Page 43 of Easton’s Claim

“I’m looking forward to doing that again later. Right after I sleep for a while.”

“I love sleeping next to you.”

She shifted in his arms and tipped her head back to look into his face. “I love it too.”

“Then don’t go.” The words were out before he could stop them, his heart laid bare to her.

She stared at him for a long moment, and he saw the pain in her eyes before she stiffened and looked away. “Easton…”

He couldn’t let it go. She meant too much to him and he couldn’t live without her. “Don’t go back to Minnesota. Stay with me.”

She shook her head. “I have to. I already took the job. My dream job.”

“So call them and tell them you changed your mind and we’ll find you your dream job somewhere near Alexandria.”

She blinked and looked back at him. “Alexandria?”

“Yeah. I know it’s still Virginia, but it’s far away enough from Sugar Hollow to give you a fresh start.”

He could see the indecision warring in her eyes before she responded. “And what about your job? You’re gone all the time, sometimes for months.”

“Maybe that’s the key to a perfect relationship—me being out of your hair for months at a time.”

Her lips quirked, then her expression turned serious. “I’ve always worried about you when you’re at work, and that was before we got…together.”

He wasn’t going to lie and tell her his job wasn’t dangerous. Even his training was, and there was no guarantee he’d be safe. “I could get killed driving through Sugar Hollow, too.”

She gasped and put her fingers over his mouth. “Don’t say things like that,” she said with a fierce scowl.

He kissed her fingers and eased her hand away. “Well, I could. Does my job bother you so much that you’d be willing to walk away from us?”

“No,” she murmured.

His lungs started working again and he relaxed. “I don’t know how many years I have left on the team, but I don’t plan to do this job forever. I’m good at it and I love the guys on my team.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t ask you to quit because of me.”

“I realize it’s not easy, being with someone like me, but I know you’re strong enough to handle it. I think I’ll just know when it’s time for me to step aside and do something else.”

She was quiet for a long moment, stroking his chest with her fingertips, and he knew she was thinking about the job in Minnesota. It was a deal breaker for her. Dammit. “Can we not talk about this anymore for tonight?” she murmured. “Please?”

Patience.She wasn’t telling him no. He had to give her just a little more time and maybe, maybe he could convince her not to go. “You wanna sleep on it?”

“Yes.”

“Well too bad, because I don’t plan to let you sleep much.” He rolled her onto her back, plunged his hands into the cool silk of her hair and leaned down to kiss that smiling mouth.

Chapter Fourteen

“Got enough food here to feed a freaking army,” Easton said with a grunt as he loaded the last of the groceries into the backseat of his truck.

“Ha, not quite. But I’m well acquainted with how you guys eat, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty.” She was glad to be alone with him for a little while, even if it was just to run for groceries.

He’d been out all day with his buddy Jamie, at her insistence, giving her time to mull everything over and just relax, and shown up at the cabin an hour ago covered in mud from head to toe after a day of dirt biking, grinning like a kid. Still a hell raiser and adrenaline junkie underneath all that tenderness he’d shown her.

Easton felt she was safe enough to go with him to get groceries, but since there was a risk that people might still be watching for her, they’d driven to the next town over to buy everything. She’d insisted on paying for it all herself. Money was tight right now, true, but as soon as her place sold she’d be debt free, and she couldn’t have done it without Easton and his family’s support.

The police had called earlier that afternoon to tell her they had no further information on Greg. No one even knew if he was still alive. The only update was that there had been apparent sightings of Gallant down near the Tennessee border, and the possibility that he was so far away from Sugar Hollow eased some of her anxiety.

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