AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They had a restful night, despite the turmoil of the day, and the weekend went by just as pleasant. It helped they didn’t venture from the house. Sure, Darrian had left town. She shouldn’t be fearful of going anywhere and running into him. Not to mention Griffin would be with her, so it wasn’t as if Darrian could hurt her. But it was the mere thought of seeing him that had her going into panic mode at the idea of leaving the house.
Griffin had sensed it, knowing her so well, and never once suggested going anywhere. Juliet and Bryce had spent the afternoon with them playing yard games while grilling as well. All in all, with a cloud of doom hanging over her head, the weekend went well.
Wednesday hit, and things were still going decent. No signs of Darrian or his lecherous lawyer in town, so Eve didn’t worry herself into a stupor going to the front of the cafe for this or that reason.
Griffin showed up for lunch, and she had a tuna sandwich with him by the window, watching as people strolled by. Some townsfolk she knew, others were tourists looking way too merry, in her opinion. But it was fun to see them dressed up in Christmas cheer. She found it silly, but enough to put a smile on her face and see the brighter side of life. When most of the time her life was doom and gloom.
She set her sandwich down, wiping her mouth with a napkin, eyeing Griffin. He was unusually silent today. He’d greeted her with a kiss, but not as enthusiastic as he normally did. Which meant something was on his mind and he didn’t want to share.
He met her gaze, a lopsided smile. “You’re looking at me like you’re about to start interrogating me.”
She returned his smile with a mischievous one. “Well, you’re acting like I need to. Where shall I start?”
He leaned forward, his lips widening into delight. The kind that would have her panties getting wetter than she’d like in public. “Anywhere you want to, sweetheart.”
She drew closer until she was able to press her lips to his. The kiss was slow and sweet and bespoke of the promises for later.
“Talk to me. I know you’re holding something back.”
Griffin sighed, slumping into his chair. She didn’t like how he retreated but understood why. She did the same thing when she didn’t want to share.
“We found a print on one of the cameras we found in your house. I got the report before I came here.”
She sat up straighter. That was not what she had expected to hear. The news wasn’t something he enjoyed receiving, which was odd. He’d had a hard time holding in his rage since he found the devices.
“And?”
Clearly, she was going to have to pry it out of him.
“And it came back to Mark Wilson. Mindy’s brother.”
Another thing she hadn’t expected.
“That could mean…”
By the fright in his eyes, he knew what she hadn’t been able to finish. It meant that her house wasn’t the only house with hidden cameras. Not when Mark had access to all the houses Mindy handled as a realtor. Mindy had said so herself that Mark was great about helping her out.
“Why are you eating lunch with me?”
Griffin’s brows drew inward. “What do you mean? We had a date for lunch, and I would never cancel on you.”
Eve stood up. “I’ll get you a to-go box.”
She didn’t make it one foot away from the table before Griffin grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace.
“I don’t want a to-go box.”
“You haven’t arrested him yet. You haven’t spoken to Mindy. You haven’t done anything about this yet because of me. So go do it.”
His grip was gentle but impenetrable. If she wanted to fight to get out of his arms, he’d make it difficult. Problem was she didn’t want to fight him. Not over something like this. But she knew he wanted to handle the problem, yet couldn’t because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings either. She would’ve understood if he had to cancel—for any reason. He should know her better than that.
“I haven’t done anything about it yet because I’m waiting on Duke to get a warrant. Because when I find Mark, I’m not messing around. It has nothing to do with you. I swear.”
“Moments ago you said you’d never cancel on me.” Therefore, he wasn’t taking care of it because of her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings in any way.
His cheeks brightened, caught in his lie. “Okay, I’ll amend my words. I’d never cancel on you unless I absolutely had to. I didn’t need to today. As soon as Duke calls, I will have to leave.”
Which she understood, naturally.
