Page 34 of Love Under Protection

“Stop. Stop right there,” Olivia demands.

I spin around with a sly grin.

“Your Captain fed my dog donuts?”

“Only one. She was my partner for the day. I had work to catch up on.” I shrug.

“You took Peaches to work?” Jameson laughs.

“Listen, when I told her I needed to leave, she looked so sad. I didn’t want her to be lonely, so I took her. She was a huge hit by the way. They said she can visit anytime.”

Olivia doubles over in laughter. “Oh, my goodness. The dog has you wrapped.”

“Uhm, babe, I wouldn’t laugh. She has you pretty whipped too,” Jameson adds and earns himself an elbow to the gut.

Movement to my right catches my eye. Raylynn emerges, looking tired and surprised. I’ve clearly overstayed my welcome and should have left five minutes ago if I really planned to avoid her.

She looks at me with a broken smile, and I nod in return.

“Alright, I’m out. See you around.” This time I don’t waste any time, I push the cart over the threshold and let the door quickly shut behind me.

Chapter 20

Raylynn

“That went well,” I mumble to myself.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when we ran into each other again, but this surely wasn’t it.

“That’s Harley for you. He’s prickly on the best of days,” Jameson says out loud.

That’s not the man I remember. No, the only thing prickly about Harley was his stubble against my skin.

“Forget about it for now. He’ll come around,” Liv adds. “Let’s talk about dinner! It’s your first night here we should celebrate with some delicious and authentic New York style pizza.”

I shake my head and laugh. “Liv, I’ve had pizza in New York before. It’s not like I’ve never visited the city.”

“Yeah, yeah. Jameson can go pick up a bottle of wine for us too. Since I’m fresh out.” She looks at Jameson and bats her lashes.

He rolls his eyes at her but reaches for his keys. “Order the pizza, I’ll pick that up too. It’ll be quicker than delivery,” he says, kissing her. “Raylynn, wine preference or is Merlot your go-to, too?”

“Ooo. Merlot. I’m totally down with that. Thank you.” I give him a hug and head back to my end of the apartment. “I think I’ll grab a shower and throw on some pjs.”

“Good idea! Meet you back in the living room in twenty!” Liv calls out as I walk away.

Harley’s weirdness aside, I can already tell I made the right call coming here. The emptiness that settled into my soul back “home” has begun to lift, and I feel like I’m with family again. Something I hadn’t even realized I missed while I traveled the world.

The corner of Liv and Jameson’s apartment that they’ve graciously let me take over is an oasis of its own and nearly the size of my entire studio apartment, yeah, the one Sawyer was so hell-bent to take away.

He has no idea why my place was so important. It’s the only place I’ve truly lived in since my parents died when I was eighteen, leaving me with only enough to bury them both and literally a tiny nest egg. The job with Sawyer was a dream come true when I least expected it, being his assistant paid my way through college and let me keep saving since the rent at my place was cheap. When I finished college, Sawyer asked me to become his only assistant and travel with him. I should have known it was too good to be true.

I let all thoughts of Georgia and Sawyer go while peeling off my clothes and stepping into the massive walk-in shower. The instant hot water and high-pressure dual shower heads are amazing and soothe the rest of my stress away.

Feeling completely refreshed and in a pair of my most comfortable fuzzy pajama pants and an oversized top, I shuffle back to the living room and find Liv already cuddled up on the couch with Peaches while scrolling on her phone.

“Jameson should be back soon. He sent a text saying he had the pizza and wine in hand,” she says, looking up from the device. “I foundSweet Home Alabamaon Netflix. I figured it’s been a while since we’ve seen it. We’re overdue.”

I flop down on the opposite end of the couch and squeal, “Yesss!”

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