Page 24 of Saving Shepperd

“Lawrence. Masterson,” she said in a voice that sounded eerily like my mother’s. “Get a hold of yourself, man.” She was laughing by the time she finished, and the grin on my own face was so big it hurt.

“Darling. The only thing I want to get a hold of right now is your sweet little body. But stop trying to change the subject. At least think about it. We can just be like roommates if you’d feel better about the whole idea that way.” I stopped when she tilted her head to the side like I’d lost my mind.

“And how do you propose we do that? I mean with what’s going on here between us? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I can just pretend to be your roommate.”

The way she made air quotes around the wordpretendbrought a full chuckle. She was so damn cute and sexy, I wanted to throw her down and bury myself inside her.

“Okay, you have a point there,” I conceded once I got my brain out of my dick long enough to formulate a reply. “Like the job thing, I’m going to leave the offer on the table. I would love to have you here. Not just because it gets lonely by myself, or because I constantly cook way too much for one person, but because I like being around you.”

She shook her head while grinning. “You’re crazy. Do you know that?”

“Definitely crazy about you. Yes,” I answered solemnly. “But would you think about it? At least a little?”

“It seems like a recipe for disaster. I’m an awful human, Law. You have to realize that by now. I’m snappy and bitchy and have more baggage than a Samsonite kiosk at the airport. What would make you sign up for spending twenty-four seven with someone like that?” She rushed all that out and then stood with her hands in little balled fists on her hips like she expected a legitimate answer.

I stepped right into her personal space and unclenched her hands. “I warned you, lady, about saying negative things about yourself. Didn’t I?” My voice was low and serious, and I watched the exact effect it had on her. The exact reaction I was going for. She stared up at me while swallowing so roughly, I could see every muscle and tendon in her neck doing their jobs.

“I think I’m going to go before you do something that will make me want to never leave,” she whispered.

“Will you think about it? Moving in here?” I pressed again.

“Yeah. I’ll think about it.” Then she muttered to herself, “Crazy fucker,” as she backed out of my embrace and grabbed her bag.

“I heard that,” I warned.

The smile I got in response was enough to carry me through the rest of the day. Before I knew it, the sun was low in the sky, and I had mentally rearranged my place five times to accommodate a new roomie. Now that the idea was in my head, it was all I could think about. I considered calling Jake to talk me out of it but never dialed the phone. I didn’t want to be talked out of it.

In fact, I couldn’t remember wanting something more than I wanted this harebrained plan to come together.

ChapterSeven

Shepperd

The only way to get the man out of my head was to call in some reinforcements. In my life, that list was damn short. One name, as a matter of fact, and as I dialed my twin’s number, I hoped like hell she wouldn’t pick up.

“Shep? You okay?” were the first words out of her mouth. Not “hello” or any other sort of greeting, but a panicked inquiry of my well-being.

And why was that? I knew the answer with more clarity than I cared to admit. Because denial had become a very comfortable space for me to exist within. I had pushed everyone who cared about me away so many times, they were trained to believe the only time I reached out was as a last resort.

I supposed it wasn’t too far from the truth, though. Even now, I wasn’t calling my sister and best friend to just bullshit or ask about her new romance. I was calling out of desperation that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my young life.

And I’d made some doozies already.

“Hey, Maye. Yeah, everything’s fine. Calm down. Geeze,” I replied with a touch of exasperation. I took a deep breath and said, “How’s it going?”

See? That isn’t so hard, is it? Normal, everyday, human interaction. It can be done.

“I’m good. Tired, but good.” She paused for longer than I would have preferred and asked again, “Shep, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

So I bit the bullet and laid on the touchy-feely stuff. I knew she related to the emotional crap very well, so even though it was manipulative, I hit her with the big guns.

“I miss you,” I admitted with a legitimate wad of pain in my throat.

“If you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, Shepperd Farsay, I’m going to hang up this phone and come there right now.”

“Please stop. I’m serious. I miss you, and I thought I’d see if you wanted to have lunch or something? A drink maybe?” I knew that would seal the deal. Anytime I offered to sit down to a meal with one of my family members, they’d move heaven and earth to make it happen.

“Sure. I have a few days this week that might work. I’m busy beyond anything I could’ve imagined with this grant-writing gig I picked up. What day were you thinking?”

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