Page 23 of Unburied

“I’m sure,” he replied. “Are you renting the place you're at now?”

She shook her head. “It actually belongs to a family friend.”

“Cool. Kind of like a roommate situation?” A sharp pain ricocheted through her chest at the thought of Ellen.

“Not exactly. My parents died when I was young, and Ellen took me in. She was good friends with my grandmother, and she didn't have any family, so she offered to let me stay with her.”

She skipped over the details of Ellen’s history, not wanting to get too deeply into family dirty laundry on the first date. “I actually came back home because she has dementia. She wasn't able to live by herself anymore, and Ellen decided that she would rather live in an assisted living facility.”

“Couldn't she have hired live-in help?”

The question stung, and she felt almost as if he were judging her, wondering why she wasn't taking care of her. Her response came out a little harsher than she intended. “That was her choice. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she said she didn't want to be a burden.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That must be hard.”

“Yeah, but you know how it is.” She smiled a little. “We just take it day by day.”

“Does she have any family besides you?”

She shook her head. “Ellen has been through a lot. Her daughter died when she was young, and her husband died only a few years after they married. She has a son, but he’s busy with his own family.”

Tyler made a little face. “It sounds like she's had a pretty rough life.”

“She has,” she agreed.

The whole conversation was starting to feel like an interview, and she was desperate to change the subject. For the next hour as they ate dinner, they talked about their interests, everything from books to music to movies. Tyler liked to travel, while she was more of a homebody. He enjoyed concerts while she preferred a quiet night in watching TV or reading a book.

After the date was over, they headed back to her place. Tyler put the car in park and reached for her hand. Reluctantly, she laid her palm inside his and shifted in the seat, turning to face him more fully. “I had a great time tonight.”

She offered him a polite smile. “Me too.”

“I’d like to take you out again.”

She didn’t like the way his eyes raked over her, as if trying to see what lay beneath her clothes. She curled her lips into what she hoped resembled a smile. “Just text me.”

She kind of regretted giving him her phone number now, but if he did call, she would just put him off and tell him she was too busy.

Tyler started to lean forward, and she snatched up the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”

Noticing her obvious discomfort, he lifted their joined hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. “Talk to you soon.”

“See you.” She extricated herself from his grasp and slid out of the car before he could say anything else. She threw a little wave his way as she let herself in the back door.

She didn’t know what it was about the kiss was so revolting, but she couldn’t stand the lingering feel of his lips on her skin. She managed to resist until she was out of sight, and as soon as she stepped inside, she wiped the back of her hand on her jeans. “Ick.”

She slipped out of her shoes, then dropped her keys and purse on the counter as she wound her way through the kitchen on the way to the living room. She was halfway across the darkened room when she froze, suddenly aware of a presence.

The large figure rose from the chair in the corner, looming like a specter in the dark, sending her heart rate into a tailspin and stealing her breath. She whirled to her right and grabbed up the closest thing at hand, which happened to be a dish sitting on the end table. She flung it across the room, already sprinting away as the crash of porcelain met her ears.

From behind her, a low growl sounded, and two strong arms wrapped around her waist. She let out a scream as the man pulled her against him, and she drove her elbow into his midsection as hard as she could. A muffled oath met her ears as she struggled to get him to release her.

“Virginia!”

Through the terror clouding her vision and muddling her ears, the voice didn’t sink in right away.

“Stop!”

Mason’s voice penetrated the fog that surrounded her brain, and she let out a little whimper as he relaxed his hold. It wasn’t an intruder—not exactly.