Page 47 of Obey

She nods.

“Even though you’ll be lost and have no idea what’s going on?”

She nods again, pressing her fist over her mouth as she yawns.

“Okay, but it’s going to make you want to go back and read the whole series.”

“I’ve never heard of M K Farrar.”

“She’s a British indie author. I like supporting the little guys.”

She smiles, and settles her head right over my heart like she wants to hear the thump-thump in my chest. “Your glasses suit you, you know. You should wear them more often.”

Holding the book open with one hand, I take the opportunity to stroke the fabric of her pjs with my free hand. “My eyes were scratchy. I guess I left my other contacts at home on the bathroom counter.”

“What were you going to Chicago for?”

“I was going for a kink event.”

Her muscles noticeably tense up. “Like a group type thing?”

“We have events all the time, Half-Pint, all over the country. Sometimes even in the club where you stayed last night. It’s really not as seedy and dirty as people think. My favorite is RopeCraft, it’s in Chicago in May. I find that to be the best dominant I can be, I need to educate myself and regularly work on honing my skills.”

She settles again. “Sounds so intimidatin’.” Her Southern accent gets thicker as she gets more tired. She falls quiet, so I read to her. It’s not long before she speaks again, so I put the damn book on the bedside table. There’s no use burning energy to hold the thing if she’s not going to shut up enough to let me read it.

“Jagger?” She’s mumbling, so she’s almost asleep.

I don’t answer, but she doesn’t need me to. Girl’s a verbal steam train. Even when she’s sleepy. “Why are you single?”

My muscles start to clench despite my breathing not changing. She’s breathing evenly in seconds. Her heavy, measured breaths suggesting she’s fallen asleep but that doesn’t stop my thoughts from churning.

Unfortunately, it’s a question I get asked a lot. I don’t like to talk about why I choose to stay single, why I choose to keep the commitment piece of myself locked away. Not even my colleagues at Protocol or at the auto shop know I’m a widower.

Stroking Half-Pint’s face, I pick up the book. Her contented sigh warms my insides. Turns out, this woman hasn’t waited for an invitation into my space. She’s ninja-kicked the door down and made herself at home. Problem is, I’m not sure I’m even mad about it.

“Because there’s a piece of me that will always love my wife.” My voice is quiet, but saying the words out loud in the presence of another human being feels freeing somehow.

I’d love to say my wife would be pissed, but Caitlin would absolutely want me to be happy. She said as much leading up to her death. And worse than that, she and this force of nature curled in the crook of my arm would get along like a house on fire. They’d get up to all kinds of trouble.

Which means she’s all kinds of trouble.

For both our sakes, I should let her go. Except she’s tugging on pieces of me which have been dormant for so long, I forgot they existed.

And it feels kind of nice.

Chapter Sixteen

TALIA

When I wake up, the bed next to me is cold. Bolting out of bed doesn’t help. Jagger’s not in the bathroom, on the couch, and I don’t have his cell phone to check if he’s even still in the hotel.

Yanking back the curtains makes my stomach hurt. The roads seem much clearer today, clear enough we could go our separate ways and never speak to each other again.

That makes my stomach hurt even more.

I didn’t realize it as it was happening, but I’ve grown attached to the giant Grumpasaurus from the plane. Which was helped along last night by his heart shredding confession he has a wife. From the sorrow in his voice it sounded like she’s an ex, but his voice was so heavy, his body so tense, all I wanted to do was take away his pain and make him feel better.

I put on my freshly laundered yoga pants and brush my teeth. There’s not much of anything that can be done for my unruly hair, but it still makes me smile when I catch a glimpse of myself in a reflective surface. So it was definitely the right thing to do.

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