AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Try…try for us, Theo. We’re an us now.”
“I’ve never been an us in any way, Hud. I don’t know how.”
“We’ll learn all this together. Okay?”
He nodded, then moved to kiss me, and I let him. His fingers threaded in my hair, his lips trembled against mine, and I felt his fear and need. It wasn’t sex. Sure, we’d have sex, and it would be insanely good, eventually. His appetite was to be loved.
And I knew then, without a doubt, I loved him.
He showered and came to the kitchen after breakfast, bringing the tray. I watched him do a terrible job cleaning his dishes, but he did them. I didn’t touch them until later when he wouldn’t see.
“Can we go shopping?”
“Theo…”
“Not for clothes or whatever. If you want to stay here, and…I do too, but not like this. Call me a snob, get perturbed at me all you want, but I need pleasant things around me.”
I was shocked; he’d agreed to stay at the farmhouse. I thought for sure I’d have to talk him into it. “You’d stay here? Theo, I hope you’re not doing this just for me.”
Cocking his head while his eyes rolled hard, he asked, “Do I seem the type to live somewhere I hate for someone else?”
“No. Actually, no.”
“Then, the shopping?”
“Fine, but no makeup and no silk. Try to blend in a little!”
“Yeehaw, little doggie.”
Joel came an hour later with a tote in his hand, begging off small talk as he said Theo needed him. He left with a “See ya” after a few minutes, and I watched him hurrying out the door.
When it was time for Theo and me to go, he descended the stairs haughtily, but he’d done what I asked. I started laughing as I saw him in a western shirt, torn blue jeans, and a straw cowboy hat on his head. “That’s why Joel was here.”
“You don’t think I own anything like…this,” he asked with a wave of his hand over his outfit. “Is this disguised enough for you?”
“Yeah. Even in this, you look hot. How is that possible?”
I got a smile at the compliment, and he reached up on tiptoes to kiss my lips. “Thanks. You look good too, but…you never have to disguise.”
“I’m not the one in hiding.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“It shouldn’t be much longer. Javi said they were close to a negotiation.”
His head snapped up at me. “When did you speak to him?”
“Honey, I did this morning to let him know I was quitting when Burke could find a replacement. It was only right of me.”
“He didn’t…tell me. What are they negotiating?”
“I wasn’t let in on the details, but why? Please, Theo, don’t worry, okay? If it came to something bad, I’d take you away myself.”
He was terrified, so I held him in my arms.
“I won’t ever let anything happen to you. I hope you trust me that much. I may not be your bodyguard, but I’ll always protect you. That isn’t something I’ll negotiate about.”
My holding him had knocked off the hat, but he scooped it up and placed it back on his head when I let go of him. “Well, I wonder if we should even shop.”
