Chapter 17
Recker kept casting sidelong glances at Alex. She was quite today.
Last night after what happened at the diner, he’d taken her back to his hotel where she’d showered and claimed to be tired before climbing into bed. He’d tried to talk to her about what happened, but she’d just shut down on him and today was no different. She was acting like nothing had happened. She was pretending like it was any other day even though the side of her face was bruised all to hell. When he told her they’d be traveling to StoneCrow today, she’d flashed him her first genuine smile since the incident, and he had to accept that she’d open up to him when she was ready. Still, though, Recker couldn’t wipe the scent of Alex’s terror from his mind. The panic and fear on her face had been the most gut-wrenching thing he’d ever had to witness, and for as long as he lived, he never wanted to see that look on her face again.
“Where are we going?”
Her question pulled him from his thoughts. “The mall. We won’t be coming back to town for a while. We need to get you anything you may need to get by for the next few months. There is a commissary at StoneCrow, but it’s limited in what it carries. It’s basically a small grocery store with a few articles of clothing. It doesn’t feel like it now, but summer will be here soon enough. When I packed your things…”
Her head jerked toward him. “Wait! You said they packed my things.”
Recker dipped his head. “Well, me. I. I packed your things.”
Alex canted her head, her eyes narrowing into suspicious little slits.
Okay, this he could deal with. He knew this Alex. He liked this Alex. The quiet, sullen version just wasn’t her and if he had to throw himself under the bus to drag her back to her old self, he’d do so gladly.
***
“You packed my things?” Alex ripped her thoughts away from her attack, and her mind was now going a mile-a-minute trying to inventory anything he may have seen that would be embarrassing. “And what did you find?”
He shook his head with an uncomfortable tweak to his lips. “I wasn’t looking for anything to find. I was just packing your things.”
“And…” she prompted.
He looked at the road in front of them. “I was surprised by all the basketball jerseys.” He flashed her a smile. “I’m assuming you’re a fan?”
She nodded and lifted her hands together before flicking her right hand forward mimicking shooting a ball. “And you know this!”
His smile broadened.
Alex dropped her hands. “Anything else? Anything suspicious or questionable you want to ask me about? Best to do it now.”
His smile slipped. “In your top right-hand dresser drawer…”
Alex’s own smile disappeared, and she felt heat stain her cheeks. The drawer he was referencing was her panty drawer. She looked away, “They’re called unmentionables for a reason, Recker Rhodes.”
“You asked if I found anything questionable or suspicious. In that drawer, I found fists full of the tiniest scraps of lace and satin, articles that slid through my hand like a sigh.” Now, he was canting his head, his eyes sliding down to her hips. “You wear those things?”
She shrugged. “Obviously.”
The smile that took Recker’s face was wolfish. “So underneath it all, all the hard exterior, the little punches and basketball jerseys, you’re hiding a siren?”
She snorted, still not looking at him. “I am not a siren.”
She watched his hands tighten on the steering wheel and something coiled tight in her middle when he licked his lips and swallowed hard before answering. “Your panties say otherwise, Alexandra Hayworth.”
She shuddered at the way he said her name. He made it sound like a decadent sin.
Recker pulled his truck into an empty spot in front of the mall, and Alex hurried from the cab, not bothering to wait for Recker to rush around and open her door like he typically did.
Outside, she drew in a deep breath, letting the air cool her skin and slow her pulse that had started tripping inside the tight confines of the truck.
Turning, she ran into Recker’s chest, and he had to grab her arms to steady her.
Looking up into mocking eyes, Alex was spellbound a moment as Recker teased, “Running away, siren?”
She simply stared up at him as something intense passed between them before she jerked her gaze away and headed for the mall entrance. “B-better get a move on.” She swore she heard Recker chuckle behind her but then she heard his booted feet keeping pace.
At the automatic doors, she instinctively lifted her hand and feigned using the force as the doors slid open. Wincing at her own action, she hurriedly dropped her hand.
Behind her, Recker chuckled again. “May the force be with you.”
In another embarrassing habit, she immediately responded, “And also with you.”
Alex blushed to the roots of her hair when Recker barked an outright laugh. Turning, her hands found her hips as she lifted her chin haughtily. “Well, that’s what you can expect from a Star Wars fan who was raised Catholic.”
Recker held up his hands. “Not judging.”
She snapped her eyes and turned. “Smart man.” Walking into the mall, she liked how just being with Recker helped her to forget what had nearly happened to her yesterday.