Page 50 of Nothing to Deny
“Sure,” she said, coiling her fingers around the strap. “He’s a criminal.”
“A criminal?” One dimple peeked. “You know what I do here isn’t exactly legal?”
She mock sneered. “This is kids’ stuff. He’s a real criminal. Wanted for breaking and entering as a matter of fact.”
“Presley,” he murmured, then laughed. “You’re taking my little brother out for lunch?”
“Actually, his father is taking me out.”
“Meeting the family, huh?” he asked, pushing out of his chair and slinging an arm around her. “My invite must have got lost in the mail.”
“You’re not coming.”
“Why not? It’s the weekend. If Abel and Pres will be there, Charlie will too… You can have the whole set.”
“The whole set.” They paused for him to pick up his bag and toss the strap over his head. “I like the sound of that.”
SIXTEEN
COFFEE. Back in the apartment. That was Abel’s suggestion after lunch. Excellent. Not ready for the date to be over, they all piled into Freya’s car for the trip back to the apartment building and got all the way to the Claymore’s front door.
Coffee. She needed coffee. And she continued to believe they were going inside for beloved java. Right up until Baer squeezed her waist from behind, easing her just a little away from the rest of his family.
“I’m going to show Frey something upstairs,” Baer said.
“Oh yeah? I bet you are.” Abel was no fool and although she couldn’t see Baer, the elder’s expression was enough. The men’s shared eye contact was a conversation in itself. “No prizes for guessing what that’ll be.”
“What’ll it be, Dad?” Charlie asked with all the innocence of a child.
Abel opened the front door and, with a hand between the youngster’s shoulder blades, boosted the boy toward it. “Mind your own, get inside.”
Baer’s fingers snagged hers and with haste got them to the end of the corridor and up the stairs to another floor.
“You’re going to hell,” Freya said, laughing when Baer led her into an enclosed stairwell.
Wasn’t this the top floor? Where were they going? The roof?
“Yeah,” he agreed. “And, for this, it’ll be worth it.”
At the top, just offset from the stairway, was another door. Baer unlocked it and guided her into the main body of an apartment that seemed to be… Yeah, this was the whole thing.
The angled roof limited head height around the perimeter. This wasn’t even a full floor, just an extra space plopped on top of the structure. By adding some flooring, someone made it a room… that maybe wasn’t supposed to be there. The bed was low, just a foot off the floor in the middle of the space. Behind the bed, to the left and right were single dormer windows, which at least gave the room lots of light.
Going past the bed and the bathroom door, the bare floorboards beneath her feet creaked. The distressed white paint on the paneled walls probably hadn’t been looked after for years. No surprise, when would the guy have time?
“It’s not much to look at.”
Behind the headboard, between the dormers, was a shoulder-height screen. Going around it, she was amazed to find tools and a work bench with sawdust spread across the floor. And the truly wondrous sight? A low square table, a rocking chair… a partly finished… something. Definitely hand-crafted, the warm woods of varying hues were a breathtaking sight.
“Baer,” she breathed, sensing him near. Transfixed, her fingertips grazed the edge of the rocking chair. “Did you do this?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Whipping around, she was almost offended. “Baer, it’s beautiful.” He seemed more interested in looking at her. Backing up, she got closer to the rocking chair. “Do you know what this tells me?”
He advanced on her. “What?”
“You have a creative eye,” she said, creeping around the back of the chair. “And you’re good with your hands.”
