"There are two bedrooms, both of them being used."
She gave him a look. “I thought you were there to protect my back?"
"I decided you could protect yourself. And Candy didn't have a weapon on her."
"There was nowhere to put it, for a start."
Cade chuckled. “There certainly wasn't."
Amusement ran through her. “And here I thought you were busy peering through bedroom windows."
"Not just them. One of the living room windows gave me a really good view of both you and the woman. Once I knew she wasn't armed, I moved on."
"Why? Hot blondes not your type?” she teased
"No. I'm into a richer color.” He reached out and lightly tugged her hair. “Why did you cut it?"
"Probably for the same reason you cut yours. Impractical for my line of work."
"That's not the reason I cut it."
She raised an eyebrow. “It wasn't?"
He shook his head. “There's no dress code when it comes to hair length. Apparently when the IIS was first created, long hair was the norm for wolves."
She stopped at a set of lights and looked at him. “It wasn't here in Ripple Creek."
"It was more in your dad's time than yours."
"I've seen photos. My dad never had long hair."
"No surprise there."
No, she guessed it wasn't. Straightlaced didn't even begin to describe her dad. “So why did you cut it?"
"Because I was angry."
"Angry?” she said, surprised. “At who?"
"You."
"You cut your hair because you were angry at me?” She shook her head. “And they say women are strange."
The sweet half-smile that twisted his lips just about melted her heart. “Men can be just as illogical, believe me."
Oh, she believed him. Especially since some of his dealing with her weren't exactly high on the sanity list. But then, he'd been reacting in much the same manner as she had—with anger and in bitterness over the past. For her, that had finally begun to dissipate now that they were actually beginning to talk about it. Maybe it was for him, too. “So why were you angry?"
"Because you left Rosehall and I couldn't find you."
"But you wanted me to run, didn't you?"
"Yes. But not hide."
"So you cut your hair when I didn't reappear. A totally understandable reaction.” Not.
He tugged gently on her hair. “The light's green again. You'd better drive before the people behind us get hostile."
She glanced ahead and saw that he was right. She lifted her foot off the brake and cruised on. “Stop avoiding answering me."