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“Has a nice ring, doesn’t it?”
“It really does.” She bumped shoulders with me. “Lincoln says your arrangement is a temporary fix. I’m not buying that.”
Lexie knew me as well as anyone, even better than my friends in London. Sometimes that was a blessing and sometimes it was a curse.
“What makes you say that?”
“That man would walk through fire, a tornado, and barefoot on broken glass all at the same time for you.”
I stumbled. When she put it in such blunt perspective, it was impossible to ignore. And while I wanted to argue, I wasn’t sure I could.
“There’s this intense energy when you two are in the same room,” she continued.
I didn’t bother to tell her that energy was there when we weren’t too.
“It’s . . . I don’t know what,” I said, at a complete loss for how to describe what was between Cal and me.
“You could start by defining temporary.” She flashed me a sly grin.
I tried to glare, but it fell flat. “Beats the hell out of me.”
“I was going to ask what happened between you two, but I’m pretty sure it’s irrelevant now.” Lexie was too smart for her own good.
Yesterday had been a defining moment for Cal and me. I’d found Garrett again. Any past hurt, any past decision he’d made to end things was completely obliterated. Because I finally understood that he was the most selfless and courageous man I knew. Lexie was totally right. I’d seen with my own eyes just what Cal was willing to do for me, and I had a feeling that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Except give you his heart.
That was the one thing I could grab on my own. Maybe he’d stolen mine, but I didn’t want to do that. I needed him to want me because that was what he desired most. Not because he didn’t have a choice.
“He took me to meet his mother.”
Lexie’s eyes widened. She understood the significance because she hadn’t grown up in the greatest environment either. And I wished she and Eric would’ve been with me and devoured piles of lasagna.
Mrs. Calhoun—the older one—would have doted on them both as if they were her own children. I wanted that for my friends and my brothers.
I slung an arm around her shoulders. “Do you feel like getting into a little trouble?”
She rubbed her hands together. “If you were anyone else, I’d say it depends, but yeah, I’m down.”
When we reached the bottom of the courthouse steps, I froze.
Parked across the street was a black sedan.
That asshole had a lot of nerve.
Had I really thought he’d stop following me?
Chapter Twenty-One
Cal
I joggedup the stairs to Teague’s apartment.
My building didn’t have an elevator and I didn’t want to get spoiled.
I reached the landing for his floor and hesitated. For a few minutes after work, I’d considered just going home. I’d even driven by. I’d thought about going to Ma’s.
But I hadn’t spoken to Beau since I’d left that morning. I needed to check on her. See that she was okay.
