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By the time Slate showed up, I had spun myself up so much that I jumped out of my skin and screamed when he laid his big hand on my shoulder. “Shit, Emma. You okay?”
My gaze darted to Ash who looked slightly worried, and then back to Slate’s questioning eyes. “I’m fine,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t betray the fact that I was anything but fine.
“Emma.” My name came out in a low growl, slightly intimidating but I wasn’t scared.
I shook my head and flicked another gaze to Ashlyn.
He understood immediately and went to the kitchen table where she sat with a coloring book. “Hey Ash, you think you can go read on the back porch so I can talk to your mom?” His voice was as gentle as his touch.
Ashlyn gave him her full attention and nodded slowly as her gaze flicked to me for confirmation.
“It’s all right,” he assured her. “I just want to talk to her about some things that aren’t meant for kid ears. Nobody is in trouble, and nobody is gonna get hurt. I promise.” He held up his big pinky finger and kept it there until Ashlyn hooked hers around it.
“Promise?”
“Absolutely, I promise.”
My little girl was hesitant but ultimately, she slid from the chair, gathered her crayons and coloring sheets and trotted through the back door where she settled on the porch swing.
“What’s wrong?” His voice was deep and commanding. Worried.
“It’s nothing, really.” I shook my head, suddenly feeling silly. “I just had this feeling all day that I was being watched. I know it’s silly and that I’m just being paranoid given everything else that’s going on, but I can’t shake the feeling.” I covered my face with both hands and sighed. “Even now I’m sure there was someone there, I just didn’t see them. I couldn’t find them which means they weren’t there. Right?”
Slate’s gaze was filled with concern, but he didn’t look at me like he thought I was being crazy. Instead of trying to reassure me, he pulled me against his chest and wrapped his big arms around me. “Emma,” he whispered and dropped a kiss on top of my head. After a few long seconds I thought his gaze would loosen but it didn’t. “Do you think they followed you home?”
“I don’t know,” I answered against his chest, inhaling his masculine scent until it wrapped around the tendrils of my memory center so I could remember it forever. “I couldn’t see anyone.”
“Anyone? Or you didn’t see anyone you recognized?” Slate pulled back and scanned my face to make sure I was okay.
“People were in the store, of course. But no one who felt like they were watching me specifically.”
“Okay.” He pulled back slowly until we no longer touched and left the kitchen, returning a moment later with a silverlaptop. “Damn it smells good in here,” he groaned as if he just noticed. “What is it?”
“Moussaka,” I answered with a hint of pride as he sat down at the table and gave the laptop his attention. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for answers,” he answered without looking away from the screen. “What stores did you and Ash go to today?”
I answered in a shaky voice. “You’re not looking for them, are you?”
He looked up with a confused expression. “Of course I am. I just want to settle your mind.”
That was sweet but I wasn’t sure if confirmation would put me at ease. I turned the sauce on to simmer and faced Slate. “How does a troublemaker end up with these kinds of computer skills?”
His lips curled into a smile that was deeper at the corners, but he never looked up from the screen. “I was a little shit, but I was smart and back then I was also small, which meant when one of the local gangs needed some help with a robbery, they recruited me. Paid me with a laptop and from then on, I learned by trial and error.” His smile was almost wistful as if he could see his younger self. “I was nothing but trouble after that but mostly it was the good kind of trouble.”
“There’s a good kind of trouble?”
“I thought so. Taking money from people who wouldn’t miss it. To me it was harmless at least until the cops showed up on my doorstep.”
“No.” My eyes went wide with shock.
“Yep. Judge gave me a choice, juvenile detention or use my skills for good. I helped out for about seven years and when I was released at twenty, I headed west. Stopped here and never looked back.”
“The bright lights of the big city called to you?” It was nice to see him like this, a little bit carefree and vulnerable.
He laughed and good lord the sound was like warm honey slithering over my skin. “Hardly. The main goal was to put as many miles between me and my hometown as possible.”
