Had she said fresh? Cute. Very cute. He tightened his hold, keeping her exactly where she’d put herself. “All right. Now you can tell me again. Go over every word, every movement, everything you thought or felt.”
She rolled her eyes, along with her hips. “Fine.”
Was she flirting with him? He narrowed his gaze. An impish smile played on her mouth. For the first time since discovering a Kurjan had talked with her, his muscles loosened from rock hard to just tense. “Missy,” he murmured.
Pretty color flowed into her face. “All right.” She went over the entire encounter again, stressing Dayne’s insistence that he wouldn’t hurt her and just wanted peace. And that she thought his child appeared precocious.
Ivar listened intently, trying to figure out Dayne’s plan. There was something missing, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Even so, he ran through the entire episode in his head. The Kurjan wouldn’t have been able to get her out of the building, not if he’d tried to drag her up into the ducts. So what? He’d tried to sow discontent? Set it up so she felt safe speaking to him again if there was an opportunity? Wait a minute. “If he didn’t hurt you, and you weren’t scared, why did you call for help? For me?” Ivar asked.
She slid her hands over his shoulders. “Well, you said he’s a bad guy, and I decided to trust you. Not him.” Her eyes were clear and her expression earnest.
His mouth opened and then shut. Warmth infused him, all through his bonded torso, sliding around what should be his heart. She’d trusted him. Even when not in danger, talking to a guy who’d tried to charm her with a picture of his child, she’d yelled for Ivar.
Loudly.
“I like her,” Benny whispered to Ronan. “A whole shitload of a lot.”
Ivar grinned. Yeah. He liked her too.
They reached the campground, relatively sure they hadn’t been followed. He helped her out of the vehicle so Ronan could camouflage it beneath the trees and then took her hand and led her to a cabin closer to the river than theirs.
“Where are we going?” she asked, stepping gingerly over upturned roots and still damp weeds.
He’d thought to get her flowers or something after their night together, but then he’d had another idea. One he’d had Grace and Faith work out for him. He led her to the cabin and opened the door, flicking on the light. “Benny will bring in all of your file boxes and notebooks from your office.”
She walked inside, her gasp one of pure delight. Five whiteboards were stacked against the side wall, in front of a wide table. New markers and thick erasers were lined up neatly on the table next to pens, yellow legal pads, and a stapler. “Oh, Ivar,” she murmured.
Most women made that sound at being given diamonds. Or property. Not her. No. Markers and whiteboards made joy roll off her like heat.
She turned and jumped for him, her lips smashing against his. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She held him tight. “I love it. This is the best.” She dropped back to the floor and turned to grab a marker, running to the nearest board and quickly drafting a problem that held a hint of Einstein in it. “I’ve been thinking.” She kept scribbling. “We need to get Adare and then Mercy in here as soon as possible. I want to teleport—and I need to interview them. As much as I can.”
He wanted to start slow, to keep her from experiencing any pain. “All right, but first, let’s eat something and get some sleep. We can work tomorrow.” And maybe he wanted to protect himself. To let himself live for a short period with her, enjoying everything about her. But that wouldn’t do.
There wasn’t time.
He cleared his throat. “Promise? Did Dayne say where his kid was?” He wasn’t sure why he asked the question.
“No.” She kept her gaze on the board. “Just said he was visiting family. Does that mean something?”
Ivar rubbed a bruise across his wrist. “I’m not sure.” Probably not. So why was his neck tight?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood finished tucking her dress in the backpack along with Libby’s. They’d changed into jeans and sweaters after telling their parents they were going to walk around the subdivision in their party dresses like princesses. Nobody would suspect a princess of riding her bike to town.