Page 24 of Fortune's Control
“We’re here,” Shane announced.
He wanted to show off their work, but the adorable old-fashioned sign caught my attention first. “It’slike a barber pole. Please tell me he’s keeping it.”
“He’s keeping it.”
I glanced over my shoulder one more time, but saw nothing. Telling myself it was stress, I put my attention back on Shane.
No one knew I was here. Wilson Skane was not here. I gulped air and released it after counting to five. Detective Davis arrested him. His threats didn’t matter.
“Lilah, is something wrong?” Shane cupped my cheek, pulling so our eyes met. Concern shone in his.
Lingering fear did not mean he found me. Fortune’s Creek was my oasis. I couldn’t forget that. Shane also didn’t deserve my problems. “Please don’t laugh, because this sounds ridiculous. Does your brain ever tell you there’s something there, even when you know it’s impossible? Like a ghost image or a ghost presence?”
He drew back, face solemn. “I understand that very well, and I’m not laughing at you.”
I swallow. “I think someone is watching me.”
Wordlessly, Shane shoved, putting me between him and the wall with enough speed that it almost left me dizzy. “There’s no one here. The street is empty.”
He pulled me against him, despite the reassurance, as if to hide me from the world. Like he wanted to protect me from harm. Like he had that power.
On the stone bench, we were close enough to hint at his body heat. Here, enveloped in his arms, Shane was a furnace.
“I worry too much.” I escaped to Fortune’s Creek with the assumption of guaranteed safety, when that may not be true. There was also a difference between paranoia and warranted caution. It’s not so strange that I can’t tell them apart, considering a woman was murdered in front of me.
“Is that what it was?” Shane pulled back, robbing me of his warmth. He cupped my face and peered into my eyes like they were the key to all my secrets.
“You’ve given me enough, Shane. I’m not here to add to your problems.” That was inaccurate. He rescued my car, provided me with a place to live, a vacation, a phone, and a refuge, all while asking for nothing in return.
“You are not a problem, Lilah. Not to anyone, and especially not me, so banish that word right fucking now. You got it?” I nodded, unable to speak. “You can let me decide when we reach that point, but I’ll spoil that for you right now. It will not happen. Now, are you ready to go inside?”
Shane banished my worries with only a few words. Wilson Skane wasn’t here. The search for my grandmother would start anew tomorrow, and there was nothing for me but to enjoy this gorgeous afternoon with Shane. The man I married, who wasn’t really my husband.
“Provided you don’t expect work from me.”
“No work. Be prepared for Jack and Aiden to bicker.”
“No, they won’t, because they have you to direct them.”
Shane arched a brow. “You’re starting to know me, aren’t you?” He opened the door, waving me through. “Why don’t you come over and watch a movie with me tonight? You can pick.”
I allowed one last glance behind me on the way inside. “I would love that.”
-
9-Shane
“We have a visitor,” Jack announced.
I smiled as the familiar footsteps sounded on the staircase.
“Am I interrupting?” Lilah asked. She pulled her sunglasses over her forehead to check our latest progress.
“You’re keeping me from fulfilling my friend obligations,” Jack said with a smirk.
Lilah’s face pulled into a nervous grimace over his misunderstood comment. She got along well with my friends, but still hadn’t acclimated to our sarcastic interactions.
“Oh, shut your mouth, dumbass. I’m doing you a favor. Consider this entire project a great chance for exposure,” Aiden shot back. “My future tenant will come in one day, and he’ll declare this to be the work of Jack Dossman. He’ll then tell all his friends about you.”
