Skin Heat by Ava Gray

know. I’m sorry.”
    Zeke’s heart lifted. It could’ve been a lot worse. She could’ve said she felt sorry for him or that she’d never want someone like him. He almost smiled.
    Travis came back down the hall, drying his hands on the thighs of his jeans. “You want that last slice?”
    “If nobody else does.”
    “Go for it. Are you sticking around for the third one?” It was a friendly inquiry, but the question told Zeke he’d stayed long enough.
    Maybe it wasn’t personal. Maybe the guy just wanted to be alone with Julie. Given how they’d been messing around in the kitchen, he’d want private time with his woman; that was for sure. He stood up, still chewing the last of the pizza.
    “Should get home. Thanks.”
    “Not a prob. Next month we’re watching the Weekend at Bernie’s movies.” He grinned. “My turn to pick. Maybe you can make it?”
    Huh. So Travis hadn’t been asking him to leave? God, he’d lost so much in his ability to read other human beings. He could figure out more from their breathing and their smell than from their words and expressions. But since he’d already said he needed to go, he just nodded.
    “Sounds good.”
    Travis called, “Zeke’s heading out. Want to say bye?”
    The women came out of the kitchen together. Julie offered a warm smile. “It was great having you. See you at work tomorrow.”
    Pleasure washed over him. As of tomorrow, he’d have somewhere to go and work to be doing. At the end of the week, there would be money to get the power back on and put food in his cupboards. Neva couldn’t know how much she’d done for him by giving him a job.
    “Good night,” he said.
    Lifting a hand, he headed for the door. Neva surprised him by saying to the others, “I’ll walk him out.”
    Outside, the air was crisp and cool. No clouds in the sky. Stars glittered overhead, and the night sang with sounds other people wouldn’t even notice. He could hear a raccoon prowling in the bushes. There were squirrels in the trees, too, and nesting birds as well. He saw the shadow of open wings and the sensation of swooping rushed through him. Owl. For a dizzying moment, he saw through its eyes just as it dove after a mouse.
    He stumbled, barely catching himself on the hood of the truck. Tremors ran through him. Christ. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Can there be any doubt I’m nuts?
    “What happened? Did you step in the hole?”
    Still dizzy, he couldn’t speak. Zeke let her go on about some defect in Travis’s driveway maintenance program. He lost the thread of her words. Instead he just breathed, trying to regain control of his own head. When he finally did, he realized she had her hand on his arm.
    Warm.
    The heat shocked him. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since a woman other than Aunt Sid had touched him. Here it was, skin to skin. He would’ve pulled away from anyone else, but for her, he stood quiet, drinking in the feeling.
    “How many beers did you have?”
    “One.”
    “So you should be fine to drive.”
    Sid would call Neva a caretaker, someone who made sure everyone else was okay. But who looked after her ? He never could’ve imagined a world where Geneva Harper would be asking about him like this.
    “Just tripped,” he said. “Tired. Been a long day.”
    He wanted to say more but the words wouldn’t come. He wanted to tell her that it mattered she cared—that she was kind and decent—and that he’d known little enough of either in recent months. But his tongue seemed to swell in his mouth, and he couldn’t.
    “Would you like me to follow you home? I owe you. Anything could’ve happened to me the other night.”
    He shook his head. “You done plenty.”
    By the time he got in the truck, the dizziness had passed. The owl had flown away, mouse in talons, though Zeke didn’t like to think about his surety. Blood scented the night air, surely not just from one small mouse. Just more of his crazy. Best not to