Page 39 of Owning the Prez’s Ol' Lady

“It’s okay, Shasta, I already knew.”

She relaxed just a tad. “Oh yeah... that night with you, her, and Keelie...”

We were cut off by a doctor entering the room. They told her that she was free to go and all her vitals and blood work looked okay.

“You can take her home,” the doctor stated as he started to leave the room. “Right after she signs her discharge paperwork.”

Shasta glanced my way, and I could see the wheels turning in her head.Home...we both knew she’s questioning just where that is. Was it back in Austin with Snyder and the Lewd Outlaws again? Or was it here, deep in the heart of South Dakota, with that big bear of a man who was obsessed with her? We both know that home is wherever your heart is, and the only thing I knew for sure was that heart didn’t belong to me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Shasta

Snyder had a motel room just outside of town, so I told him I’d meet him there after I was done talking to Ramona and someone else that was waiting to hear from me.

Joe’s sad eyes met mine when Snyder and Wasp helped me out of the ER room. He looked so lost, almost like he needed me to survive.

I felt like I was disappointing him in some way, and maybe deep down I was, but I couldn’t help feeling a stronger pull to Snyder, the man who would give his last breath to me if he could.

Snyder gave my hand a squeeze, then disappeared through the hospital doors, leaving me alone with Joe.

“So, was that him?”

I stared at him curiously. “Who?”

“The man who has your heart?”

Unsure of how to answer, I simply nodded my head.

His fists immediately curled by his sides, but he unclenched them when he saw the fear it was creating in me.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that... please,” he begged, stepping forward until those massive hands were gently gripping my shoulders.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re afraid of me. Please, I hate that look. I’ve seen that look far too much in my lifetime, and I never want to see it on your face, Shasta.”

God, why was this man so perfect? He should be the one I want to be with. He was so uncomplicated, so docile. Everything would be so much easier if I hadn’t fallen in love with a Lewd Outlaw.

“I just don’t want to hurt you, Joe.”

“Then pick me, Shasta. Choose the man that’s not going to drag you into a world you don’t want to go back to.”

He made so much sense.

He was the logical choice... the one that should be the right answer. But he wasn’t my answer.

My answer had soft lips, and eyes so blue you’d think you were looking at the ocean. My answer had a heart that burned only for me, and he didn’t even look at other girls... not like Sabbath.

“It’s not that easy, Joe. I wish I could say it was, but it’s complicated. I told you before that I was broken and you should just forget about me.”

He gripped my cheeks, grasping at invisible straws to keep me close to him. “I fucking love you,” he said, those ice-blue eyes darkening in a way I’d never seen before. It made my blood run cold, and I had to back away, too afraid of the danger I saw in those eyes.

“There it is again!” he shouted. “You’re afraid of me.”

“No, Joe... I just.”

“BULLSHIT!” he yelled. “I can see it in your eyes, Shasta. You fear me. I’ve given you everything, and for some damn reason, you’re afraid of me. Why? Why can’t you just give me a chance?”

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