I took a deep breath, because I was about to take an entirely different kind of serious plunge, and programmed some new numbers into my phone. Then I texted a general
“I’m okay” to Indy, Al y, Daisy, Tod and Stevie (yes, even Daisy). Neither Duke nor Tex had cel phones.
The backdoor opened and Eddie came in. He was wearing a tight, gray, long-sleeved tee, seriously faded jeans, no belt this time and running shoes instead of cowboy boots.
It was the first time I’d seen him without cowboy boots and it affected me in a strange way, as if he’d taken off some kind of mask and was showing me a different Eddie, an Eddie no one else saw.
He was carrying two coffees and a white bag. Before either of us could say a word, my phone rang.
It was Indy.
Eddie’s brows came up and I said, “Indy,” then flipped open my phone.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey. You okay?” she answered.
“Yeah,” I said.
Eddie handed me a coffee and upended the bag on the counter. Two enormous blueberry muffins fel out.
“Where are you?” Indy asked as I took a sip of coffee.
Cappuccino, no sugar, just like I took it.
Eddie knew how I liked my coffee.
Um… eek!
Eddie leaned a hip against the counter less than a foot away from me, tore off the muffin paper and took a bite, sliding the other muffin to me.
“Eddie’s,” I answered Indy and looked ful y at him.
His eyes were on me and my face began to burn.
Something about this was bizarrely intimate and I wasn’t ready for it. I’d had too many emotional traumas to stand around in Eddie’s kitchen calmly eating muffins like I did it every Sunday.
I dropped my head and put my coffee on the counter. I tried to take the paper off my muffin one-handed and felt a new appreciation for my mother’s disability.
“Lee tel s me Eddie’s branded you. Never heard it cal ed that before, but Lee did it with me during my ordeal. Beat the shit out of the guy who hit me, spreading a message.
It’s a good thing, Jet,” she was obviously trying to talk me into trusting Eddie and not going into a ful -fledged freak out.
Too late, I was way passed freak out. I’d look back on my endless freak outs with happy nostalgia. Nope, I was in
“Pissed Off Female with a Score to Settle” mode.
Except, of course, when it came to eating muffins in Eddie’s kitchen.
“Eddie explained it last night. I’m okay with it,” I told Indy.
I’d managed to get the muffin cup off and tore the bottom of the muffin free. I took a bite and Eddie’s hand came into my vision.
I looked up at him just as he cupped my jaw.
“Say good-bye,” Eddie ordered, his eyes warm.
My stomach clenched and I gulped down my bite.