I manage to pull my sodden face from his chest to look at Detective Matthews.
“I’m not one to make excuses, but Kinley hates the club.”
“I caught onto that,” Ethan says with a sigh.
“His ex-wife fu—spent some time there with Grinch last year. He wasn’t happy about it.”
Ethan huffs, his arms getting tighter around me, and I read it as relief that he wasn’t the one to directly upset the cop by messing around with his ex.
“Can I go home now?” I ask.
The detective looks from my car back to Ethan. “I’d like to have the car brought in and gone over with a fine-tooth comb. I’m not hopeful we’ll find prints or anything, but it’s worth a shot.”
“That’s a great idea,” Ethan quickly agrees, having much more faith in the Farmington PD than I can manage right now.
“And what if they find more fake drugs that aren’t mine?”
“They’ll be destroyed,” Matthews answers quickly. “I’m not trying to bust you for something I know you didn’t do, Faith, but it’s better if we go through it and pull out anything that could get you in trouble later.”
“And mechanics?” Ethan asks.
“I’ll have someone go over every inch to make sure whoever is causing all of these problems didn’t do anything to render the vehicle unsafe.”
A rush of air pushes out of my mouth as I look up at Ethan to determine if doing this is the right decision, and when he nods at me, I know I can trust both of these men.
“Okay,” I agree, handing over my keys.
“Should we wait for the tow?” Ethan asks.
“I’ll stay with it until they arrive,” Matthews says.
They shake hands and we walk away, making it across the parking lot to the SUV before either of us speaks.
“I want to take you to the clubhouse.”
“I’m not going to let some jerk run me from my home, Ethan.”
“And I don’t want to take a chance with your safety.” He makes a good point, but the thought of being in that clubhouse where he’s slept with other women makes my skin crawl.
“I’d rather be home,” I mutter as he opens the passenger door for me to climb inside.
“You won’t be alone,” he says, and the words sound like a warning.
I cup his jaw, the stubble that’s grown there since yesterday coarse and delicious on my palm. “We established that before we left the house.”
What started out sweet and flirty has turned into one of the longest days ever. We grab fast food before heading back to my house. Not long after we finish eating in silence, there’s a knock at the door. I go on red alert instantly, hating the person who’s managed to make my cautious personality turn fearful so quickly.
Ethan presses a kiss to my forehead before walking to answer the door. From the dining room table, I can’t see who it is, but I determine quickly that Ethan is friends with whomever it is.
A couple minutes later, he walks back into the room, fisting the strap of an overnight bag. I look from it and back up to him in question.
“I need a change of clothes and shower stuff. Don’t look so freaked out. I’m not moving in with you, Faith,” he says before carrying his bag down the hall.
As I watch him walk away, I’m left wondering why the thought of him doing exactly that doesn’t freak me out at all.
Chapter 21
Legend
The sun has finally gone down on one of the longest days of my life. The terror I saw in her eyes when that cop pulled that bag from her car nearly gutted me. It took every ounce of control not to punch him in the face.
I’m a logical person, always have been, but my first instinct was to beat the crap out of both of those cops and run. I knew what those drugs meant. I knew it would ruin her. I don’t know how we got so lucky that it wasn’t actually filled with drugs. It’s clear that someone is out to ruin her, and I feel impotent in my ability to help.
The situation I’m in right now is nice, however. Faith is tucked into my side, having slowly made her way closer as the movie played. I’m not a fool. We’re watching a comedy, some dumb movie I can’t concentrate on, and she’s been slowly inching closer as the film progresses as if it’s scary and she needs comfort.
I’m not complaining, but it also feels like a game a teen would play instead of using words and making a request or voicing their intentions.
I wish I could forget everything that’s happened. I wish I could just blink and turn this situation into what it looks like, two people snuggling on the couch and enjoying spending time together.
But I can’t do that no matter how hard I try to make it a reality.