Page 15 of Let Me Love You
Seizing her purse, laptop, and car keys, she walked out the front door to her black BMW 325i sitting in the driveway. Her baby. Her last book deal allowed her to purchase her dream car with cash andwithoutRandy’s help. Ha! He’d always thought her writing career had been a hobby. She’d made more money than he did over the last two years from the sale of her books alone. Randy had been bothered by that fact.
The thick, muggy Florida air smacked her in the face, making her skin moist immediately. So much for the shower. Summer was right around the corner.
“Hey, Stacey.” Shannon Haynes waved to her across the yard. Ren’s mother stood in her front lawn, wearing jean shorts and a blue tank top with her dirty blonde hair in a messy knot, watering her bed of wild flowers. Her one arm in a dark blue sling, the other grasped the hose nozzle. She released the trigger, lay the hose on the ground, and walked in Stacey’s direction, purpose in her stride.
Panic bubbled in Stacey’s chest. Ren wouldn’t have said anything to his mother.
“Hi, Shannon.” Stacey waved back, avoiding eye contact. She hit the remote key to unlock her car door and reached for the back handle, her hand trembling just a bit. She needed to get out of here before Shannon read her guilt and started peppering her with a bunch of questions. Clearly, she had to know Ren had been at her house.
“How’re you doing?” Shannon crossed the property line and stood next to Stacey at the car. She rested her hand on Stacey’s shoulder in a supportive manner.
“I’m doing all right,” Stacey said with a small smile.
“Good,” Shannon said. “We haven’t seen you in a couple weeks. Between the surgery”—she shrugged her injured shoulder—“and moving Ren back here, we’ve been scarce.”
The mere mention of his name had Stacey’s cheeks burning. She could still feel his hands on her bare skin, his lips on hers, and his cock inside her. “I’m sure you’re glad he’s home.” Stacey popped the back door and set her overnight bag and laptop on the floor behind the driver’s seat, hoping Shannon grasped the idea that she wanted to head out sooner rather than later.
“Absolutely. Even though he’s an adult, it’s always good to have him home. He said he was at your place this afternoon helping around the house. He enjoys your company. Always has. He came home all smiles.”
Stacey’s gut clenched, flipped and flopped. Helping out around the house? He went homesmilesbecause he fucked her brains out, not because he simply enjoyed her company. Though, he clearly did. The idea they were hiding this from Shannon, that they had to lie about what happened, made her feel even worse. Stacey didn’t like to lie.
“He’s great.” Stacey barely choked out the words. Shannon appeared oblivious to her discomfort, continuing to smile. Thank God for small blessings.
“Did he tell you anything about this girl who has him all roused up? He had an opportunity for a job in Miami with a much larger engineering firm, but he took this one in Tampa. When his dad asked him about it, he implied there was a girl here he was interested in. We presume it’s a girl he met in school who lives in the area, but he has yet to mention her name or anything. I thought maybe since he’s always felt so comfortable talking to you, he might have mentioned her.” Shannon’s eyes were questioning.
Stacey struggled to control the surprise in her expression. Her eyes wanted to pop and her mouth wanted to form a large ‘O,’ but that would surely raise Shannon’s suspicion. Hearing Shannon confirm what Ren had said had her heart tightening. He hadn’t been giving her a line about other opportunities or about coming back here for her just to woo his way into her panties again. He was making life-altering decisions with her in mind. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“He mentioned he had his eye on a girl,” Stacey said, turning her back to Shannon and closing the car door. She felt uneasy as she tried to process all this information. Shannon had always been good to her, especially after the divorce, bringing her dinner and a good bottle of wine, telling her what a jerk Randy was. Breaking that trust didn’t feel good at all.
“It’d be nice if he brought a girl home,” Shannon said with a chuckle. “He’s going to be twenty-four in another few months and though we aren’t rushing him to get married or anything, we’d like to see him get serious about a girl. Aside from a few short-term relationships in high school, we’ve never been introduced to a ‘girlfriend.’ In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s never claimed to have one.”
“He’s young, Shannon. Give him some time. People aren’t getting as serious or getting married as young as we did. He’s just starting a new job. Don’t worry about Ren. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.” Stacey opened the driver’s side door. “I need to get going.”
“Where you headed?”
Stacey slid into the car. “I’m headed to my sister’s. Have a little girl-time.” Stacey started the car, and Shannon stepped back.
“Nice. You must love having her so close.”
“I do,” Stacey replied. “I love that we can do these spur-of-the-moment visits. See you soon.”
Shannon closed the car door and waved as Stacey backed out of the driveway. Stacey waved quickly before she sped down their private road on her way to the interstate to drive south and hopefully find some clarity.
