AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I rolled my eyes. There he was, captain rule follower. “Whatever, just find him and deal with him so I don’t have to.”
“Z, don’t do anything stupid.”
Marigold came out of her room, wearing just my red flannel over her bra and underwear. No woman in the history of the world had ever looked hotter.
“I won’t. For now.” I ended the call before he could argue with me, my eyes glued to Marigold. “Look at you. Could you be any more beautiful?”
She smiled. “Stop. I haven’t even put makeup on yet.”
I stepped in and wrapped my arms around her. “I won’t stop, because I’m right. You’re stunning.”
“Thank you.”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “I hate to break the post sex buzz, because I don’t know about you, but I feel fantastic.”
She giggled a little. “Me too. But what’s wrong?”
“No sign of Preston. Do I have to call him by his name? I don’t want to give him that kind of respect. How about cockmuppet?”
“What does cockmuppet even mean?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds insulting. Anyway, no sign of cockmuppet. Garrett said he hasn’t checked out of his hotel and his car is still there, but he’s not. No record of him flying out and he’s not at the construction site. Did he have another vehicle or anything?”
“Not that I know of, at least not here in Tilikum.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll find him. In the meantime, I won’t let him get anywhere near you.”
“Is it stupid of me to hope he’ll let this go? It’s not like we were in a relationship. We’d only been on a handful of dates.”
“My gut tells me he won’t. I don’t know why, he just seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t like it when his toys get taken away.”
She glanced away. “You’re probably right.”
The solution came to me in a flash. It was so simple. “How about I move in?”
“Move in where? Here?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little sudden?”
“Well yeah, under normal circumstances. I’m not saying I have to move in permanently.” Actually, that was exactly what I was saying, but I didn’t want to push her too hard. Not yet, anyway. “Just while cockmuppet is on the loose. That way you’ll always have someone here to protect you.”
“Zachary, it’s not like I need a bodyguard twenty-four-seven.”
“You do, actually. And not just any bodyguard. You need me.”
She smiled. “You seem very confident of that.”
I pulled her in tighter. “You know you want me here. You’re just worried things are moving too fast. But they’re not. We’re not strangers, Marigold. We’ve both wanted this for a long time. Why hold back now?”
“I’m just nervous.”
“About what?”
She slid her hands up my chest and locked them behind my neck. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I get it. You don’t know if you can trust me. That’s okay. I’ll prove it to you. Just give me a chance.”
