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* * *
Once again, the cool air that hits me as I walk through the double-door entrance to the library is like a sigh of relief after the last twelve hours.
“What happened?” Thea looks alarmed by my haggard appearance. The tape over my stitches is peeling and I can’t even imagine the grime seeping in. I’ve been sweating for hours. I wouldn’t be surprised if she smelled me before she saw me.
“I got pulled into a work thing. It’s been a hell of a long night. I’m just now getting back to my truck, but I wanted to stop in and say hi before I crash.” I rest my elbows on the counter in front of her and rub my face. I’m beat.
“I noticed it parked here earlier.” The concern is clear in her eyes.
“You worried about me, baby?” I ask cheekily with the last bit of my energy reserves, watching her lips twitch upward at my term of endearment.
That small reaction and others like it are what makes her so irresistible. I want to witness all of them. I want to be the reason for all of them.
“Of course, I worry. I hope you can get some rest,” she murmurs sweetly, her fingers twitching against the counter like she’s fighting the urge to reach out to me. Ditto, sweetheart.
“I’ll try my best. The motel bed sucks and the walls are made of paper. I can’t imagine I’ll get more than a few hours of sleep. I’ll probably end up on your porch waiting for you to get home.” My attempt at being funny falls flat, but I’m too tired to make it sound less sad. I can’t even muster up a fake smile.
“Then go to my house now.” She rustles around in a drawer below her, pulling out her key chain. “Here, take my key.”
“What?” My brain’s not computing what she’s saying.
“If you think you’ll end up at my house anyway, go there now. Take a shower, sleep in my bed. I have blackout curtains and thick walls.” She giggles, sliding the key across the counter to me. All I do is stare at it for a moment.
“You want me to use your shower and sleep in your bed?” I ask, confirming that I’m not making all of this up in my head.
“Yes.” She grabs something else from the drawer below her. “I like knowing that you’re in my space, in my bed.” She slides my credit card across the counter, the one that I gave her last night to repurchase her toys.
She’s using my own logic back at me. She isn’t ready for me to be in her bed the traditional way but will be satisfied knowing that I’m there regardless.
“Did you use it?” I check before I stow it away in my wallet.
“Yes. Thank you.” She smiles, giving me that brilliant radiance that only she can.
It’s enough to spur me forward, giving me the drive to get a change of clothes from the motel and over to her house. I almost brought everything from my room, so I never have to come back, but even I realize that would be a little presumptuous.
The seal has already been broken though. Now that I know she wants me in her house and in her bed, I’ll never want to leave.
* * *
12 hours ago…
“Jameson said there might have been a breach, he needs us over there securing the property,” Curtis tells me excitedly like this is a high-priority mission.
All I can think is, shit, does he know I snuck onto his property the other night? I was careful, but I might have left too much blood behind after I was hit.
“Someone trespassing?” I ask hesitantly.
“Maybe. He didn’t say.” Dammit. I hope I’m not walking into a trap.
We drive in relative silence out to the farm, where there isn’t much else of anything. It’s near the most northern point of Rollins County. His property is the flattest lot this far into the mountains, which must be why he still calls it the farm. Aside from the barns on his land, no crops are being grown in the fields, and no animals are being raised.
We pull in through the gate and I groan. Spotlights are lighting up the property in the dead of night, illuminating the yard as we park and join the others. This can’t be good.
“Now that you’re all here, I can tell you what’s going on. It’s time to fortify the farm. We are no longer safe, our property is no longer untouched by civilization.”
What the hell is this guy talking about?
“The new Sheriff paid me a visit this morning. The nerve of him.” He grunts. “I am going to make him regret ever crossing me.”
