I sucked in a sharp breath. “Doesn’t it freak you out? That I might touch you and see something you don’t want me to?”
“No.”
“But—”
“Open book, Goldie,” he reminded me. His eyes found mine in the dark. “Might actually save me some time, you knowing my thoughts before I have to tell you.”
“Hilarious.”
“Wasn’t kidding.” His eyes crinkled up at the corners. “You want to know what I’m thinking now?”
“Not particularly.”
“I’m thinking I’m glad your car is such a steaming piece of crap that it broke down in my town. I’m thinking I’m glad you’ve been too busy making friends and walking my dog and fucking my brains out to ask me a single question about the repair status of said car.”
My mouth fell open.
Cade wasn’t done. “I’m thinking younotasking about your car means you’re finally realizing you have no desire to get your fine ass back in that driver’s seat and leave this place in your rearview, because what you’ve found here — intentionally or not — is the best thing you’ve had in years. Maybe in your whole damn life. And I’m thinking that’s going to play nicely into my plans, seeing as I have no intentions of letting you ride off into the sunset without me.”
My mouth was officially hanging open.
“You having a stroke or just processing?”
“Processing,” I muttered, like total idiot. Because, well…
I was!
Cade grinned.
“I don’t see what there is to grin about, Cade Hightower.”
“Then you’re fucking blind.”
I glared at him. “What exactly is happening with my car?”
“I talked to Puck this afternoon. The part he ordered should be in by tomorrow night. He’ll have your shitbox up and running by mid-week.”
“Excellent.”
“Not the word I would’ve used,” he muttered, voice losing all humor. “You talking about leaving doesn’t exactly thrill me to bits, beautiful.”
I held his stare for a long moment, ignoring my thudding heart. “You knew when you met me, I’m not one for standing still.”
“Because of your uncle.” A statement, not a question.
“You’re not getting the scope of my situation. If I stop moving… if he finds me again…” I shook my head. “I’m not getting dragged back into that life.”
“You’re the one not getting the scope, here. If he comes at you again, if he even tries, I’ll stop him. He’ll have to go through me to get to you.”
“Cade—”
“That means he’s going through the full force of the Salem Police Department.”
“Cade, I just?—”
“He’ll also have to go through Georgia. And Florence. And Desmond, which isn’t saying much, seeing as he’s a nonviolent professor who uses his hands to grade papers, not to fight. But it’s still something.”
“But—”