He cocks his head to the side. “Depends on who you ask,” he says without an ounce of humor.
“What do you want, Slade?” I ask, keeping at least three feet of precious space between us.
I act stupid when we’re closer than that.
Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t try to close that distance. He seems to prefer space between us as well.
His eyes sweep down my body in a slow, lingering way. I feel his gaze caressing every place on me, an intimate feeling that shouldn’t be possible without touch. That’s another confusing thing about him—he’ll look but gets pissed when we accidentally touch.
Not that I care. I don’t care one bit about him being pissed when I accidentally run my hands over his body. Because... I have no idea why I touch him when I’m close—that is actually the truth.
He reaches up and runs his finger along the scar on his lip before bringing his slow perusal to a halt right back where it started, locking his eyes with mine.
“What I want is both annoying and infuriating. What I’d like to know instead is where Kya is. Something tells me you know, since you’re miles from home and driving like you’re on a mission to get somewhere. What have your friends gotten her into?”
Again, I don’t like how I feel when a bitter taste rises to my mouth.
“Maybe your girlfriend just needed a break from you,” I say with a syrupy sweet smile.
His eyebrows go up, and a slow smile curves his lips. I’ve never seen him smile like that, and it’s like a kick to the chest when I lose my breath. That smile transforms his face.
“Jealous, princess? I’ve told you once already she’s not my girlfriend. Now where is she?”
“Why are you out this far?” I ask him instead.
“Because Kya’s phone signal led me here. Something blocked it long enough after this point that I lost her trail.”
“So you’re not her boyfriend, just her stalker. Nice,” I state dryly.
The amusement in his eyes has me regretting that comment.
“I’m starting to think you don’t want me around Kya, Princess.”
It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, but he’s definitely smug right now. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him smug before. I want to slap that smugness off his face.
I don’t have time for these games, and I do sound like a jealous girl with a crush. A crush I shouldn’t have.
“She’s outside of Vegas in the desert.”
All the amusement in his gaze dies, and his jaw tics.
“Why would she be out there?”
“Because she has a gambling problem,” I deadpan.
“Tell me why she’s really there.”
I roll my eyes. “Zee has a niece who was taken by a night stalker. She’s just a kid, and I suppose Kya came to help out. I don’t know how she knew. I also don’t know why she went to help.”
His face becomes a stone mask, impossible to read.
“I know why,” he says as he turns and walks away.
“Why?” I call to his back, unable to help myself.
“Because no one came to save her,” he says without turning around.
I grimace when I let that sink in. Kya was just a child when she was taken from her family... from her twin... from everything. She was raised in hell—no pun intended.