Page 55 of Needing Your Love
I scrubbed a hand over my face and rolled out of bed, my throat suddenly uncomfortable and dry over the expectation and surety of the latter.
“Where you going, Chief?” he asked with that lowered voice full of mischief and sexual intent, the same slyness that had tried time and again to coerce me into getting naked with him.
Manipulation at its finest. I mourned the vulnerability we’d shared moments before.
His tone caused unease to slide down my spine regardless of what my aching heart wanted, and I strode toward the bathroom, my feet itching to distance my heart from Jimmy’s clutches before it was too late.
“Shower,” I rasped without looking over my shoulder because I was no goddamned oak when it came to him.
I assumed he would ask if I desired company—or maybe just follow me in because he knew he owned my personal space as much as I did.
Jimmy did neither.
And I stepped beneath the hot spray, eyes closed, head hanging, not sure if I wanted him waiting for me when I finished or already long gone so I could attempt to get on with my life. One taste of realness from that boy had ruined me—I’d takenthe goddamned axe to myownlegs, severing my ability to draw strength when I needed it most.
Ten or so minutes later, I pulled open the bathroom door.
My bed sat empty, sheets rumpled.
Jimmy, along with his clothes, was gone.
I didn’t have to check the rest of the house. I could sense his abandonment as clearly as the water droplet that slipped from my wet hair and trickled down my spine. I swallowed hard as a crack split my chest in two regardless of how I had steeled myself in readiness to be proven right about himneedingme.
Jimmy had gotten what he’d wanted and no longer had use of me.
“It’s better this way.” I tried to tell myself the truth, but every part of my body disagreed, leaving me shattered and empty.
Again.
Lips in a grim line, I rebuilt the walls around my heart while putting on my uniform. Set my emotions behind lock and key while buckling on my belt. Shoved the heartache deep as I holstered my gun.
Work and the citizens of Pippen Creek waited on their chief, and no matter how my legs felt chopped out from beneath me, I would not fail in my responsibilities to keep them safe.
Chapter 22
Jimmy
There had been no affectionate cuddles after our release, no murmured good morning, no soft, first kiss against my mouth like I’d hoped for.
Sutton had walked away from me like a paying customer always did—without a backward glance at the escort who’d only been hired to get his rocks off. He’d rutted against me until he climaxed, but at least he’d been kind enough like some of my past experiences to help me get there as well.
Sure, he’d left the bathroom door cracked open, but I hadn’t seen the action as an invite considering the utterance of where he’d headed to wash the feel and stench of me from his skin.
Sutton regretted what we’d done. Him leaving me behind was all the evidence I needed, his tone about showering as dismissive as anything I’d heard when working for Elite.
I’d gone on to become that whore Dad had accused me of being when I’d gotten caught on my knees for that jock back in high school. He was probably right about me being a worm too, good only for wallowing in the dirt, living beneath everyone else where light that offered warmth would never reach me.
Pulling on my clothes that Sutton had taken off of me the night before had been a struggle. Stepping out of his door intothe bitter cold morning had caused me to hunker further in on myself as I wallowed in self-pity and heartache.
I should have known better than to pursue a man like Sutton. I wasn’t enough for him, and he was too well-respected to be in a relationship with a person like me.
The following hours proved me right.
He didn’t text.
Didn’t call.
Avoidance at its finest, but I willingly—gladly—repaid the favor in kind since the entire affair embarrassed the fuck out of me. Who the hell was I thinking I could land a man of such standing? Someone as highly respected as Sutton Forrester?
