Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air #3)(8)

Yeah. When it came to describing Brody, words failed Maddie, too. “He’s actually very nice.”

“Seriously?”

“Okay, not necessarily nice, but he’s a good man.”

“I thought good and man were oxymorons.”

“Not all men are *s, Leena.”

Unable, or unwilling, to believe, her sister shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway, right? We’re leaving?”

“Yeah.” Maddie rubbed the ache in the center of her chest. She understood her sister’s fears about needing to vanish, but Maddie hadn’t lived in that world in a long, long time.

She intended to never live there again and hoped to make sure Leena didn’t either. “Listen, why don’t you go take your shower and that nap you wanted? Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Everything’s never okay.”

“A little positive thinking here, Leen. It goes a long way.”

“Okay.” Leena managed a smile and feigned a toast. “To positive thinking. To our plan.”

Maddie returned the smile, pretending for both of their sakes that it was real. She realized nothing about The Plan was the smartest thing, at least not for her, but she didn’t have a choice. A promise was a promise, with her sister’s life on the line. “To The Plan.”

Looking relieved, Leena nodded and grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand, sticking it in her pocket as she headed to the door.

Maddie waited until she was gone before turning back to the window and letting out a long breath. Lying…making promises she couldn’t keep…. Yeah, she was on a roll today.

Because everything was not going to be okay, not by a long shot. Not unless she personally made it so. And it looked as if maybe she’d have no choice but to do just that or live in constant fear again.

Not going to happen.

Still, she had another, more immediate problem. Brody had left, yes, but she hadn’t been born yesterday, and neither had he, damn him. And suddenly, she knew. She left the bedroom at a run, skidding to a stop at the top of the stairs, craning her neck to peek out the high, rounded beveled glass window that allowed extra light to beam down the steps and into the living room.

Yes, there. The glint of something not natural parked in the woods.

A Camaro.

Driven by an avenging angel in tough guy clothes with tousled hair and a badass attitude.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she got goose bumps. He was coming for her.

Damn it. Damn him.

She went running down the hardwood stairs, racing through the living room to the sliding glass door she’d kept locked since she’d gotten here, the door she’d been double-checking ever since the moment her sister appeared out of the blue after several years of no contact. Locked, but the shades hadn’t been pulled. She needed to get to them before—

Too late.

Breathless, she gripped the shades as if they were a lifeline, staring at Brody standing on the other side of the glass.

He slowly arched a daring brow at her. Really? his expression and stance said. You really think a locked door can keep me out if I want in?

“I’ll call the police,” she said through the glass.

He let out a half smile and shook his head. She wouldn’t. She knew it, and so did he. And as he stepped closer to the glass, there was a deceptive and unnerving quietness to his movements, to the way he looked at her, which told her that she wasn’t getting out of talking to him until he’d gotten whatever answers he sought.

Damn it! She should have just dealt with him, answered the front door herself and taken her paychecks, told him whatever he needed to hear, and he’d have been long gone by now.

Instead, he was on to her—not knowing exactly what he was on to, but on to her nevertheless. His smile might be laid-back and easygoing, but his body shimmered with tension, and also a strength and a solidity she knew she could count on.

He eyed the locked door, then lifted his head so that their gazes met. “Let me in.”

Oh, God. A part of her wanted to. Wanted to more than anything. But she shook her head.

“Then tell me what’s wrong.”

She found her voice, even managed to inject a tone of irritation in it. Not too difficult when she was irritated, not to mention frustrated, exhausted, and the doozy…terrified. Hell of a combination. “Nothing’s wrong, except you’re bugging the hell out of me.”

His eyes narrowed as they took her in from head to toe, which once upon a time, would have positively stolen her breath because he had a way of looking at her, really looking. She actually did experience some of that usual breathlessness, but it was because she realized she’d really screwed up. She and Leena weren’t wearing the same thing.

Appearances were important to her. Very important. Her life could be in the toilet along with her self-esteem, but with the right makeup, the right clothes, and the right expression, no one would know it.

She’d spent the past year wearing such fa?ades at Sky High Air, looking completely on top of her world, when in reality, it could all crumble at a moment’s notice.

As it had with Leena’s appearance.

She should have known. Karma was a bitch, and inescapable. Especially since unlike Leena, she wore only a pair of loose sweats low on her hips and a sports bra, and nothing else. No makeup, no armor of any kind.