Hard to Get (Killer of Kings Book 4)(13)

“Is that how you can read lips?” he asked. “The streets.”

This made her frown. “What does it matter if I can read lips? Growing up, it saved me. I was able to know when shit was going to go bad.”

Silence fell between them, and she kept on staring at him, waiting for him to say something else.

He held his hands up. “I’m sorry.”

She took a cleansing breath. “Yeah. Me, too. I think the early morning murder and mayhem has messed with my head.”

Shadow smirked. Why did he have to look so damn sexy when she tried to hate him? “I’m going to stick around to make sure they stay away from this place.”

“If I die because you started something, I’m so going to come back as a ghost and haunt your ass.”

“I look forward to the company.”

He walked toward the front, looking out the good panes of glass.

“Maybe in death I’ll finally figure out your secrets,” she said.

Shadow turned back toward her. “Maybe one day I’ll show you exactly what I am.”

She didn’t like that he made her crave to know more about him. He was just some guy, not important to her in the slightest, and yet, here she was, panting after him like a damn schoolgirl.

She had to be strong and focus on the day’s baking, and ignore the sexy man and the last few hours.

Once she finished the toast and had her hair wrapped her up, she was ready to begin the day’s baking. Riley was good at blocking out reality and carrying on in spite of it. Instead of worrying about bodies, police, money, and Shadow, she started baking some cupcakes. She was in a brownie cupcake mood. Every now and again she’d peek a look around the kitchen and find Shadow playing with his phone.

“Stop looking at him. Stop caring what he’s doing. You don’t care that he’s this super-hot guy that stuck up for you.”

She made sure to whisper her little beratement so that he didn’t hear her. He was the first guy in all of her life to actually give a shit and stick up for her. As much as she didn’t want to care, it made her heart flutter, made her feel special.

Once the cupcakes were cooling, she made up the chocolate fudge frosting. Time went nowhere, and before long, she’d gotten everything baked, and her mind was still all over the place. The moment the counter was filled, and she felt like herself again, she nodded at Shadow to open the door. He did so without a second glance at her.

What did he think when he looked at her?

Why did she even care what he thought? It wasn’t like they were ever going to get together. He could get anyone he wanted. And she couldn’t stand him.

Total lie.

She didn’t like how she couldn’t get him off her mind. He managed to calm her temper, make her smile.

The window company came as promised, leaving her store better than when it started.

“I’ll pay you back for that,” she said. “It might take me a while.”

Shadow shook his head. “I didn’t ask for your money.”

When some of her early clients came in, she was waiting for comments on the crime scene outside. She’d refused to look, wishing it had all been a bad dream. They said nothing.

Riled dared to peek out across the parking lot when she looked at the new window.

“How is that possible?” she whispered.

“What?”

“It’s like nothing happened. Two men died over there. This isn’t possible…”

“I took care of it.”

Again with the riddles. Who the hell was Shadow?

There was a lull, so she decided to people watch. One woman read a list of instructions, and Riley smirked.

“What do you see?” Shadow asked. He’d got up and moved closer to her, and even though she wanted to ignore him, she didn’t, and instead told him.

“The woman on the bench is reading a form on how to treat constipation.” The woman’s lips were moving, and she found it funny that no one else knew what the woman was doing.

“That’s a pretty good gift.”

“It’s nothing.” She looked toward another woman who was talking on her phone in the parking lot. “That woman there needs a doctor’s appointment. She has itching down below, and thinks it’s herpes.”

“It must keep you entertained to know other people’s secrets.”

“It passes the time, and I don’t know everyone’s secrets.”

****

Later that night Shadow was spending way too much time in his basement watching Riley. She was … unique, different, and he didn’t know what to make of her. Today she’d been a mixture of fire and ice. Not once did she go to the police or put a call through. The window had been repaired, and he’d supervised the guys who did the job.

One of them had been trying to hit on Riley, to get her number and ask her out. There was no way in hell he was allowing that to happen, so he’d told them that she belonged to him. She was his woman.

Damn it.

This was not supposed to be complicated, and yet that was exactly what was happening. Shadow’s life with Killer of Kings was extreme—murder and everything seedy in the world. Riley was right about him. He was living a lie, just like she was. Shadow lived in the suburb because he was essentially playing house. The feeling of normalcy gave him a high, even if counterfeit, because it had always been out of reach.