Talon (Uncompromising #1)(79)
Siren tucked the towel around herself and turned. When she saw me, she let out a small gasp. “You startled me.”
That was my intent. “Sorry, darlin’. You left the door open. Where I’m from, that means somethin’.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I didn’t know that.”
“Let me guess, not an invitation?” I didn’t smile.
She looked at her feet, inhaled and brought her eyes back to me. “Last night was great, but um…”
I fucking knew it. Fuck. I’d come inside this women. Only two women I’d ever done that with. The first one was dead and now the second one was lying to me? Goddamn it. “You sayin’ you’re not lookin’ for a repeat?” Keeping my tone casual was a fucking feat.
“I’m saying I’m…overwhelmed.”
“Overwhelmed enough to call a PI?”
Her head popped up, her eyes went wide and a trace of something looking a hell of a lot like guilt flashed across her face. “How did you know?”
“It’s my phone. Bill’s in my name.”
“Oh.”
“You gonna tell me what’s goin’ on?” I stared at her, relentless and unforgiving.
“It has nothing to do with you, I swear.”
“In my experience, when someone swears, there’s always a load of untruth behind it.”
She tightened the towel and looked everywhere but at me. “I wanted to locate my parents.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying like hell to gauge if she was telling the truth. “They disappear?”
“They moved a year after I left home. A few letters I sent came back to me when I tried to find them once before. I thought if I found them, I could go there.”
Every word out of her mouth sounded practiced. “You wanna go home?”
She met my gaze with a blank expression. “I need somewhere to land.”
I couldn’t figure out if I was fucking pissed off by that comment or gutted. “You doubtin’ my sincerity?”
She shoved past me into the bedroom. “I need to get dressed.”
Pissed won out. “In what? A borrowed T-shirt and your last pair of pants? You’ve got even less clothes than a few days ago. That’s what Carter did for you? Five years livin’ with him and you ain’t got shit but the memory of him bleedin’ out in front of you?” Her distance, her lies, her walking away from last night, my anger ramped up to new level and I jammed a finger to my chest. “I’m the one who stitched you up. I drove you to get X-rays. I’m the one who’s been there from the second you walked into my shop. I never would’ve fired a goddamn shotgun at you!” My nostrils flared. “I know I pulled that trigger, but he fuckin’ fired first!” I walked out, slamming the door behind me.
Kendall looked up from the couch. “Well, you screwed that all to hell.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I grabbed my bag.
“Going somewhere? Because there’s no more food and the coffee sucks.”
I yanked my cell out of my pocket and tossed it at her. “Call me a cab. Twenty minutes.”
She moved her leg and let the phone hit the couch. “You call. I’m not your secretary.”
“You wanna eat, make the call!” I stormed into the master bedroom. Kicking the door shut, I dropped my bag and raked my hands through my hair. “Motherfucker.” Kendall was right but goddamn it, I was pissed the hell off.
Siren let me come inside her last night. She’d gripped my hair like I was her only anchor and she’d fucking exploded. Her moans, her body shaking, I knew she felt something for me but then she fell asleep in my arms only to make a hundred-and-eighty degree turn six hours later?
I wasn’t falling for this shit again. Fuck that.
I grabbed clothes out of my bag and remembered André’s warning about lying low. Goddamn it. My hair was too fucking blond and too damn long to blend in. Past my ears, I hadn’t cut it in months. No baseball hat on me, I searched Blaze’s closet and found dick. Ten minutes later, I tossed Blaze’s shaver back in the vanity drawer and ran my hand over the low fade I’d given myself. I showered and dressed then stalked back out to Kendall.
“You call?” I barked, my anger hovering at a low simmer.
Like she had all the time in the world, she lazily looked up from the TV and held my phone out. “Nice haircut.” She dripped sarcasm. “Your chariot should show up soon.”
A horn honked in the driveway.
Kendall smirked. “When you’re good, you’re good.”
I snatched my phone and glanced down the hall at the closed guest room door. “Stay put, keep an eye on her. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”