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“Easier to get in than out, but yeah. Anyone can do anything if they want it bad enough.”
“Does he need help?”
Lee’s fingers had been drawing randomly on my back, but they stopped. His arm came around me and his other hand tilted my chin to look at him.
“Do not try to save Darius,” he ordered, his voice firm.
I made a huffy sound then told him, “That sounded like an order.”
“The brothers are not fond of women messin’ in their affairs. Especially white women. This includes Darius. The guy you knew in high school is gone.” His voice got kind of scary.
“All right,” I gave in. “You don’t have to get all freaky about it.”
He let go of my chin and I snuggled into him again.
“I’m beginnin’ to feel my mother’s pain. I just have you to worry about and it’s doin’ my head in. She had all four of us,” Lee said.
“You’re a big, tough, badass dude. You’ll survive,” I told him.
He rolled into me and ran his mouth down my jaw to my ear. “Your job is to make it worthwhile.”
I had a feeling I could do that.
TWENTY-FOUR
A METALLICA MOMENT
We were sitting in Lee’s teak chairs on the balcony. It was post morning sex. I was wearing one of Lee’s tees and a pair of hot-pink lace hipsters, drinking my coffee, my feet up in Lee’s lap, zoned out with my gaze settled on the Front Range. Lee was also drinking coffee, but he wasn’t zoned out. He was reading the paper, which was spread out on the table. He was absently stroking one of my feet and was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing else.
Even though it had been an active morning, I was still only on coffee number one and my mental processes hadn’t yet kicked in. Regardless of this, I realized the feeling I had was contentment, and yes, even happiness. Maybe evenrealhappiness. Maybe even off the charts happiness.
Lee put the paper down and sat back. He stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed his ankles and took a drink of his coffee. His gaze leveled on me, and although I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel it.
He put his coffee down and started to massage my foot, this time with both hands. It felt super nice. He had strong hands and he knew how to use them.
“I’ve asked Dawn to get some guys to come in, pack up your stuff and move it and your furniture to storage. Today, you need to pack anything you want to bring over, and I’ll come around tonight and we’ll move you in.”
Happiness fled instantly and panic seized every cell in my body. My eyes moved from the Front Range to Lee and I stared, unable to speak.
Lee kept talking. “I know a property management service. I called them yesterday. They’ll rent your place, make sure it’s a good tenant and maintain it for a fee. We’ll get it advertised next week.”
I finally found my voice. “I know I promised to move in by this weekend, but…isn’t this going a bit fast?”
Lee’s hands moved to my other foot.
“Yep,” he answered.
“Don’t you think we should slow down?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Why?”
Okay, you could hear the panic edging my one word question, but still.
Instead of answering, he dropped my feet, bent double to get up and kissed my forehead as he did so. Then he walked into the condo.
I stared at him moving away from me.
