Page 70 of Rock

“Baby girl, if your brother doesn’t know we’re fucking after the kiss you planted on me yesterday, he’s an idiot.”

She grinned and shrugged. “You’re right. Why do I care?”

He lowered his hand to squeeze her butt cheek, making her jump and squeal. He gave her a swat. “What’s wrong, Little Lyla? Does the elastic from those naughty Little girl panties hurt your hot bottom?”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “Behave.”

He chuckled and took her hand. “Baby girl, I don’t care who sees us or what anyone thinks. I’m willing to climb onto the roof and scream at the top of my lungs that Lyla Sealock is mywoman. I want the entire world to know. No way am I going to hide my feelings.”

She cupped his face and kissed him. The neighbors were probably watching, but she didn’t care. She took his hand as they headed toward the house.

When they stepped inside, Lyla was surprised to see Jackson with work clothes on and a paint roller in his hands. He looked up and chuckled. “About time you two got here. Sheesh.” He was teasing.

He looked back and forth between the two of them, grinning. “I still can’t believe I never knew the two of you…”

Rock shook his head. “There was never anything going on between us before your sister turned eighteen.” He lifted a finger. “And, for the record, I was not some manwhore sleeping around with everyone in a skirt. I lied about that so you wouldn’t know I was into your sister.”

Jackson’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

The paint roller slid out of Jackson’s hand and hit the floor. Luckily, it hadn’t been dipped in paint yet. He ran a hand through his hair. “But…”

Lyla felt bad for him. She knew he would beat himself up over this if she didn’t stop it. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Rock shook his head. “It was definitelymyfault.”

Lyla twisted to look at Rock. “Maybe it wasmyfault. Huh?” Her voice rose. “I’m the one who believed that shit about you as if I didn’t know better. I’m the one who didn’t come to you and ask if it was true.”

Rock reached out for her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. “Okay, Baby girl. Let’s stop placing blame. It’s done. No more blaming. We can’t undo what happened. We’re here now.”

He tipped her head back and forced her to meet his gaze.

She swallowed and fought back another round of tears.

“What did we say this morning, huh? We said we weren’t going to waste time lamenting the past. We’re moving forward. Every day is ours from now on. All of them. Hundreds of days. Thousands. We won’t squander them.”

She nodded hard. He was right. They were together now.

“Wow, you two really are in love, aren’t you?” Jackson asked softly. “How stupid am I that I never noticed?”

Rock tucked Lyla under his arm. “We were self-absorbed young people back then. Enough. We’re done discussing the past.”

Lyla fisted his shirt in her palm and plastered herself to his side.

A knock sounded at the open door, and Lyla turned around to see the two officers from the other night.

“May we come in?” Susan asked.

“Of course.” Rock released Lyla to hurry over and open the door wider.

Lyla wrung her hands in front of her. She prayed they had some information. She was going to look over her shoulder every time she left the house until they caught the man who’d attacked her.

Susan didn’t look happy, though. “We spoke to the previous renters—the Housemans. They’re in an assisted living facility just outside of town now. They said they haven’t seen or heard from their son in a few months, but he had been to the house a few times before that. He did occasionally sleep in that room upstairs where you suspected he was stashing something. The Housemans believe he was doing drugs. It could have been drugs. It could have been money. It could have been both.”

“So no one knows where he is?” Jackson asked.

Susan glanced at him.

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