AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The worst.I love her, but I can’t live with her.She drives me batshit crazy.”
He ran a hand through his hair.“You have friends.”
She shook her head.“I’m staying here.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I assure you, I’m very serious,” she said.
“You can stay with me at the boarding house,” he suggested.“You can have the bed.I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Her head continued to shake.“I’m staying here.I didn’t spend the last five years building my business to have someone scare me away from it.What if he comes back and destroys my work?This is my livelihood.I’m not the only one depending on the income generated here.I support my mother as well.Without my shop, I have nothing.I don’t have a college education.I’d be forced to get a low-paying job in the city and rent an apartment I couldn’t afford as well as pay for my mother’s mortgage and utilities.I sank everything into this place.I’m not leaving.”
Lucas took her hands in his.“Sweetheart, this is your life.Thingscan be replaced.Buildingscan be rebuilt.Youcan’t be replaced or rebuilt if you’re destroyed.”
Felina’s jaw hardened.
Lucas wasn’t liking this.
“I’m staying.”She lifted her chin.“And tomorrow, I’ll buy a gun.”
He was fighting a losing battle with this one.“Have you ever fired a gun?”
Her brow furrowed.“No, but I can learn.”
“The last thing you need to do is purchase a weapon that could get you killed.”
“I’m smart.I learn quickly.”
“I’m sure you are and can, and I’d be happy to teach you.But it takes time.”He sighed.“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with a friend or relative?”
She shook her head, her mouth set in a firm line.“I need to be here.I have a lot of work to do and orders to place for several big events coming up, including Trish’s wedding.”
“Okay.”He knew what he had to do.“Wait here.”
Lucas left through the front door, strode out to his truck and opened the rear door.He grabbed the go-bag and sleeping bag he kept tucked behind the seat and returned to the shop.
Felina’s brow dipped low as she inspected the items he carried.“I don’t need your sleeping bag.I have a blanket and pillow, it’s all I need.”
He dropped the go-bag and sleeping bag on the floor, turned and locked the door.“You might not need it, but I do.”Lucas faced her.
Her frown deepened.
He touched a finger to the area between her eyes.“You’re going to get frown lines if you keep that up.”He slung his go-bag over his shoulder, tucked the sleeping bag beneath his arm and looked around.“Are we camping out in the workroom or up front?”
“I’mcamping out in the workroom.”She poked her finger at his chest.“You’regoing back to wherever you’re staying.”
He caught her finger and brought it up to press his lips to the tip.“As your boyfriend, it wouldn’t be right of me to leave you alone after someone broke into your apartment.If you want people to buy into our relationship, I have to stay.And, I have a gun and know how to use it.I’d say that’s a win-win all around.Less the fact we’ll be sleeping on a hard floor.But then, I’ve slept in worse places.”He marched to the back of the shop and started rearranging the worktables to make more room for them to stretch out on the floor.
She followed slowly.“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”He untied the strap around his sleeping bag and unrolled and unzipped it.Then he spread it across the floor, wide enough for two people to sleep side by side.He laid his go-bag out like a pillow and stretched out on one side of the bag.“It’s getting late.Do you mind turning off the light?”
She stood for a moment longer, frowning.
“Or leave it on.You might not want to be in the dark after having someone break into your apartment.It’s up to you.I can sleep with it on or off.”He rolled onto his side away from her.“Good night, Felina.”
He closed his eyes, his ears on high alert for her movements.
