Page 105 of Chasing Forever
“Hey, it’s okay. Let’s be honest, my mom was only inviting them to be polite. But I’m more concerned that you haven’t really talked to me about this. Not in depth anyway. Maybe you should talk to them. I could go with you.”
“Absolutely not.” He takes the coffee from my hand.
“Why not? If this thing with us is going to move forward, then?—”
“Lottie, you’re never going near them again.”
I stand back and stare at him with an expression that says he can’t control that. “And if she pops into my store again? Or I walk past her on Main Street? Run into her at The Sprout House? I can handle myself.”
He kisses me way too briefly. “The answer is no.” He opens his car door and steps into the opening, ready to leave me and go to work.
“Last I checked, I was a grown woman.”
He groans and says my name with zero patience.
“I’m serious. You’ve bent over backward for me. You gave me a space to feel safe without any judgment. You’ve cocooned me in a love bubble, and I love you for it. But it’s my turn to be there for you. So deal with it.” I step back, ready to walk away from him, but he grabs me by the wrist and tugs me back to him.
His coffee sits on top of the squad car, and he envelops me in a tight hug, burying his face in my neck. “I don’t want to fight. It’s just hard for me, you know? They’ve already done so much shit to you. I don’t want you to go through any more for me.”
“I’m not nineteen anymore.”
“I just wish they’d leave Willowbrook, and we could move on without them. How am I going to coexist in this town with them?”
I cling to him tighter. “I know. I know. We can figure this out. But you have to let me in so I can help you.”
“It’s hard.” He sounds like a whiny kid.
“Everything worth having is hard.”
“Did you get that from your inspirational quote of the day calendar?”
I push him back.
He laughs, and God, I love that sound.
“If I had one of those, I would’ve ended up with you a helluva lot sooner.”
“Very true.” His radio goes off. “I gotta go.”
“Okay, be safe out there, Sheriff. You have a woman to come home to now.”
He kisses me one last time before climbing into his squad car. I pick up the coffee and hand it to him.
He reads the name on the cup and laughs. “Sir Satisfies-A-Lot. I’m moving up in the world.”
I lean into the window, needing one more kiss from him before I have to go the entire day without him. “You sure are.”
“Maybe I’ll get to be ‘Hubby’ one day?”
I shrug and stand, backing up a few steps. “Maybe.”
I blow him a kiss, and he squawks the siren quickly and drives away.
I watch until I can’t see him anymore.
Damn, I have it bad.
Chapter Forty-One
