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For a second, I think I’m being robbed. But then I realize I didn’t hear breaking glass. I heard a key in the lock and the door open and then lock again.
Heavy footsteps pad down the hall.
It’s Jameson. I know it’s him.
Normally, there would be a few people it could be letting themselves into my house. Gunnar always lets himself in. Sometimes my friend Drea does. But Gunnar mentioned that the last time he tried, my spare key wasn’t under the mat on the back porch. I had to lie on the spot and tell him I decided it wasn’t safe leaving a key out for just anyone to use anymore. But I knew exactly where that key was. And exactly who stole it. Jameson hasn’t used it until now. He kept his distance from me like I wanted.
I almost wish I was being burgled. I would happily part with some of Grams’ silverware not to have Jameson be the owner of the heavy footsteps making the floorboards outside my bedroom door creak. And it would save me from having to polish it every couple of months, too. Literally a silver lining.
Jameson cannot see me like this.
“Don’t come in here!”
chapter twenty-three
jameson
It’s a good thing I mostly wear the same work uniform every day. Jeans, t-shirt, and plaid shirt or jacket depending on the weather. Work boots. Baseball cap. So, no one noticed that I’m wearing the same clothes today as I was yesterday.
Jasper knows I didn’t sleep at home, but he doesn’t know where I was. And he’s not going to. If Lily wants to keep this quiet, I’ll go along with it for now. Until she gets used to the idea of us.
Jasper fed Violet and mucked out her stall like Lily asked. But I brushed her and snuck her an apple and a molasses cookie just because I wanted to.
After lunch, I can’t stop myself from texting Lily.
JAMESON:
Hey babe
Still thinking about last night
How about I come over and make you dinner tonight?
I promise to put you to bed after
Then I send her the picture I took of us last night cuddled up together in her bed before we fell asleep.
She still hasn’t got back to me by the time I finish work around four-thirty. And I’m starting to worry that she’s trying to push me away again. I’ve messaged her at least ten times with no answer back since lunch. I know I’m taking a hard left into stalker territory, so I’m not going to text her again. But I need to know where we stand. She agreed to give this a chance yesterday. Or at least to keep having sex with me until one of us wants to stop. After how good last night was, I’m damn sure she’s not ready to stop. I know I’m not. But who the hell knows what’s going on in her head now? If she’s talked herself off of the rails leading her directly to me, then I need to talk her right back onto them.
“I’m heading out,” I tell Jasper when I find him walking into the barn.
“Coming home tonight?” He laughs at me.
“Not if I can help it,” I mutter as I head for my truck.
When I get into town, I head home to shower and grab a change of clothes. Then I stop at the grocery store and pick up some flowers. I’m not sure if it makes sense to buy flowers for a woman who’s as good with plants as Lily is, so I pick up some pecan toffee and a bottle of white wine from the liquor store, too. Most women might like chocolate, but Lily likes caramel, and butterscotch, and toffee more than she likes chocolate. And I know that because I know her.
When I get to her house, I park on the back street and down a few houses. Although it’s broad daylight, and parking at the back of her block and a few houses down isn’t going to stop people from seeing my truck near her house again. Or see me walking inside and not coming out until I head to work tomorrow morning. Although people might just think I’m fucking my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Morningstar, because that’s whose house I’m parked out front of.
When I knock on Lily’s back porch door, there’s no answer. It’s not a big house. It’s an old rancher with four bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Other than the bathroom, that’s it. No matter where she is in the house, Lily can definitely hear me.
Unless something’s wrong.
The second that thought crosses my mind, I’m already pulling my keys out of my pocket and using the key I stole from under Lily’s back door mat the day I changed her lightbulbs to unlock the door. I figured I might lose it if I kept it loose, so I added it to my keychain. I don’t plan on taking it off. Or giving it back to her. But I won’t use it unless she says I can. Or unless something’s wrong. Nothing had better be wrong with her.
There’s no sign of her in the kitchen or the living room. The whole place looks exactly the same as it did when I left this morning.
She was fine when I left. She was sleeping, with her long blonde hair spread over the sunny yellow pillow and the sheets all bunched up in her fists.
