“I should call my parents back,” she sighed. “I just don’t know if I have the energy to fake it, and I don’t want them to worry.”
“Call them back tomorrow, baby,” I suggested, seeing how tired she looked. Normally I encouraged her to call home, but right now I could tell it wasn’t what she needed.
She nodded as we plated our food, sitting side by side at the eat-in kitchen table.
“With all this craziness, I forgot to tell you that Joanie offered me a job,” she smiled over at me. “Or, really I offered to rent a chair from her, but still.”
“That’s great, baby,” I replied despite already running through the logistics of keeping her safe in my head.
I couldn’t tamper with her independence any more than I had to in order to keep her safe. And the fact she was setting up roots here beyond hanging her clothes in the closet was exactly what I’d hoped for.
“Oh shit, that’s probably going to make things difficult now with everything,” she worried.
I reached over, squeezing the back of her neck. “Don’t worry about it, baby. Honestly, probably would have had a man on you anyway. This shit with Pike was only a matter of time.”
She didn’t look entirely convinced but nodded, digging back into her food.
We did our nightly routine with the dogs, and I shut down the house, finding her in our room getting ready for bed.
“Hey.” I prowled toward her, picking her up and tossing her on the bed, making her squeal in surprise as I loomed up over her. “Did you tell me you loved me today?” I demanded, nipping at her neck gently.
“I may have,” she agreed breathlessly as I focused on the spot I’d discovered made her shiver.
I bit down harder.
“Okay, okay, I definitely did.” She laughed as I pulled back to look down at her. “I definitely did,” she repeated, serious now.
“And I definitely said I love you too,” I replied, dipping low to take her mouth in a kiss intended to convey everything in my heart I’d never be able to properly put words to.
But my body could. And I spent the rest of the night showing her exactly what she meant to me.
Chapter 19
GRACE
“Damn, it’s cold,” I squealed as I ran from the house and dove into Ryland’s waiting SUV.
He chuckled. “This ain’t cold, woman.” He shook his head at my antics as he pulled down the drive to take me to work.
It had been two weeks since the incident with Pike, and though things had been quiet, no one was letting their guard down.
Ruston drove me to work and picked me up when he could, but when he couldn’t, it was on one of the other guys.
Despite feeling badly for being a burden, I’d enjoyed getting to know them and their very different personalities. Ryland was the most willing to engage in conversation; he could be hilarious when he was in the mood and almost always had a toothpick in his mouth. It worked with that badass mustache of his. Lincoln was quiet, but we had a similar taste in music and frequently tried out new bands on our drives. Cason was also happy to talk, but it was almost always a conversation about some new technology that lost me before he’d even begun. And then there was Tank, who I had begun to truly believe only talked to Dallas. At least, she swore he talked. With me, he communicated through grunts and occasionally one-word responses. I’d learned to not take it personally and let the man be.
“This isn’t cold?” I demanded in horror. We’d had snow in Hawthorne, but the weather here was more severe, or so I kept hearing.
He just shook his head at me as we hit the main drag that led to town. The holidays would be coming soon, and I wanted to go home for Thanksgiving but hadn’t brought it up with Ruston yet.
We’d been busy working on the house, buying furniture to make it ours, and most importantly, at least to me, building out shelves in the closet. We’d turned two of the empty bedrooms into guest rooms, while the other sat empty, its future purpose going unspoken but understood between us.
When we pulled in front, Ryland got out with me, always insisting on doing a walk-through of the salon before sitting in his SUV until I was done. The man had to be bored to tears, but he never complained; none of them did.
“Well, hello, handsome,” Joanie greeted when we walked in, always the constant flirt with all the men of the Royal Bloods.
“Hi, darlin’,” Ryland greeted her, making her day with a wink as he went about the very short trip of ensuring the salon was safe. “Have a good day, ladies.” He threw up two fingers as he made his way outside a few moments later.
“Damn, if I wasn’t married and about two decades too old, I’d be chasing that man down.” She sighed, watching him leave before turning her attention back to me, her skintight turquoise shirt and matching eyeliner a sight to behold.
