Page 105 of L.O.V.E

“I get you every night on the phone, and I get you at least two weekends of every month. You can fly home on my dime.”

She rolled to her back. “I can come home on my own dime.”

“Fine.” I climbed on top of her, caging the spirited, quirky beauty. I’d lock her in a tower if I could. “But I get you every night on the phone.”

“That won’t be a problem, but I have a condition as well.”

“What’s that?”

Her soft fingers grazed my cheek. “You find someone to talk to. You can’t let everything they did to you fester.”

I hated the idea of talking to a shrink, but not as much as I loved making her smile, or laugh, or moan, or fuck—not as much as I loved her. “Agreed.”

Shimmering eyes held my gaze. “This is crazy.”

“This is us.” I kissed her nose.

“How long you think we can do this?”

I’d give her a couple of months, tops. My sunshine wasn’t just a city girl; she was a Seattle girl. From those stormy silver eyes plucked from the clouds, to the vibrancy that flowed through her veins, drawn straight from the pulse of our colorful metropolis. I nudged her knees apart and nestled between her thighs. “For however long it takes you to realize you can’t live without me.”

Natalie

My thumbnail was chewed to the quick. My stomach twisted in knots, and I’d squirted ketchup on my favorite green sweater. And the cherry on top of my morbid Sunday? Three new texts.

I found u

Bitch

You tried to hide

That last message was new. The past few days they’d readU can’t hide.

Now,You tried to hideblared like a bad omen on my screen. I was done. I’d head home, change my clothes, and visit Whisper Spring’s Police Department.

“Where’s Caleb?” I asked, shoving my phone into my handbag.

Monica peeked around her cubby. “He’s following up on the proposal you put together.”

“Good job, by the way,” Brandon added from the other side of the wall. “Not sure how you came up with those numbers, but Caleb was impressed.”

I didn’t mention that I knew the owner of Rossi Enterprises. That I’d had coffee with his wife at their diner at least once a week. It wouldn’t matter, anyway. As far as Rossi Enterprises was concerned, the proposal came from Pacific Regional Bank. My name was nowhere on the documentation.

“Thanks guys. But it was a team effort.” With a smile on my face and a ball of nerves in my gut, I said goodnight to my coworkers and headed for my car.

Wind whipped my hair, and I pulled my coat tight around my middle to ward off the chill. January was in a foul mood. Ominous clouds hung heavy in the sky. The waterlogged earth gave under my weight, soaking my boots with muddy slush from the melting snow.

My focus was not on my surroundings as Dad had drilled into my brain. Instead, I focused on dodging puddles.

Two steps from my vehicle, a hand lay on my shoulder.

I screamed.

My boss dodged a strike aimed at his throat.

“Caleb!” I stabbed his chest with my finger. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I was calling for you.” He wore a cheesy grin that made him look ten years younger.

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