Page 28 of Don't Look Back

“I promise, you’re getting an upgrade.” I place my hand on her lower back and lead her out of the house.

I wait impatiently while she locks up the door and climbs behind the wheel of her car. I don’t like her drivingby herself, but she clearly needs to get her car to my place. I just want her locked inside my house, where I know I can keep her safe.

When I back out of the driveway, I make sure to drive slowly so Leslie can keep up with me. I don’t want her getting lost and I want to have eyes on her car the entire drive.

Five minutes later, we’re pulling into my driveway and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. That was by far the worst five minutes of my life. I can only imagine how much of a mess I'm going to be if Jimmy actually finds her.

As soon as I turn my car off, I hop out and grab Leslie’s bags out of the car. I'm forcing myself to keep referring to her as Leslie in my head because I don’t want to slip up and call her Zoey in front of other people, but sometimes it slips out when I talk to her.

“Was the drive ok?” I ask as soon as I'm opening her door.

“It was five minutes, tops.” She chuckles.

She glances over my shoulder at the house and her eyes widen. She takes in the large cabin style home with big bay windows. The carefully placed evergreens, making you feel like you’re in the middle of the forest and not on a street with ten other houses.

My property is a few acres, but it’s not as large as I’d like it to be. I’ve dreamed of buying the house next to me and doubling the size of my property. I’ve always wanted to have a little farm with a whole bunch of animals, but that’s difficult to do when it’s just me.

“Will this be good enough to live in?” I smirk as I lead her towards the front door.

“Your house is gorgeous! If I had known you lived here, I would’ve asked to move in a long time ago.” She beams up at me.

“Damn, I missed my opportunity. But I have you now and that’s all that matters.”

As soon as I unlock the front door, Snow is standing there with her tail wagging. She nuzzles my hand and forces me to pet her. She’s a white German Shepherd, and is almost two years old. She’s well trained and comes with me to work some days.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.” Leslie stares at my girl.

“She’s my number one girl… now I guess she’s my number two.”

“Colt! Don’t make me feel bad! I don’t want to demote this pretty girl.” She drops to her knees and when Snow licks her entire face, Leslie just laughs.

The sound fills the space around us and makes this house feel a little more like a home. I’m thrilled to have Leslie here. To have someone to come home to at the end of the day. To have someone to eat dinner with or watch TV. I’m tired of being alone and I think Leslie is the perfect woman for me.

Chapter 16

Leslie

“And this is my room…” Colt steps aside and lets me enter his bedroom first.

There’s a king-sized bed sitting in the center of one long wall. The dark wood and navy sheets make it look like a bachelor pad, but it’s exactly what I’d expect from Colton.

“And where am I sleeping?” I trail my fingers over the soft blanket draped over the bottom of the bed and peek over my shoulder at Colt.

“Right there.” He motions to the bed.

“Is this bed big enough for the three of us?”

“Three? Who are you inviting into my bed?” Colt teases me.

“Snow. I'm not taking her place and based on the white hair on the blanket, I'm sure she sleeps with you.” I grin.

“You really do pay attention to all the small details, huh?”

“Always.”

Colt opens his mouth to say something else, but my ringer fills the air. I scramble to grab my phone out of my pocket. It’s Uncle Mason’s ringtone and I don’t want to miss his call.

“Uncle Mason,” I breathe into the device.

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