I kissed her cheek, her temple, her eyelid, and rested my forehead against hers. “You’re not as alone as you think, little Rebel. You’ve got me, and with me comes my friends.”
“You hardly know me,” she whispered. “Why are you doing this?”
“Tell you what. We’ll go back inside, let Shadow pack up a bag to tide you over until we can find out where your car, along with where the stuff you left in your apartment, ended up. After that, we’ll take a ride and I’ll answer your question. Okay?”
It took a while, but eventually, she nodded after I brought my lips to hers in another kiss.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to kiss you.”
“Me too,” she whispered, burying her face in my shoulder.
“There’s so much more…” I kissed her one more time before pulling her back toward the house.
“I took the liberty,” said Shadow, meeting us inside the door with a packed bag. “You’ll need to go into town for some essentials, but at least you won’t need to buy a whole new wardrobe.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll…um…get it all back to you as soon as I can.”
“No need. The clothes are yours to keep.”
“I can’t…”
Shadow squeezed Rebel’s hand. “Please. Let us do this. Quint told me what happened. The guys,” she looked at me, smiled, and winked, “the Invincibles will find out who killed that man, and you’ll be able to put all this behind you.”
Rebel’s eyes met mine, and I knew part of explaining why I was helping her meant I also needed to tell her what I did for a living.
When she said that I hardly knew her, she was right. Just because I’d spent weeks fantasizing about her, didn’t mean she was anything like the woman I’d invented in my head. Only time would tell who she truly was, and the way things appeared now, we’d have a lot of it. Conversely, she didn’t know me either.
“Edge, I’m not sure how to say this,” she began once Shadow left us on our own.
“I told you before. Just say it.”
“I don’t have any money. I know I told you that already, but I’m not sure you understand that I literally have no money. None, and I highly doubt I could get my old job back.”
“One thing at a time, okay?”
“But—”
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck.
“Are you going to kiss me every time you don’t want to hear what I have to say?”
I laughed and dropped my hand. “It isn’t about not wanting to hear it. It’s about not wanting you to worry. Please, let me help you. I know you don’t have money. I’m not concerned about it.”
“But…”
“Yes?”
Rebel looked down at the ground. “I was kind of hoping you’d interrupt me again.”
“Gladly.” I kissed her again. “I could do this all day. Not that there’s much left of it.” I wrapped my arm around Rebel’s shoulders and led her over to the truck. “Let’s get you…what did Shadow say?”
“Essentials.”
“Like…knickers, for example?” I winked.
“Exactly.”
Probably wouldn’t do if I told her now that I’d rather she not wear them. Ever.