“Not so well, actually. I—I need someone to come bail me out.”

Ambrose blinked at the sugarcane in the vase on his counter. “Bail you out?” he asked stupidly. Hearing her voice was such a surprise that he was having trouble focusing on what she was saying.

“I’m in a holding cell at the police station.” She said it so quietly that, for a moment, he thought he’d imagined it. “There was some trouble. A few of the people we recruited to come with us got out of hand, and when I was trying to clear people off the street, I got arrested for blocking the intersection. It’s just a temporary loan. I have the money, I just have to shift things around. It won’t take long, I swear.”

“Bail for you blocking an intersection shouldn’t be much.” Ambrose put on his shoes and grabbed his keys and wallet, and ran out to his car with the cell phone still pressed against his ear.

“Um. Actually,” she hesitated, “I was wondering if I could borrow some money to bail everyone out. It’s my fault they’re here, and I feel just awful about it. I can’t leave while they’re stuck here. It would be wrong and selfish. But I have the money and I’d pay you back with interest. It would take me a week at the most. I’d understand if you didn’t want to. I can just stay here and wait for my mom to get back. Really, it’s not a big d—”

“Everly.” He stopped her rambling when it sounded like she was about to cry. “Of course I’ll bail you out. And your friends. We’ll talk about repaying me later.” As if he’d let her. “I’m on my way. I’m getting in my car now. Stay put.” As if she were going anywhere. Idiot.

He could hear how badly her pride was wounded having to ask him for help like this. She was an independent woman, and would probably have had a hard time asking him even when they were together.

When he got downtown, he parked across from the police station and pumped money into the meter. How long did this sort of thing take? Oh well, a possible ticket was the least of his concerns.

Inside, there was no line. Still, he probably wore a path pacing the tile floor, waiting for them to get her. When Everly emerged, he was so relieved that he almost hugged her. Instead he stalled in front of her, not sure what to do.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just want to get out of here.” She was more beautiful than he remembered, even with tired eyes and some dirt smudged on her nose.

He hovered around her, the overwhelming urge to protect her making him feel crazy.

It took a long while to arrange bail for all of the protesters who’d been arrested, and put them in cabs home, but eventually everything got done.

They walked back to his car, and he helped her in, then he slid behind the wheel. “What would you like? Are you hungry?”

“I’m hungry, but I’m not in the mood sit in a restaurant right now. I’m fine. I’ll just make myself some toast when I get home.”

“After everything that happened to you today, I can’t let you have toast for dinner. I had a big meal planned, but I haven’t started cooking yet. Do you want to come over? No strings attached. If that’s too awkward, I can just grab the stuff from my place and we could go over to your apartment.” Maybe his fingers had tightened around the steering wheel, but she was too distracted to notice. He tried to keep his breathing normal, but if she said yes to this, maybe she’d give him a chance to explain.

“I’d like that. Thank you, Ambrose.” Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Thoughts were nagging at him, and he had to ask. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t need to go to the hospital or something?”

She looked at him like he’d grown another head. “Why on earth would I need to go to the hospital?”

Ambrose was glad for the chaotic traffic because it meant he couldn’t just sit there and stare at her like a lovesick puppy. Until he asked the questions, though, his protective side wouldn’t shut the hell up. “No one, uh, was too familiar with you? You didn’t get beaten when you were in the shower or something?”

“I was in a holding cell in the police station for a few hours, not in prison.” She rolled her eyes. “There was absolutely no reason for me to take a shower, and no one made me their bitch while I was there, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He relaxed back into his seat, and realized how cold he was. He cranked the heat in his car, but it didn’t substitute for the fact that he’d forgotten to wear a jacket. Adrenaline had probably kept him warm up until now.

“Sorry, I was already worried,” he admitted, feeling ridiculous. “This was just the icing on the cake.”

“Worried?”

“Just about how you were doing. I know you’re a grown-up and you don’t need my help, but . . .” It probably wasn’t the right time to bring this up, so he changed the subject. “When we get back to my place, I’ll call my lawyer to find out who the best criminal defense lawyer is in town. Don’t worry about anything—I’ll take care of it.”

Everly laughed dryly. “I’m getting the impression that if I’d tried to kill you, you’d still hire me a lawyer.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. If you tried to kill me, I’d just pull you over my lap and paddle your ass until you were a very sorry girl.” Shit. He seriously just said that out loud? “Fuck, I’m sorry. I had so many different things I wanted say to you rehearsed, but you’re in my car for five minutes and I’m automatically threatening to punish you.”

“Some habits die hard.” She shrugged. “Anyway, you slipped. I get it. You just bailed me out of jail. I’m hardly going to give you a hard time about a little teasing.”

They rode in silence for a while, and Ambrose decided against several different topics, because all of them seemed to come back to him being overly familiar with her. They hadn’t discussed what had happened between them, and until they did, he wasn’t sure where the lines in the sand were drawn.

They reached his house about fifteen minutes later. He helped her out of the car and followed her up the front walk, shoving his hands in the back pockets of his jeans so that he didn’t accidentally touch her. He wanted to more than anything.

“I’ll get dinner going now. You can go ahead and relax on the couch. Take a nap if you want. Or feel free to take a shower or bath. You know where my clothes are if you want to borrow something.” He yanked his gaze away from her when he realized he was staring. Quit being creepy, Ambrose.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Everly smile at him, a true and happy smile. “Oh God, I could seriously use a hot bath. I don’t think I’ve warmed up since the protest.” Without hesitation, she headed down the hall then up the stairs. Ambrose mentally followed her footsteps. The fact that she was acting like she owned the place both pleased and upset him. He wanted her to feel like she was welcome there, but the pretentiousness of the house embarrassed him more now that she knew it was his.

It was impossible to forget that she was there while he could hear the water running. When the water stopped, the issue became thinking about her getting naked and climbing into the bath. He started preparing dinner, searing meat, and chopping vegetables, while controlling his avalanche of feelings. She probably wouldn’t appreciate it if he went charging up the stairs and tried to invite himself into her bath, let alone if he kissed her and ran his hands over her skin, and then tried to seduce her into his bed.

He texted Konstantin and Banner for advice, but they didn’t text back. The Catacombs was a loud place. He was on his own.

Fuck, he was so going to screw this up.

Focusing on making dinner helped. When the food was ready, he set it aside to keep it warm. He waited. A while later, when she still hadn’t come down, he went up to his room and knocked on the bathroom door.

“Everly? The food is ready. No rush though. I can always warm it up for you when you get out.” There was no response, so he knocked again. Nothing. “Everly? Are you okay?”