Page 100 of The Innocent

“Turns out my intuition was right, huh?”

Yeah. But not always.

“What about your client from the cafe? He make you nervous?”

She flattened her lips and didn’t respond. It was an answer without her saying a word.

“Thanks for inviting me to stay for the weekend,” she said.

It was a quick change in subject. He’d let it go. For now.

Imogene started to clear the table. This was new territory for him. He wasn’t accustomed to anyone taking care of him.

She reached for the plates. “So, are you going to give me a tour of Killcreek?”

Jekyll sipped his coffee then snorted. “Nothing to see.”

“Well, there’s gotta be something. And I’m fine with just riding around.”

He glanced over his shoulder. She was at the sink, rinsing the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher. It was all so normal and domesticated. He should’ve been unnerved by her being so comfortable in his space. He wasn’t.

“Ride?”

“On your bike.” She peeked up. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”

And Jekyll never carried passengers. Ever. His bike was like a part of him, and no one got access to that. Until her. He liked the idea of being Imogene’s first. And her last.

“Gotta put jeans and sneakers on.”

She smiled, loaded the last of the dishes, and darted out of the kitchen and down the hallway to his bedroom. He expected to be waiting while she got ready, but five minutes later she came rushing into the room like a kid on Christmas.

Jekyll wasn’t lying when he said there wasn’t much to see. The ride on the backroads was the highlight of the small town. But she didn’t complain. There was one spot that had decent views. And that was where he took her.

Jekyll watched her walk to the bank of the creek. Two deep lines formed between her brows, and she gripped her hips, looking from one end of the water to the other.

“This is the creek the town is named after?”

He smirked and folded his arms.

“After a good rain, it fills up.”

She slowly nodded. “I guess I’ll take a raincheck on this tour.” She smiled, glancing back at him. “Pun intended. Can I dip my feet in?”

“You can do anything you want.”

She sat down, pulled off her shoes and socks, then hiked up her jeans to midcalf. She pushed up and started down toward the creek. He left his eyes locked on her and bent down, grabbing her phone by her sneakers. He tapped the screen and punched in her code. Cypher had given it to him. He pulled up her text messages. The most recent was exactly what he’d been looking for. A name.

Logan Manning. Her client. Not for much longer.

She was scheduling his next appointment. That wasn’t going to happen.

Jekyll looked over at Imogene but she was focused on the creek with her back turned. He bent down and put her phone back.

I’ll handle this.

Chapter Fifteen

Waking up any way other than naturally was the bane of her existence. Loud neighbors, ground shaking thunderstorms, and Imogene’s most dreaded reason, the alarm clock. But this was definitely an exception. She stretched her arms over her head, grasped onto the iron headboard, and swiveled her hips against his mouth.