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She’s clutching her elbows again as she faces a window that looks out to a dark alley.
I’m getting to know her, and it hurts. I can’t be the one to make all her problems disappear, but I know I can give her the best start.
More than I ever had at her age.
Or is that it? A young woman with her whole life ahead of her, not wanting to be tied to-
I don’t have time to indulge the thought.
Her hands claw at my neck, pulling me down to her. Her warm mouth pressed to mine with such intensity I feel like she might burst.
“Oh, Jack. I’m sorry. Take me away from all this if you want, just take me away from all of it. Just don’t leave me when you’re done…Don’t leave me with-”
But my lips are on hers in answer.
I am taking her away from this, all of it. And I’ll make sure she never has to see any of it again. Only blue skies and whatever she wants from her window, not dark alleys and uncertainty.
Not her being so alone.
Never again.
Not one more night.
“Come home with me, Avery,” I tell her. “Just say you’ll come home with me, and we can work everything out from there.”Chapter ThirteenAveryJack’s not asking. He’s telling.
He doesn’t want to see me in my apartment another minute let alone another day, I can see it in his eyes.
Truth is, I couldn’t agree with him more. I hate the place.
I pack a bag as Jack watches me from my bedroom doorway, taking interest in the few things I have laying around.
“No pictures?” he asks suddenly, making me jump after I feel how close he is behind me.
“Pictures of what?” I ask him, creasing my brow.
“Family, friends… a pet rock?” he jokes, and I laugh.
“Like I told you, it’s just me. Always has been,” I tell him once I stop giggling.
Nobody’s ever made me laugh the way Jack does. Or made me feel so edgy at the same time.
Racy.
“Until now, I hope?” he asks again, taking my free hand into his and leaning down to kiss it.
“Will you give me a signed portrait?” I ask, half-joking but deadly serious at the same time.
“If you’ll let me, we can have a whole wall of photos, just us if you’d like,” he promises, and I can already see it in my mind.
It makes me relax into him as he hugs me.
“As slow or as fast as you want Avery,” he reminds me, kissing the top of my head and taking my bag for me.
“Am I keeping you up?” Jack asks once we’re back in the car as I stifle a yawn.
“It’s been a big day is all,” I tell him suddenly aware that I really have no idea where we’re going either. Only that I trust Jack and his judgment.
I feel lighter as the apartment building disappears behind us, as the whole neighborhood gives way to a more pleasing side of the city.
As it gets darker, the street lights tracing over us both make me sleepy. I close my eyes and nuzzling up to Jack in the back seat, I feel him stroking my hair and humming softly.
Permitting me to fall asleep right on him, which I can’t help.
I’m vaguely aware of Jack carrying me at some point, up some stairs, and into a place that smells like him.
I want to wake up, but he tells me to sleep, and the last moment of the first best day of my life ends with him kissing me softly on the lips as he tucks me into a huge bed that not only smells like him too, it feels like him.
And I don’t think I’ve ever slept deeper or sounder my whole life.The gray light of morning is coming in through the huge windows when I open my eyes, along with the smell of fresh bacon, coffee, and a whole bunch of other things that make me smile.
Jack.
I just know he’s up and has made us both breakfast.
Feeling the space next to me in the bed, I know he hasn’t slept in it.
The huge chair opposite with a blanket over it tells me Jack sat and watched me most of the night before getting some sleep himself.
Hearing Jack coming with a rattling breakfast tray, I close my eyes again and smiling like an idiot, I can hear him chuckling once he sees me.
“Awake now? I thought we’d almost lost you there,” he says, setting the domed tray down beside me on the nightstand.
“Where am I?” I ask him, not really minding the answer as long as he’s here with me.
“Home, I guess. My favorite one anyway. Not too far from the office either,” he adds with a grin, checking his watch.
“Is that a hurry up?” I ask him, hoping it isn’t.
“No, it means we have plenty of time to enjoy breakfast. I always get up early, so I got a few things done before it was time to make us something,” he adds, lifting the lid on what looks like a gourmet’s delight.
