I glanced up, returning my eyes to her face.
Jesus fuck.
What in God’s name?
“I haven’t seen the uniforms,” I told her. “We can ask Josie about them tomorrow.”
“But I just said—”
“I’d like to head home. Rest.” It was obvious I needed a fucking night of sleep to clear my head.
“If we must,” she said, starting to gather her things together. “Let’s continue this tomorrow. There’s so much on my to-do list that we haven’t even broached.”
Of course there was. “No wonder they shipped you off here,” I heard myself mutter under my breath.
Adalyn’s expression morphed at my words. There was a new emotion there now. One that made my goddamn stomach shift. She pressed everything she’d been holding in her arms against her chest with a jerky frustrated motion and turned her body to the side. Out of some strange and unexpected urge to explain myself I moved, too, pushing her to walk around me to climb down the stand.
I huffed at her, and she huffed at me right back.
“Adalyn—”
But Adalyn was intent on avoiding me and getting away from me as soon as possible. Thing was, those goddamn shoes of hers didn’t seem to aid in her quest, because one second, she was upright and the next, she was plummeting down.
Cursing under my breath, I lunged for her. Arms outstretched, I placed my body so I could intercept her now free fall. She crashed against my chest with a little yelp, and all I could do was secure her against me and say, “I got you.” I shifted my arms, my palms clasping her sides. “You’re okay.”
Adalyn murmured something in response, but I was too distracted by the wave of relief coursing through me to know what. Her scent was also sneaking into my lungs, the simple—but definitely not plain—way she smelled overpowering me. I’d only caught hints of it during yoga. But now it was all I could smell. It was clean, fresh, and so fucking sweet it felt like a blow to my face. Like cotton left in the sun in a lavender field.
Fuck. I was really losing it.
“I’m fine,” I heard her say more clearly. “I think you can let go of me.”
My throat worked, swallowing hard before I could release her. I stepped back, feeling my hands prickling when they fell to my sides. I flexed them. Then I met her gaze, finding the brown in her eyes dazed. Her cheeks flushed.
“Those fucking heels,” I said, hearing the harshness in my voice. Her brows wrinkled. “You’re going to break your bloody neck one of these goddamn days.”
Adalyn blinked a few times, then shook her head. The dazed look disappeared from her face. “Do you really need to talk like such a walking stereotype?” She lowered her voice in what had to be an attempt at imitating my tone. “Those bloody heels, mate. Bollocks, innit? I’m chuffed to bits! Fancy a cuppa?” A huff left her. “If you tell me you stop your day at five to have tea, and keep a tweed flat cap in a drawer somewhere, I swear I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind.”
I stared at her.
For a long time. Then, I barked out a laugh.
It was loud and boisterous, and I was pretty sure I hadn’t laughed like that in a long goddamn time.
Adalyn rolled her eyes. “You have that flat cap, don’t you?”
“I do,” I confirmed with a nod. “But I was raised with an Italian nonna, darling. So I’ll take a good espresso over a cup of tea any day of the week.”
“Not your darling.” Adalyn released a breath. “And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You really have a caffeine addiction from what I’ve seen,” she added in a serious tone, but I could see the corners of her lips bending slightly upward.
I wondered how her smile looked. Her real one.
I made myself look somewhere else, my eyes landing on her chest. The button I’d been so preoccupied with moments earlier had come undone. And it allowed me a glimpse at the fabric of her bra.
It looked like satin. Lavender.
Christ.
My eyelids fluttered shut, out of pure survival. I even turned my body to face away. Searching for something else to look at and focusing on the first thing I found. The shed. Which still was in a state of complete disarray.
Exactly how I felt.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Adalyn
This was it. I was done. I really was.
I let the screwdriver I’d bought at Cheap Moe’s fall to the floor and absently wiped my hands on my legs, leaving twin trails of dirt on the fabric of my leggings. I looked at my tank top. Also filthy.