The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(18)

After their short period bonding over the whiskey, he’d told her to take the bed. Of course she’d fought him, but then he said that if she didn’t take the bed, he’d carry her to the mattress himself, and she had a strong suspicion he wasn’t bluffing.

So she’d gone along and taken the comfortable bed. She didn’t even know where Adam slept. She’d been too on edge to step out of the relative safety of the bedroom. The spots of sleep she’d gotten were interrupted at the crack of dawn when she’d heard movement in the galley. Then he’d knocked on the door and said he was going out to get some things together. He said he’d be back sometime in the afternoon, whenever that was.

She’d already walked around the boat and raided the pantry for breakfast. Most of the provisions on the boat had an alcohol content higher than ten percent. But she’d found some crackers, and the water from the faucet tasted cool and clean. But there was no television, and her phone battery was critical because she didn’t bring a charger with her, so now here she was, back in the stranger’s bed.

It smelled good. That was a strange thought to have, but she’d been bored out of her mind, so she’d been having strange thoughts. It smelled like soap and Adam. She hadn’t realized she knew what Adam smelled like until she had rested her head against the pillow. But considering his penchant for invading her personal space, she wasn’t surprised.

Finally she heard commotion from outside and she sat up. Opening the door, she could see through the window over the sink that the skiff was tied up again, which meant Adam was back.

Adam was just climbing onto the houseboat in one smooth motion that looked almost inhuman. She supposed he’d done it enough.

When he came into the galley, Melody crossed her arms over her chest. “Are we leaving soon?” The evening had cooled off the boat considerably, but the temperature was already creeping up.

“Soon. I have to pack things up.”

She raised a brow and glanced around them at the boat. “Pack up what? You don’t own anything.”

“I see you’ve been snooping.”

“You abandoned me, Blondie.”

He frowned. “What did you just call me?”

She shifted her weight. “Well, I didn’t know your name until after you so graciously left me your fingerprints on the glass you used to drug me.”

“And Blondie is what you chose?”

She moved her hand in an up and down motion, gesturing to his face. “What should I have gone with?”

“I don’t know. Something scary.”

“Trust me, you’re scary enough.”

They both went quiet at the reminder of what had happened. She hated to remember. No, remember wasn’t a good word. It wasn’t as though she ever really forgot. That event was burned into the periphery of her mind like a scar that would never fade. But sometimes it was closer to the surface.

“Get in the skiff,” said Adam as he passed her to the stateroom. “I’ll be ready to go in ten.”



Adam steered the boat toward Billy’s dock and Melody held onto the metal railing of the boat. She hadn’t sat down the entire ride. She seemed on edge and ready to jump ship any second, literally and metaphorically.

Part of him still hoped she would change her mind. That she’d realize that this was a fight she shouldn’t be getting in the middle of and go back home, wherever that was. But if what she said about her mother was true, it made sense that she’d be set on this path.

Normal people suffered tragedy and then moved on. When normal people became victims, they realized how unfair it was, but they didn’t fight it. They wallowed or acted out, but they didn’t pull out a gun and go after the attacker.

But normal was a species he’d never really gotten along with anyway.

“You’re going to leave your boat here?” asked Melody as the boat bumped against the dock.

“Billy is going to see to my place while I’m gone. In return, he’s allowed to use my shit.”

“Best friends forever?” she asked skeptically.

“Somethin’ like that.” Billy had been a part of his life as long as he could remember. Probably one of the only people from his childhood he was still in contact with. Billy had always been a few marbles short of being a father figure, but he’d been dependable, which was exactly what Adam had needed. Now that their roles were reversed, Adam tried to be there for Billy.

Even if the son of a bitch had sold him out to Melody. Though when she climbed from the boat onto the dock and his eyes found their way to the curve of her ass as it pressed tightly against her cargo pants, he figured Billy thought he was doing Adam a favor.

He powered down the motor and tucked the keys where Billy would know to find them.

Melody twisted around on the dock. “Billy isn’t around?”

“He’s hunting gators.”

Her eyes widened. “As in killing them? Why?”

He shook his head as he grabbed the duffel bag he’d loaded up and climbed onto the dock. “Never thought you’d feel bad for the gators.”

“Well, they were here first.”

The corner of his mouth hooked up. “Don’t worry. He’s not killin’ ’em. He’s hunting the eggs.”

“But he’s not killing the eggs?”