As much as I'd have loved nothing more than to speed to Kier's house, I have to make a short detour first.
I toss back Dayne's coffee, which wakes me up enough that I can start putting together a plan on my convince-Kier-that-he-doesn't-really-want-to-dump-me mission.
The first and most important task means stopping at my little cottage in town for the joke handcuffs.
They are not, as I'd always believed, living in my drawer of crap in the kitchen. So I spend a good fifteen minutes emptying it, and then all the other drawers in the kitchen. Turns out I have no idea where those handcuffs are.
Knowing all the time I spend looking for them is eating away at the precious few remaining minutes I have to get from town to the isolated part of Hardin that Kier calls home, panic starts to set in.
I consider going without the handcuffs but quickly abandon the idea. Turning up without them would mean being forced to rely on my persuasive skills in a confrontation with an alpha who has already proven himself to be resistant to them.
Once Kier has made his mind up about something, he is stubborn with a capital S. The mission is guaranteed to end in failure without these handcuffs, so the search continues, even as I know I'm fast running out of time.
With panic comes a random search that carries me from my kitchen to the lounge, the bathroom, and finally the last place I'd ever think to look for them: my bedroom.
So of course that's where they turn out to be.
I'm standing beside my bed with the pink fluffy handcuffs in hand, frowning down at them because there's no reason I can think of for them to be shoved in the back of my bedside drawer. Not unless Nathan…
As I'm still trying to work out how they got there and if this is another of Nathan's pranks, my phone vibrates. I tug it out of my jeans pocket and glance at it to see who's calling. And that's when I glimpse the time. Eight forty-five.
I stare down at my phone, frozen, ignoring the flashing name that tells me Nathan is calling because that isn't important. What is important is that there is no way I'm going to be able to drive from my cottage to Kier's cabin in time. Not when it usually takes me thirty minutes to get there. I have fifteen, and that's if I leave right this second.
My phone stops vibrating, and I still don't move.
I don't have time. I should just accept that this is the way it's going to be, that Kier and I are over.
And that's when I remember Kier's arm wrapped snugly around my waist the last time I stayed over, and the soft kiss I felt on my shoulder just before I drifted off to sleep. I straighten my back. "No. It is not over, no matter what he says. It isn't."
As long as there is still a chance, I'm taking it.
"You can do this, Hallee. Yes, you can." I grab the handcuffs and my purse, and tear out of my cottage, slamming the door shut behind me and throwing myself into my car.
When my phone starts ringing again, I don't even glance at it. I don't have time.
The drive through town goes well, better than well. Never have I been more thankful not to live in a big city with traffic than I am at this moment.
The one road running through town is deserted, which means it's okay for me to drive a little faster than I ordinarily would. At least that's what I tell myself.
My one glance at the diner reveals a handful of locals inside, but that's about it. If there's anyone in Mart's grocery store, I don't see them, and with Marshall and Jenna likely in bed together, his garage is closed, though the gas station is open.
I feel like the universe is giving me permission to speed… just a little. As if it's willing my mission to succeed. So I take full advantage. A couple of minutes later and I'm through town and heading toward Kier's cabin.
The ironic thing is that I'm grinning when it happens. And by it, I mean, a green truck pulls out of the very road I was about to turn on to, and which would lead me to the lonely stretch of road Kier lives down.
The driver of the truck doesn't stop. He just blows right past me.
My grin disappears as I slow because the truck looks familiar. More than familiar.
Once I've stopped my car, my gaze goes to the rearview mirror. All I can do is watch as Kier's truck disappears further and further into the distance.
For a moment I just sit there, idling in the middle of the road with the engine running. I sit there for a long time feeling numb because my mission is over before I even got started, and hopeless because it feels like the universe just stuck a middle finger up at me.
But he'll be back soon.
He was only telling Dayne that he needed to delay the commission, not cancel it, so that means he'll be back to Hardin. Maybe. All I need to do is wait and then I can speak to him when he returns from… wherever.
I've heard people say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Now would be a good time to test that theory, I tell myself, even though it doesn't bring me any comfort.
Maybe the saying works for other people, but I have a feeling time is only going to make Kier more entrenched in his decision. If I give him more time, he'll find more reasons not to talk to me, not to see me, and worse of all, not to admit that there is something between us worth fighting for.
My phone rings, and without taking my eyes off the rearview mirror, I grab it from the passenger seat and answer it. "Yeah?"
"You get him?" Dayne asks.
For a long time, I don't answer because I want to ask him what I should do. I want to know if I'm being stupid chasing after Kier when I could be wrong. Maybe he doesn't like me at all. Maybe it's all in my head.
"Hallee?"
"I don't know what to do," I whisper.
Although Dayne doesn't speak, I'm sure I can hear him thinking.
It isn't often that I'd ever admit this because I've always been confident. If there's something I want, I get it. Even if that means bending the rules a little. I think back to my high game scores.
Okay, maybe a lot.
But Kier isn't a high score I want to beat. He isn't a game where I can cheat my way to victory. He matters… a lot, and I can't help but feel like I'm about to lose the one thing I want more than anything else I've ever wanted.
"Yes, you do." The utter assurance in Dayne's voice leaves no doubt that he's alpha, that he knows what he's talking about.
It still isn't enough to silence my doubts. "But what if-"
"Hallee…"
I start in surprise at Nathan's voice.
"Nathan?"
"Do you or do you not like Kier?" Nathan demands, sounding uncharacteristically firm.
I blink in surprise. "Uh, yeah."
"Then pull your head out of your ass and go get him."
I sit up straighter in my seat. "I do not have my head up my ass. Considering you're always-"
"You know what, I'm too hungover for this," Luka interrupts, "way too hungover. Hallee, if you like him, go tell him that, just… save the squabbling for later, when I'm not here, or where I can't hear you."
"Go get him, Hales!" Talis calls out from somewhere in the background.
"Talis, for the love of… will you sit still for five fucking minutes," Dayne snarls. "And you wonder why you have a bad back."
"That might have something to do with this baby you put inside of me that refuses to leave, even though there is no more space left to invade, no more organs left to kick or punch," Talis snaps right back. "So shut it."
I can't help but smile because… family.
Someone's phone vibrates. "Savannah says she has a surprise for us," Dean adds.
"You think she's pregnant?" Nathan asks.
"Why is it when a woman has a surprise, everyone automatically thinks it means she's pregnant?" I demand as if that wasn't the same thought that crossed my mind. As if I'm not delaying going after Kier because the probability of him shutting yet another door in my face when I catch up to him is pretty high. Too high.
"Hallee, go," Dayne says, proving he knows me far too well. "I don't know what happened between you two, but every alpha sense in me is telling me that there's something there. Go find out what it is, but keep us updated."
Before I can respond, Dean snorts. "Alpha sense? Dude thinks he's a superhero."
When I hear a dull thud followed by Dean crying out, it isn't hard to work out what happened.
Still smiling, I hang up because Dayne is right, all of them are right. I have to figure out whether Kier and I have a future, because before all the craziness happened with the shifters turning up and trying to kidnap Jenna, it felt like we did.
After tossing my phone onto the passenger seat, I take stock of everything I have.
Pink fluffy handcuffs with no keys. Check.
Purse with credit card. Check.
Lipgloss. Check.
And that's it. That is the sum of my supplies for Operation… my eyes snag on the handcuffs. "Operation Fluffy Handcuffs," I murmur.
I'm still hungover from Jenna and Marshall's mating ceremony the night before. I haven't brushed my hair, let alone my teeth. I haven't showered, and I'm still wearing yesterday's jeans, tank top, and boots.
I run a hand through my long brown hair, relieved it's still tangle-free, then I rummage around in my center console and retrieve a half-opened pack of mints. After popping one in my mouth, I apply some peach-colored lipgloss.
Since there's little I can do about the dark circles under my brown eyes, I ignore them in favor of something I have control over. Namely, going after Kier.
Thankfully, the road out of Hardin is one long straight one, so he'll have to drive for a good few miles before he can turn anywhere, which means I have plenty of time to catch up to him.
After finding some motivational music on the radio, I do a U-turn and take off.
"Operation Fluffy Handcuffs is a go," I mutter.