Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,18
with his index finger on his chin. “No one? You told no one, is that right?”
His authoritative voice may be sexier than any of the sexiest parts of him, and as he’s waiting for my answer, our eyes link with one another.
“Yeah, the school knew, but I hadn’t told Jules. And Greenlyn didn’t know who I was until last night. Why?”
“My captain told me you were back in town only after we had been informed there was an arrest in the case. And Jules only knew because Matt told her.”
The vein on the top of my forehead pulses, and sweat pools around my neck and underarms, my focus on it all. There’s been an arrest, but now, I get this letter. Who knows if my fate connects them as it intertwines with my past.
“I don’t post on social media, so I have no idea.” He’s back in my space, the same aroma from last night invading my senses, when he pulls at something in my closet. “Boundaries,” I warn, seeing a simple duffel bag in his hand.
“You aren’t safe. Someone is messing with you. I’m not letting you stay here.”
“And where pray tell, am I staying?” He shoves the bag in front of me, but I won’t take it, nor do I reach my hands to grab for it.
“I have an extra room, or I’ll sleep on the floor between you and your roommate.”
I’ve known this man my whole life, not personally, but every quality about him was displayed on that day. And for years, I’ve dreamed of every attribute, and in my mind, I may have romanticized it, but then again, I don’t think I’m far off. I won’t be told how to live, not after a psychopath has dictated my entire life after they stripped everyone I loved from me.
“I’m not letting a stupid note change my plans.” There’s more to tell him and I’m not done, not by a long shot. “And why would I go anywhere with you? After all the years I sent you letters and you didn’t have the decency to return them.” He stands stoic, not moving, only staring at me with the stupid duffel bag still in his hand.
“Let me go change and brush my teeth at least if you’re going to boss me around.” I leave without permission to go to the bathroom with my shower caddy and a change of clothes.
My resolve is high. It’s the only way I could survive the nights I cried for my mom the first year. Afterward, I slept with Aunt Mally. The following year, I could leave her bed but not her room, so she moved a futon into her space. By fourteen, I’d been in my own room, but every light had to be turned on. I hadn’t suffered through the traumatic milestones, which continue to plague me, just for an alpha male to tell me I’m moving in with him. No matter how fucking hot he is.
After fifteen minutes, I’m back, showered, and changed, and my hair pulled up in a ponytail. “I’m not staying with you.”
“Oh, we’ll see about this.” He begins to rifle through my drawers, pulling out a couple of items and placing them in the satchel. “I’ll buy you a toothbrush and toothpaste.” He moves his hand to the small of my back in an almost predatorial statement, helping me from the room, down the hallway, and to his car. It’s not anything like the BMW I rode in yesterday, but it’s a new and clean Chevy Malibu.
“I like our car from last night better,” I bite out with a little joke, and I’m not sure how I feel right now. Mad? Sad? Overwhelmed? But whatever I am at this moment, his smile broadens like last night referring to something as ours.
“See, I told you I was a normal cop with the same shitty pay as most,” he teases, offering a little wink and an olive branch my way, all the while throwing my satchel in the back seat of the car. I slip into his vehicle with only one thing on my mind—get my vehicle and get back to the university. I’m here to live life on my terms.
I’ve turned to the side of the seat, twisting my entire body away from him. I hadn’t heard from this stunning man since the hour we spent together when I was eighteen.
“Are you going to pout the entire way to the police station?”
He never told me where we are