Page 110 of Home With You

Just after five, Miles gets home.

"Raine, are you here?" he calls out.

"Upstairs," I call back.

He races up there, greeting me with his big warm smile. "Hey, Birthday Girl. Taking a nap?"

I jump up from the bed and hug him. "I'm glad you're home."

"Yeah, I can tell." He hugs me back. "You okay?"'

"Not really. I mean, yes. I'm fine. I'm just glad you're here."

He gently pushes me back, his hands on my shoulders. "What happened?"

I turn and walk away from him. "I looked for jobs. Did my laundry. I hope it's okay I used your machine."

"You know it is." He comes around to face me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Because I can tell something's wrong."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, for one you've never been that excited to see me."

I smile. "I've changed. From now on, I'm going to be more excited when I see you."

"Raine, I'm not joking around here. What happened today? Did someone bother you when you were out looking for jobs?"

I hesitate, then decide to tell him. "This guy came up next to me when I was walking on the street. He started talking to me, trying to make conversation. When I mentioned I was looking for jobs, he said he had a job for me that'd be easy money. And then he winked at me."

"Bastard." Miles shakes his head. "Have you ever seen this guy before?"

"Yeah. He works downtown. Wears a suit. And a wedding ring," I say with disgust. "He'd sometimes eat lunch at the park when I was going through the trash."

"We're going there tomorrow and you're going to point him out. Then I'm going to smash his face in so he knows to never talk to you that way again."

"Miles, you're not doing that. You'd get arrested. He's not going to try again after I turned him down."

"You don't know that. Sometimes guys like him don't give up. Or worse, they get angry when you turn them down and get violent. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"He grabbed my arm." I put my hand over the bruise he made on my forearm so Miles can't see it. "Then he pulled me into the alley. I screamed and scared him away."

Miles takes my arm and pulls my hand away. "Shit." He stares it at a moment. "He did this?"

I don't answer.

"You're never going out there again," Miles says, sounding angry.

"Miles, I can't sit in your apartment all day. I have to look for a job."

"I didn't mean during the day. I meant at night. You're not going to sleep in the alley anymore. You've been lucky up until now that you've never been bothered. But staying out there by yourself—a pretty girl with no protection, no phone—you're a target for guys like that, and all the other sick bastards just like him. And I'm not just saying that to get you to stay with me. If you want to go somewhere else, we'll find somewhere else, but it's not going to be on the streets. You're not fighting me on this, Raine."

"I won't." I swallow. "I agree with you. I can't be out there anymore."

He pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. "It scares me knowing he'd do that in broad daylight with people all around. Has this ever happened before?"

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