Drawing Blood

Chapter Nine

As predicted, Adam was hopping mad by the time I got to him. He was waiting for me at the lay-by we'd agreed upon, leaning against the front of his jeep with his arms folded across his chest, his face a mask. I cut the engine dead after I pulled in, and he began walking towards me, instructing me to wind down the window. I did as I was told, not daring to disobey. As he crossed the path with some ease, I took in his somewhat dishevelled appearance. He wasn't wearing a jacket again. But he wasn't dressed for summer, either. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a dark blue hooded top; the name of a university football team plastered across the front of it.

"And I got the impression you didn't want to leave this place," he said sarcastically, reaching me. He crouched down outside my window so that he was looking directly at me. "Now this wasn't very grown-up of you, was it?"

I made sure I kept my hands on the wheel, my eyes fixed straight ahead. I didn't want to look at him. "I came back, didn't I?"

Detecting the hostility in my voice, he changed the subject. "Don't you ever answer your phone?"

"No."

"No?"

I shook my head.

"Look at me Rose." When I did as he asked, he frowned, "Are you okay, you seem a little spooked?"

"I'm fine." I thought it best not to mention the run-in I'd had with the beanie guy. "I'm just worn out, that's all." He observed me carefully, reading me, and I began to wonder if he was trying to see past my lie. "Look, I know I messed up," I sighed. "And I'm sorry."

My apology seemed to throw him off guard. "Well, you really shouldn't have gone off like that," he muttered softly. "It could have been very dangerous for you."

This time I did stare at him - really stared at him. Faint traces of stubble were growing across his chin where he hadn't shaved, and there were dark shadows nestling under his eyes. His hair was slightly damp and tousled, curling thickly into the base of his neck. As a gust of wind blew around the car, I caught the intoxicating scent of some shower gel. "I was perfectly safe," I whispered, my stomach doing an involuntary flip. It didn't matter how he looked, I was always going to be drawn to him. "I knew what I was doing."

"You should have come and talked to me if you were unhappy."

"I tried, remember? You wouldn't listen."

"So, you ran away because you don't want to leave this place?" Realising how absurd it sounded, I nodded, and he gave a laugh. "So does Will know you've gone walkabout?" When I told him Will had gone fishing and didn't know any better, he said, "Good, hopefully he'll be gone for a while. It'll give us a chance to talk properly." He rose to his feet, scanning the place, before asking if I had eaten.

"No, not this morning. I didn't have time. "

Taking in my hunched frame, his eyes rested upon my pale appearance. "You look like you haven't eaten in days," he growled. "And like it or not, that jumper's not fooling me."

"I had dinner yesterday."

"That's not good enough." He slapped the roof of my car with an open hand, turning to walk away. "Follow me, and keep up."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Without even a backwards glance, he strolled back to his jeep, closing the driver's door behind him with some purpose. Starting up the engine, he threw me a quick look; pointing over at the motorway to reinstate his request. I waited for him to leave before forcing my own car into action. Pulling away from the curb, I followed him down the slip road and joined the rest of the morning traffic, blending in seamlessly.