Officially Over It - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,34
take my car,” I admitted. “I have a thousand things I need to get, and though you say one overnight bag, I still need my nursing bag. Two changes of clothes. Toiletries. Makeup. My toothbrush. And my latte maker.”
“I have a coffee maker,” he pointed out as he hesitated near the bike.
“I know,” I said. “But my coffee maker is also a latte maker. I don’t drink regular coffee anymore. I drink lattes.”
Nathan frowned, thought about what I was saying, and then sighed.
He pulled the keys back out of the bike and shoved them back into his pocket.
“We’ll take my truck,” he said, his eyes going up to the sky. “It was just a really pretty day. There won’t be many more of these left. And I needed a ride after…”
After he’d found out that Eerie had broken the law and quite a few moral boundaries, he had a kid, and now he’d have to fight like crazy to get him.
Let’s not forget the icing on the cake—her naming that kid after the man that had killed his family.
“How about we go for a ride after we get my stuff?” I suggested. “It shouldn’t take me long there.”
Five minutes max at most. I already knew what I needed.
He looked hopeful as he gestured toward his truck that was behind us.
I walked to the passenger side and was already halfway in when I realized that Nathan had walked to this side with me to open my door—which I’d already gotten.
Once I was in, I allowed him to close it, though.
He winked at me and closed it, and I was struck with a mild heart attack at a wink, aimed at me, on Nathan Cox’s face.
I’d never in my life thought I’d be on the receiving end of one of those.
It was something he’d done for most of his life to everyone that wasn’t me.
His mom? Yes.
His sister. Double yes.
My mom? Yep.
Me? Hell no.
Nathan got into the cab of the truck and didn’t even realize I was having a meltdown beside him.
In fact, we drove all the way to my place before I’d even gotten myself under enough control to draw a coherent thought that wasn’t centered on Nathan and that wink.
“Fucking bullshit.”
“What?” I asked, startled out of my thoughts.
“Ol’ drug dealer Joe is back,” Nathan grumbled. “What the fuckin’ hell? He’s been gone when I do drive-bys.”
“He has a kid stationed out by the road behind a tree. They have a relay system. He gets a call that a cop is headed our way, he moves,” I answered.
I’d watched the shit out of my window on multiple occasions.
“You’re shitting me,” Nathan said, angry eyes turning toward me.
I shook my head.
“Actually, the kid had been down with the flu for ten days. That’s probably why he’d been caught that first time you showed.” I paused. “Or, at least seen.”
Nathan grumbled something underneath his breath and made a call.
“Yeah, there’s a drug dealer at…”
Instead of parking at my spot near my apartment, Nathan continued down around the building until he’d been to the part I’d never been to before. Generally, I tried to avoid anything and everything that had to do with this complex unless it was to get out of my car to go inside or get out of my house and go to my car.
I surveyed my surroundings, becoming ever so thankful the farther we went into the complex that my place was right at the front, closest to the roads, and therefore the exit, meaning I could get the fuck out as fast as possible.
He turned around and parked, backing into a spot that was next to an old, broken down Ford that looked like it hadn’t run, or moved for that matter, since 1999.
“Still can’t believe that you live here,” he grumbled, his eyes scanning the buildings in front of him with disgust. “I’m glad that you’re coming to my place.”
I felt my belly roll at his words.
Seconds passed as I tried to decide whether he really needed to know what the hell my reasoning was for living in a place like the one I was currently occupying.
It was a while later before I finally spoke, realizing that I couldn’t keep my thoughts from him if we were supposed to be married. Even if I wasn’t really sure what the rules were on the emotional side of things that enabled most married partners to share their feelings with their spouse.
“I felt bad,” I admitted. “You had all these cool