Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 69
“You can stay the night.”
“I have to work in the morning.”
“Then let me get dressed.”
“I can drive myself, Justin. I’m okay now.”
“My truck’s over at your place. I have to go with you.”
I shook my head, confused. “What? How?” As he started walking toward his bedroom, I followed him.
“How the hell do you think I stopped you?”
While he opened a drawer and threw a t-shirt on, I sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on my socks and shoes. “I don’t know. I hadn’t given it much thought.”
“After you left here with the gun, I followed you home. I could see it in your eyes, Rascal. I knew you were gonna try something dangerous and stupid. So instead of driving home, I parked my truck around the block from your place and walked to your street. I got in your van and hid in the back.”
“But how? I always lock it.”
Justin laughed as he started tying his boots. “Darlin’, you have faith in me to find you an unregistered gun, but you ask how I could get into your car?” Smiling, I shook my head as he continued. “Turns out it was a good idea for several reasons. Psycho didn’t know I was home, so we caught her red-handed.” Once again, he held out his hand to me. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Want me to drive?”
“I think so. If you don’t mind.”
And so he drove my van to my house. We didn’t talk during the drive but there was nothing uncomfortable about it. Once we got there, Justin came inside with me, doublechecking that I was all right. “Call me if you need anything, Rascal.”
My breath caught in my throat, but I touched his hand. “Would you stay with me?”
Closing the door, he wrapped his arms around me while looking in my eyes. “If you want.”
Nodding, I collapsed into the warmth of his safe embrace.
Chapter Twenty-five
The next morning, my alarm woke me out of a deep sleep. Immediately, I noticed that I felt achy and fatigued, and I swiped to snooze. Then Justin rolled over, draping his arm over my body. Snuggling back against him, I drifted off to sleep once more until, minutes later, the alarm started making a racket again.
This time, I sat up after turning the alarm off and rolled my neck to get the kinks out. I could barely hear Justin when he muttered, “How ya doin’, Rascal?”
“Not feeling so hot. Maybe I’ll feel better after a shower and a cup of coffee.”
“Come here. I’ll help you feel better.”
“Justin, I don’t dare curl up next to you again, or I’ll fall back asleep. You’re too warm and snuggly.”
“Who said I wanted to sleep?”
I turned to look at him and stroked his cheek. “I need to get ready for work.” Getting out of bed, I continued to stretch, trying to wake my muscles up. “You can stay if you want.”
After starting a pot of coffee, I got in the shower. While the warm water pelting my body helped the kinks ease themselves out, I could tell I hadn’t slept well. The longer I was awake, the less rested I felt.
By the time I dried off, a towel around my hair and a robe around my body, I headed to the kitchen—but I still felt shivery. Justin was already at the counter, stirring liquid in a cup. Turning, he handed one to me. “Like you like it.”
“Aw. Thank you.” He gave me the cutest look before picking up the other cup, and we both sat at the table. I took a sip of my coffee and discovered it was perfect. “Thanks, Justin. That was sweet.”
Instead of responding, his eyes were focused on his hand he had wrapped around his mug. “I’ve been thinking about somethin’.”
“What?”
I couldn’t read his thoughts when he shifted his gaze to me. “Maybe we should move in together.”
Setting the cup down, I felt my breath catch in my throat. Surely, I was hearing things. “What?”
“I asked if you wanted to move in together.”
“That wouldn’t that cramp your lifestyle?”
“What lifestyle?”
I chuckled then. “All the girls…”
“What? Like psycho Chelsea? Or any of the other women who wound up in my bed, half of them with names and faces I can’t even remember? What’s the point?”
“You’ll change your mind, Justin. You’re just smarting over Chelsea breaking into your apartment.”
“No. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”
I noticed then my heart softly thudding in my chest. Was this real? “You have?”
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever been with that I can’t let go.”
I leaned over, reaching my hand over to touch his. “So what does that mean?”
“It means if I can’t let you go and we’re together most of the time anyway, why not just be together all the time?”
And I wondered. Was it that—or did he actually care for me? More than that, did I care what his answer would be? But, as I looked in his coffee-colored eyes, I could see it in them—and I sure as hell felt it myself. Maybe this was what I needed.
But there was another matter.
“All right. Let’s say we do this. Would you move in here?”
“Or do we get a new place entirely?”
As he took another drink of his coffee, I said, “I need a cigarette.” Wandering into the living room, I found my purse and got them out. Then I came back into the kitchen and said, “I can barely afford this place. I don’t think I could get another place.”
“You wouldn’t have to pay the entire rent by yourself. Do you think I’m a freeloader?”
“Of course not.”
“I would pay the fuckin’ rent, Randi. I just think we belong together. That’s all. I don’t care how or where. My apartment’s too small for me, much less the three of you.”
“Come with me.” We moved to the utility room near the back door and I lit a cigarette. It started me coughing right away, so I took a drink of coffee to soothe my throat.
Justin asked, “What