Page 67 of Love Without Control

“Dane! You didn’t have to do that. Cooper is napping right now, but I’ll give it to him when he wakes up. He will love this.” She flipped through a few of the pages, a huge smile on her face.

My pretend-husband’s cheeks pinkened. “My mom used to read to me when I was a kid. Every night before bed.” My heart ached a little for him, knowing what I knew about his mother.

Charlisse gave him a quick hug. “I do the same with Coop. Thank you for this. Really, it was so thoughtful.”

Dane reached for my hand, his eyes holding mine as he kissed my knuckles. “You ready to go, E?” Seriously, every inch of my body was melting at once, like a mass-swooning at the cellular level.

“I’m ready,” I said way too breathlessly, and Charlisse nudged me with her elbow, a smug smile on her lips. I gave her a warm hug and allowed Dane to hold my hand as we crossed the street. “What errands did you have? You’ve been gone for hours.”

“I went to the hardware store and a couple other places in that shopping center,” he said, unlocking and opening the door. “Then I came back here to take care of something. Come on and I’ll show you.” He led me to my bedroom, his lips rolled inward between his teeth.

“Why are you acting weird?”

Dane’s eyes flickered to me, just a fleeting glance before he opened my door. “I did a quick home improvement project.” He pointed at what used to be a light switch that had been replaced with a dimmer switch. “I talked to Robert and Jamie to make sure it was okay,” he assured me.

I punched the button and then twisted it back and forth, watching as the overhead light brightened and then dimmed. “You did this?” I asked incredulously, and he shrugged with nonchalance.

“It wasn’t hard. The lady at the hardware store told me how to do it.”

A lady? Was he with her the past few hours? Is that why he’s acting so sketchy?For some reason, that bothered me, the thought of him being with someone else. I mean, our marriage wasn’t real, but he could blow our cover if he was out there whoring around.On that subject, what is he doing about his… needs?

“Did you sleep with her?” That fell out of my mouth like the cringiest word waterfall ever.Dammit to hell, Eden. What the fuck?

“Who?” His brow was creased so deeply, I wasn’t sure he’d ever get rid of the wrinkles.

I picked at the fringe on the bottom hem of my shorts. “The, um, the hardware store lady.”

“Agnes?” he asked with a chuckle. “No, I’m not into cougars.”

“What are you into?”Shut. Up. Stop talking now!

He linked his index finger with mine and pulled me across the room. “I’m into wildcats,” he said flatly, not looking at me. “I got you a few other lighting options as well.” His free hand gestured at the area around my bed, and I had to force myself not to laugh.

And what was that about wildcats?

“A few?”

Dane pushed out a sigh and stroked his beard, surveying everything he’d bought. “Maybe I went overboard. I just wanted you to have choices close at hand in case you have another nightmare.”

Two of those push-button lights had been stuck on either side of the white padded headboard. But that was only the beginning of Dane’s illumination shopping spree. My finger touched the pretty silver lamp on the nightstand, and it lit up. I tapped it twice more, and it got brighter and then turned off. Then I picked up each flashlight—there were six of them, by the way—and flicked them on and back off.

He lifted the heavy-duty Maglite and gave me a chagrined smile. “I guess this one could be used as a weapon if needed.” Setting it down, he gestured to the plugs dotting the walls around the room. “I got some nightlights too.”

There were three of them, and they were all shaped like turtles. My heart squeezed almost to the point of pain in my chest.

“Thank you,” I eked out, and Dane gave me a self-deprecating smile.

“Hope I didn’t overstep. I just… you scared me last night, Eden, and I think maybe you need to talk to someone.”

“I talked to you.”

His lips pressed together, and he shook his head. “I mean a professional. Like a counselor or psychiatrist or something.”

My eyebrows inched together. “It was only one nightmare, Dane.”

But that turned out to not be altogether accurate. Over the next week, I had four more horrible dreams, those featuring the lifeless bodies of my family.

And every night, Dane was by my side, holding my hand, taking me outside, letting me cry until my eyeballs ached. In the light of day the mornings after, he always begged me to talk to someone.

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