Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(55)

The whole thing felt so domesticated and so . . . normal.

Heidi looked like she belonged in my kitchen. It made me think that she was wrong. That maybe we’d make badass gardeners. My tulips could win the top prize at our fictional town’s gardening show. It was entirely possible that we’d kick ass at being normal.

But, really, what were the odds that two f*cked-up people like us could pull that off? I’d never been good at following the rules. I closed my arms around her, sliding my hand up her shirt to rest on her rib cage, right below her breasts. Burying my face in her neck, I inhaled her scent deeply. “Mm. Smells delicious, darlin’.”

“Thanks.” Heidi skated out of my arms, shooting me a nervous glance as she popped her earbuds out. Okay, then. She didn’t want to be touched. Message received loud and clear. “The secret is butter. It makes the eggs richer.”

I hadn’t been talking about the food, but I didn’t point that out. She was throwing up major back the hell off vibes. I tried again, lowering my voice, “Can’t wait to taste them.”

She picked up the plates. “Well, lucky for you, you don’t have to. It’s ready.”

“Thanks.” I grabbed the plates out of her hands and carried them out to the table. She followed me with two mugs of steaming coffee. “You do know that you don’t have to cook for me, right? I don’t expect anything because you’re living with me. I’m not that guy.”

“I know. But it keeps me busy.” She set the mugs down and lifted a shoulder. “Uh . . . the cooking, I mean. I don’t sit idly well. I need to do things, or my mind wanders. And when my mind wanders, I get even antsier than before. Like this morning. So, I cooked.”

I got that. I was the same way, but with the cars downstairs. I set my fork down, studying her closely for any hint of the reason she was acting so odd. The only thing I could figure it would be was regret. “I have to work today. Want me to get you anything while I’m out? Books? Movies? More booze?”

“I have to work tonight, too.” She fidgeted. “So, no, I’ll be fine. I won’t be here much longer, I’m sure.”

I made a mental note to be back before she went to the bar. I wanted to be there, guarding her. If I’d had it my way, she wouldn’t leave my place at all.

“What makes you say that?” I asked, half hoping she’d changed her mind and was going to take the cash and go, and half hoping she hadn’t. Selfish bastard. “Where you going?”

“Nowhere at the moment. But this thing with your brother can’t go on for much longer.” She picked up her spoon, set it down, and picked it back up again. “So once you handle the situation, I’ll be free to go home, and you can go back to . . . doing what you do.”

In other words, she couldn’t wait to get out of here. What-the-f*ck-ever. If she wanted to hit the road the second the coast was clear, I wouldn’t stop her. I could go back to enjoying my silent apartment, and my silent life, without any complications. And if I felt a cavity in the bottom of my stomach at the idea of going back to normal . . .

I’d ignore it.

I was good at ignoring shit I didn’t want to deal with.

“Working on cars, selling illegal guns, and killing *s,” I said, watching her the whole time. She didn’t even flinch. “In between being devastatingly charming in bars, that is. Can’t forget that part of my life.”

She set her spoon down again without touching her food. Her lips didn’t even twitch at my attempt at humor to lighten the situation. “Yeah. We can’t forget that.”

I didn’t know what to do with this version of Heidi. I wanted to make her feel better, but honestly I didn’t know how. If she was upset she’d f*cked me last night, there was nothing I could do to fix that. I couldn’t go back in time and unf*ck her, even if I wanted to. Which I didn’t. “I’ll be out all day, so you’ll have the place to yourself. Got some business to take care of.”

She pushed the eggs around on her plate. “Okay.”

We fell silent, and I ate quickly. By the time I was done, she’d nibbled on a piece of bacon and had barely eaten a bite of eggs. At some point, she’d given up attempting to look as if she’d actually eaten anything, and instead leaned back in her chair, holding her mug of coffee. Her gaze was on the bedroom door.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Huh?” Heidi’s attention flew back to me. “Yeah, of course.”

“All right . . .” I stood and grabbed my keys, shrugged into my leather jacket, stepped into my boots, and slipped my phone into my pocket. My gun, like usual, was already in its holster. “Come here.”

She stood up and walked over, her blue eyes shadowed. “Yeah?”

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

I snorted. “Darlin’, if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s spot a liar. Fess up. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“No.” Heidi averted her face. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“You’re regretting last night, aren’t you?”

“What? No.” She shook her head. “There’s nothing to regret. It was sex. Nothing more.”