Liar, liar, pants on fire, she thought. “Okay. I’d like to see Bat in the morning.”
“That’s fine. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you as well.” He met her gaze. “I hate to leave you.”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes when he fibbed. She caught on to that quickly but decided to test it. “Can’t you stay? You haven’t even shown me around the house and you need to eat too.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I snacked while I warmed your soup.”
Truth, she surmised, since he didn’t look away. “Okay. Are you leaving right now?”
“I’m going to use the second bathroom to shower real quick and put on some pants.” His attention shifted away. He met her gaze again. “I’ll be thinking of you, and will hurry back as quickly as I’m able.”
“Okay.” You suck at lying, she added silently.
He hesitated and then backed toward the door. “Eat all that food. You need it.”
“I will,” she lied. She wanted to eat so bad she wouldn’t even need silverware. She’d happily just tip the bowl and drink the contents. “See you in the morning, baby.” She purposely added the nickname, hoping he understood that she cared about him. He was facing some kind of punishment thanks to her—and he probably believed he was protecting her by keeping it a secret.
He spun and left her but not before she saw regret flash in his beautiful eyes.
Dusti waited until she heard a dresser drawer slam closed before she rose out of the tub. Her hungry gaze landed on the tray of food and she softly groaned, but grabbed a towel instead. She didn’t even bother to dry off before entering his large bedroom.
She glanced around. He had a massive room with a king-size bed, a big-screen television, and a soft-gray stone fireplace in one corner. It was the kind of bedroom she’d always dreamed of having. Her focus locked on the dresser. She advanced quickly to find something to wear.
Drantos had a lot of clothes but they were all huge on her smaller frame. She settled on a thick black sweater with a hood that she rolled the sleeves on to free her hands of the extra material, and a pair of black drawstring pants. She hoped the dark color would help her sneak around. She was tugging on two pairs of black socks to protect her feet when she heard a door slam.
“Damn, he showers fast,” she muttered. She ran to find the front door.
She glimpsed him disappearing into the woods when she peeked out the window. He didn’t have curtains covering them. The cabin had to sit above the rest of the homes, since she could see lights down in what appeared to be a valley. She eased the door open and moved outside into the chilly night. She made sure to close it softly before she sprinted after Drantos.
He didn’t seem to notice when she followed from a distance. She figured he had to be pretty distracted not to pick up her scent. It probably helped that she wore his clothes, and the socks were nearly silent on the forest floor. She nearly lost sight of him a few times before catching glimpses of his bare back gleaming in the moonlight. She tried to stay behind tress, there were plenty of those, and hoped she wouldn’t run into any.
“I’ve lost my damn mind for doing this,” she muttered under her breath, jogging from one tree to the next, and grateful he didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get to his destination. She wondered where that would be.
He walked into a well-lit backyard where she recognized one of the men who stood waiting by the back door of another cabin. Velder looked grim when he faced his son. Dusti hid behind the thick trunk of a tree, peering around it, wondering if she should just step out there to find out what kind of trouble Drantos faced. She should be included in the punishment, since she felt responsible.
She held back for now. When they went inside, she’d go sneak a peek into one of the many windows. She frowned. They didn’t appear to own drapes, either, since she could see inside the back of the house.
Irritation flared when she saw their lips move but she couldn’t hear the words spoken. Velder did most of the talking but another older man also had words for Drantos, whose back remained to her. He nodded a few times. The older guy moved for a bag on the back steps while Drantos walked toward a swing set in the yard. It looked old, rusted, and the seats had been removed, only the frame of it looming there in the floodlights.#p#分页标题#e#
What the hell?
She tensed when Drantos reached up to grip the top of the frame with both hands, spread far apart above his head. Her gaze traveled to the old man, who carried something close to his chest that she couldn’t see as he followed Drantos. He stopped about eight feet behind him.