“And I remember how panicked Mom and Dad were.”
Rory remembered that too. She pressed her face into Zeke’s chest and spread her fingers over his heart to feel the comfort of its steady rhythm.
“Even if I could convince Cal, you think Mom and Dad would let me leave you both out there without checking in?”
“Tres, we’re perfectly safe,” she piped up.
“You’d better be,” Tres said. “Weapons?”
“Yes, but no evidence of them yet,” Zeke said with annoyance.
“Time on the call, two minutes,” Rory said softly. The quicker they were, the less chance they had of the call being noticed if someone was looking for it.
“Hawaii is still going strong, right?” Zeke asked.
“Surf is still up as far as I know,” Tres said.
“Good. Final offer. Six weeks, but you’ll hear from us earlier if possible.”
“You had better not be starving, injured or dead in the meantime,” Tres grumbled and disconnected.
Before Rory could sit back and give Zeke space, win herself some thinking time, he nudged the top of her head with his chin. “Tell me what happened with Orrin.”
She looked up at him, brushed a fall of hair off his forehead. “You’re exhausted and starving, judging by the rumble in your gut. It can wait.” Better to wait until she got some distance from him.
“And I stink.” He opened and closed his hand, his palm and knuckles all torn up. “My blisters have blisters.” Whatever had been going on before the call, it’d pass.
“Poor darling. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.” She should move, put some actual space between them. Like never before, this proximity to him felt heady, perilous.
“We’re alone and I don’t have to climb, tote, nail or saw anything, and I’ve fucking missed you, Aurora Rae. Fill me in now.”
It was the Aurora Rae that did it, said in that gravely tone, heavy with feeling. She rested her head on his shoulder and told him about her boring days and event-filled nights, about the meal delivery. About Orrin’s intentions. He listened silently, commenting through the weight of his arm, the steadiness of his breathing, the fingers he rested on her hip, and his full attention.
“That’s not all of it,” he said when she was finished.
It was everything she could put words to. He didn’t need to know how confused she was right now. How much she wanted to turn her face up to his and kiss his lips for the sheer relief of having him here, for the milestone of the phone call, and the ridiculous way she’d worried about him this week. And that other set of feelings she was having trouble identifying but made her think about her hot skin sliding on his.
“The plan was to lay low with Orrin,” he said.
“Until it wasn’t.”
“I don’t like the idea of you taking him on while I’m not around.”
She tapped his chest. “Deal with it, partner.”
He moved to release her, taking his arm away. “Aurora Rae, I’m serious.”
“I’m being careful. Nothing bad happened,” she said.
“But it could.”
And suddenly they were arguing.
He reached out to grab her arm. She shifted to stop him touching her. “This is not my first rodeo.”
He got to his feet. “Yes, it is. This isn’t like charming billionaires in ballrooms. Those guys still acknowledge there are rules for civil behavior even if they flaunt them. Orrin makes the rules here and he’ll make them expediently to suit himself and no one is going to question him.”
She stayed on the floor. “You don’t think I’m patently aware of that? His current ruling is that only you, Macy and Cadence voluntarily speak to me. I have to stand in the corner like a naughty child all day until it breaks me.”