Bayou

Chapter 13 ~ Changes

Chapter 13

I was so focused on the shock of Danny's arrival, I didn't process the fact Croc was taking me back to where he slept until we were already on the roof. Thankfully, he didn't go for his bed. He led me to the backside, then released my hand and sat with his legs dangling over the backyard.

I should have asked to be taken back down. Even if I'd chosen to forget my million reasons to say no before, I remembered them now, vividly, and the thought of doing anything even remotely intimate with anyone, Croc included, made my skin crawl and stomach churn.

Still, I couldn't ask him to take me down. I knew I'd never fall asleep after what had just happened, and the thought of being without him while Danny was mere feet away was too daunting. I took the spot beside him, this time, leaving space between us.

Croc studied my profile. "I didn't bring you up here to break more rules, Willow. I did it so he'd think this is where you are. When you're ready, I'll take you down on this side, and you can go in through the back door."

My shoulders relaxed. There he went, being too perfect again. He kept doing that, smashing my perceptions, broadening my expectations. He'd even stood between me and one of the men I'd known, ready to defend with no reason to believe it would benefit him to do so. I sighed and relaxed. "Thank you."

"Do you want to go now?"

Our gazes held. I had a million questions, and no doubt, so did he. "Not yet."

"Good." He shifted to face me, pulling one leg up and holding his ankle with both hands. The position was so casual, it put me even further at ease. Croc wasn't worried about Danny.

"I'm still not sure if he's telling the truth," I said. "If he was sent, we're all dead already. If he wasn't, he may be tempted to use what he's found here to regain his position."

"He wasn't lying," he said, tapping his nose, then his ear. "I could tell when he lied, and he did, just not about that."

My eyes widened, then a broad smile stretched across my face. "That's...you are so fucking handy, Croc. You have no idea what it means to me that you can do that, right now." I took a deep breath and exhaled a huge chunk of the stress inside my chest. "What did he lie about?"

Croc held the stupidest grin. "Everything else. His behavior. The way he was with you was a lie." His expression darkened. "I can kill him, if you want, when you're ready." He rolled his shoulders then supported his weight onto one hand.

He'd said the words as if offering to drive me to work or help me move my furniture, not kill a man in cold blood and feed him to his alligator.

As if on cue with my thoughts, he added, "We could let the gators have most of him, then send him floating up to where they dump the sludge. That way, when they find him, it will make them even less likely to come in here."

It was a beautiful idea, but not one I was sure I could carry out. I shrugged. "Maybe later. Right now, I think it's best if we just keep him from leaving."

He nodded. "Gator won't let him wander."

We both fell silent, and the night grew impossibly still. But the silence wasn't heavy. No. It was easy, comfortable. It was the quiet I sometimes experienced in the morning, when the world was still asleep and fresh thoughts ran unhindered.

I leaned back on my elbows and stared up at the millions of stars. There was only one problem left to interfere with my somewhat peaceful existence, but the question wouldn't voice itself. I couldn't voice it. If I asked about what Danny had found, any answer would only solidify it as fact.