Page 88 of Dream House
I haven’t let myself be alone with Lark since I stood inches from him in nothing but my robe and panties. Ready to pounce on his mouth. After that close call, I felt like being near him was too risky.
But now? He literally just came out and said we’re friends—and just friends. So I should be relieved. Because avoiding him has been a lot of work.
And not so much fun.
So I banish the disappointment and enjoy the fact that he’s my crow-crafting partner, even if his closeness makes my skin tingle, and he smells like a rocky waterfall.
“She wants these in all the windows?” I ask in a cracked whisper and then swallow to combat the dryness in my throat.
Lark shakes his head, carefully outlining creepy crow claws. “Just the ones at the front of the house.”
“Phew.” I blow out a theatrical breath. “I can’t say I was too excited about the prospect of having these in my bedroom windows.”
The mention of my bedroom awakens something in Lark’s eyes, but he quickly nods. “Same. Me, you, Maisy, and Nina are off the hook,” Lark says, naming all the bedrooms that line the rear of the house.
I glance over at Pen and Livy, who have made three child-sized stacks of the sticks and twigs. “What’s the likelihood those’ll be used for bonfires in my front yard?”
Grinning, Lark looks over his shoulder, giving me a choice view of his throat and hissex-me-sexyprofile.
My breath stalls in my lungs.
Being this close to him again… Well, it’s hard to pretend I don’t feel things.
And not just the urge to lick his neck. Yeah, there’s that. Big time. But Lark is so warm. So funny. Being with him is just easy. Welcome. I could just sit here all night.
“Either that, or we’re all going to be burned at the stake,” Lark says, snickering. He looks back at me, and I give thanks that my tongue hasn’t fallen out of my mouth. “Is she like this every Halloween?”
I quickly pull myself together.
“Samhain,” I whisper in warning. “Yes, just not to this degree. I think living in this old, rambling house instead of her loft apartment has notched it up a few levels.”
Lark is mid-laugh when his phone rings. We both see Nina’s name flash across the screen, and our eyes meet as he answers.
“Hey, Nina. What’s up?”
Is it just me or did the rest of the room go quiet? Pen’s Celtic folk music seems louder by contrast.
“He’s there? In the restaurant?”
My blood runs cold, and I’m not imagining it. Everyoneislistening. Pen cuts off the Bluetooth.
“Nina, everybody’s here. Can I put you on speaker?”
She must say yes because he pulls the phone from his ear and taps the screen.
Nina’s voice is shaking. “He’s outside. Parked across the street. Right in front of the doors.”
As she’s spoken, everyone has moved closer. Tyler steps between me and Lark, and lowers into a squat, his face a war mask.
“Is he within a hundred feet?” Livy asks.
On Wednesday, Nina filed a temporary protective order against her ex. I know because I took her to the Clerk of Courts office. When Maggie was here, she helped Nina fill out the application, but Nina couldn’t bring herself to file it until this week.
Which means that fuckwad Kaleb probably was served the order yesterday or today.
“I-I don’t know.”
“You can call the police,” Livy says, to which Nina audibly groans.
