Page 37 of Trailer Trash

I still wasn’t sure why he wanted to help me, but I believed that he did.

Overwhelmed by him—that he had chosen to be here with me, that he genuinely wanted to help despite the many times I’d tried to push him away—I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him close. It felt so good to lean on him, but I couldn’t put this on him. I needed to handle the situation myself. “I have to do this on my own.”

His arms tensed. “Are you going to try to ditch me again?”

The fact that he wasn’t running gave me the courage to be honest. “No. I like having you here.” I shot him a grin to lighten the mood. “And it’s not so bad having badass backup.”

His seriousness faded and he looked amused. “You think I’m a badass?”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, unable to stop my smile from spreading. “Please.”

“So you’ll keep me around?”

I plucked at his still-damp T-shirt. “You make a pretty good pillow to cry into.”

He grinned, looking more relaxed than he had since we’d left Slick Willy’s parking lot. “At least I have a purpose.”

There was no forgetting what he’d said to me earlier.I’m irredeemable.I lifted my hand to his face and searched his eyes, serious now. “You’re a good man, Jed Carlisle.”

He snorted and tugged my hand down. “No. I amnota good man. But we’ll exorciseyourdemons, Neely Kate, and then we’ll bury the bones and light it all on fire. I’ll make sure you’re free of whatever happened here. No more running.”

I froze. His words hit a little too close to home.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Thirsty? You probably have a headache after crying so hard.”

I shook my head.

“Do you want anything?”

I studied him, worried about how he’d react to my request. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course.”

His warm smile gave me the courage to ask. “I’m exhausted, but I’ve had a lot of nightmares lately . . . Will you hold me?”

He took so long to answer, I was sure he was going to ignore the question. Finally, he said, “I was going to sleep in the chair.”

I gasped in horror. “In the chair? You paid for the doggone room. If you don’t want to sleep with me, thenI’llsleep in the chair.”

The glint in his eyes warned me that he was digging in his heels. “Like hell you will.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to prove he was a gentleman or if he really didn’t want to hold me. But part of mereallyneeded him right now, which made the humiliation of begging slightly more bearable. “How about a compromise?” I asked. “You can sit at the head of the bed and hold me. Just for a few minutes.Please.If you’d like, you can move after I fall asleep.”

His face softened. “Of course.”

He kicked off his shoes and scooted up on the bed, rearranging the pillows to support his back and head, and stretching his legs straight in front of him. Then he reached out his arms in an invitation.

I slipped off my jacket and sandals before crawling up the bed and snuggling into his side. I’d intended to curl up beside him, leaving him plenty of room, but my body seemed to react of its own accord. I sank into him, our bodies practically fusing together—my leg curling over his upper thighs, my arm draping across his chest, my hand cupping the back of his neck. His arm curled possessively around me, his hand resting on my hip.

He feltright, more so than any man ever had. And that scared the spit out of me.

Jed reached over and turned off the light, but I held on to him, worried he’d change his mind. I realized this made me aliteralclingy female—every sane man’s nightmare—but it was too late to turn back now.

To my surprise, when he sat back against the pillows, he lifted his free hand to my hair and began to slowly stroke, a soothing motion that brought fresh tears to my eyes.

“I’m not leaving,” he whispered.

No. Jed wasn’t running. I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing, but I was too tired to reason it out. I soon relaxed back into him and started to drift off.