Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,76
a spa-like experience after an exceptionally long day at work.
Because now I wasn’t just juggling the pressures and pitfalls of my job, but also of navigating a new relationship. Shot was becoming a regular fixture in my life, and while our version of dating tended to be nights in at my apartment, or the occasional trip to the diner or Kody’s bar rather than romantic dinners and flowers, it was still definitely dating. For the first time I was trying to leave work behind when I left for the day. A challenge I wasn’t doing so great at. Shot never seemed to bring his biker business to my door and I was attempting to do the same, but it felt like an impossible task.
These days when I left work I didn’t make the drive back to my apartment unescorted. I tried to tell Shot it was overkill to have one of his biker buddies wait for me, since I never knew when I was going to get off work for the day. However, despite my protests, each and every day there was a man on a motorcycle wearing one of those vests Shot always had on, lurking somewhere near my car. I was starting to be able to recognize a couple of them. I’d tried to apologize a few times for them having to babysit me since their president was overly cautious, but they all waved me off and told me it was no problem. I secretly felt they were worried I would tell Shot if they were anything other than gruffly polite to me, but I kept that speculation to myself.
Most days, Shot would appear at the door shortly after I got home. I didn’t need to tell him I was safe and sound, because his brothers did it for me. On the days he didn’t show up, he always called or sent a text to let me know someone was keeping an eye on me through the night. He never gave an explanation as to what he was up to or where he was at. At first, his vagueness didn’t bother me because I was too busy settling back into the routine of being at work and juggling all the new responsibilities I would have as the chief ME. It started to grate on my nerves a little when I realized he literally knew every move I made almost every second of the day, and I couldn’t even begin to guess where he disappeared to.
Could we actually be considered as being together if I didn’t know what he was up to half the time? I knew that neither of us knew how to date and we were learning together, but some things felt like they should have been obvious, like each knowing where the other was the majority of the time. I was trying to be patient and understanding, but the truth was the difference in our lifestyles was growing more glaring the closer we became, and I couldn’t stop worrying the bridge crossing the divide was going to crumble at any moment.
Telling myself I was just overly tired and thinking too much when there were more pressing matters at hand and bigger picture items still at loose ends, I pushed into my apartment and practically stripped at the door. I let my purse fall to the floor along with my keys and left a trail of clothes on my way to the bathroom. I cranked the shower on as hot as it would go and climbed under the stream once it was warm. It stung a little, but the burn was a nice distraction, as it was meant to be.
Fifteen minutes later, when I pulled the flowery shower curtain back, I let out a shriek when I caught sight of a large figure dressed head to toe in black leaning against the bathroom sink. Shot had his heavily tattooed arms crossed over his chest and an intense scowl on his darkly handsome face. I noticed he had my abandoned cell phone in one hand, and the screen showed several missed calls from him. I put a palm to my chest over my racing heart and reached for one of the fluffy towels hanging on the rickety towel bar attached to the wall.
“You scared me to death.” My voice was still husky from fear. I covered myself with the towel and pushed my soaked hair away from my face. I was too tired to kick his ass appropriately