Page 68 of Safe With Me

“Is that right?” He traced his finger down my cheek. “That’s kind of adorable.”

“Very adorable, I’m sure.” I buried my head into Mike’s neck. “I guess now we just wait.”

“No, we don’t. And no one is going to push you out of town because you’re a risk.”

I sat up, pulling the sheet over my bare chest. “I was so happy when we left your father’s house tonight. And now, people will see what happened to my car and talk?—”

“In this case, nosy and suspicious are good. People know who belongs here and who doesn’t.” He peeled my hand away from the sheet and kissed the top of my wrist. “And whatever happens, we’re in it together. Okay?”

I cupped his cheek, running my thumb across the bristles of stubble on his chin. “I’m sorry you have to deal with any of this.”

“What do you mean bythis?” He slipped his finger under the edge of the sheet and dragged it down. “Becausethisisthe best night of my life.”

He ran his lips down my throat and over my chest, sucking a nipple into his mouth. I arched my back, reveling in the wet warmth of his tongue and the scratch of his stubble against my skin.

I wanted to believe that Mike was my prize for being brave enough to start a new life.

Not something I’d lose when a ghost from my past came back to destroy my present.

14

MIKE

My eyes flutteredopen to a dark room. It took a second for me to remember where I was as I rolled over, reaching for Lila, but finding cold, crumpled sheets instead.

When my eyes focused, I found her perched on the edge of the bed, holding a ceramic mug in both hands as she fixated on the gray sky through the glass.

“Is it day or night still?” I asked as I crawled behind her and pulled her to me.

Her cheeks lifted, but she didn’t turn her head.

“It’s five o’clock in the morning.” She brought the mug to her lips, white-knuckling the handle as she took a sip.

“So, it’s early. Plenty of time to stay in bed, right?” I pulled down the sleeve of her green T-shirt and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

She leaned into me but wouldn’t turn around. I kneaded her shoulders, the tense muscles melting a little under my fingers as her head drooped.

“What can I do to get you to turn around? And maybe get this Eagles shirt off you?” I slipped my arms around her waist, relaxing a bit when I coaxed a laugh out of her.

“I’d love to spend all day in bed with you.”

“Then why am I sensing a but?” I rocked us slowly back and forth. Her mind was on her damaged car and what it might mean, and although I had to fight hard not to show it, so was mine.

I’d tried to play it off in front of her, but if this wasn’t a bunch of troublemaking kids fucking shit up for the fun of it and her ex was, in fact, coming after her again, I worried over what we could be dealing with.

And how to protect her without being by her side all day and all night.

She finally turned around, her face crumpling as she shook her head. “It was better when I was just afraid for me, but now?—”

“I told you last night. Don’t be afraid for me, if that’s what’s bothering you. I was trained to deal with psychos like that. If Ted ends up here, he’s the one who should worry.” I tapped her temple. “So get that out of your head.”

“Easier said than done.” She shifted around and buried her head into my chest.

“We’ll talk to Jude when he gets here this morning. If he doesn’t find Ted’s prints on the car, we can still try to see what we can do now in case Ted ever does decide to cause trouble again.”

“Maybe Claudia will let me work at the bar when your dad fires me.”

“He won’t.” I pushed her back and dipped my head to meet her gaze. “My father will be more concerned about you than anything else, and since his best friend is the chief of police, he can send a few extra cops over to keep an eye on things if it comes to that.”

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