don’t like.”
“Huh. Now there’s an idea.”
I shook my head.
“If I leave you out here in the car with the engine running, you aren’t going to steal it and run away are you?” He teased.
“I don’t know. I might. This is a pretty amazing car.”
“It won’t be as amazing once I get out of it.” He wagged his eyebrows.
“I think that bump on your head has done more damage than we realized,” I said seriously.
He pulled on his glasses and looked at me over the black rims. “I assure you, I’m thinking perfectly clear.”
I laughed and a new song drifted through the speakers.
“I’ll be right back. I’m just going to grab a few things. That’s all that’ll fit in the trunk with the fifty pounds of stuff you brought.”
“I did not bring fifty pounds of things.” I sniffed. “Only forty-five.”
“Close enough,” he replied and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I watched him run up to the front door and let himself into the townhouse.
I really couldn’t believe the way my life had been going lately. It was so full of unexpected twists and turns. And now, here I was, about to go on a weekend getaway with a guy. It was kind of surreal.
The song that was playing on the radio was not one of my favorites so I leaned forward to turn the volume down and when I did, some movement in the upstairs window caught my eye.
I looked up, and there was definitely something or someone there.
But the person—a man?—was standing back from the glass, not right up behind it so I couldn’t make out who it was.
Plus, there were sheer curtains hanging and they were almost pulled together, only giving me a glimpse at the dark shape through the crack.
I doubted it was Dex. Why would he stand in the window and look out when he was supposed to be packing? Then I grinned. Maybe it was him and he was really looking to see if I had taken off with his car.
I leaned forward even more and waved up at him.
He didn’t wave back. In fact, he stepped away, the curtains swaying slightly from his movements, and then he disappeared.
Maybe it really hadn’t been Dex. Maybe it was the butler… Hobbs, I think.
But hadn’t he said Hobbs was off for a few days? I shrugged it off and leaned back in the seat.
A few minutes later Dex appeared, slamming the front door behind him and carrying a black duffle bag. I would never understand how guys managed to pack so lightly. Especially when here in Alaska we had to wear like a hundred layers just to keep from freezing.
He tossed the bag into the trunk and then hurried to get into the car.
I smiled at him, but he didn’t even look my way. Instead, he threw the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway suddenly.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him, concerned.
He barely glanced at me. “Everything’s fine.”
He put the car into drive and as we drove away I looked back at the house. There was someone standing in the window again, closer this time. I could see the looming shape of the man as he watched us drive away.
I shivered a little.
There was something creepy about the person standing there. Something ominous.
Dex must’ve noticed my shiver because he turned up the heat and when we turned the corner and headed off his street, he finally looked at me.
“This guy”—he hitched his thumb at himself—“is ready for a vacation.”
I smiled and nodded.
Who was that person in the window? Maybe this wasn’t a sudden vacation. Maybe Dex was running from something. Or someone. But whom?