Page 35 of Saved from Obsession

“What happened?” I wrap my arms even tighter around his chest; I’d crawl inside of him if I could.

Leo gazes down at me, stroking his thumb along my cheek. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes.” My response is immediate. After everything this man put me through, I definitely want to know the end of it.

“He used a glass cutter on the window in the bedroom downstairs,” he explains, “then he unlocked it and was coming inside when we caught him. Cole got there first, since he was already downstairs. The guy pulled a knife, tried to run, and Cole went after him.”

My heart stutters to a stop. “Is Cole okay?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, he’s fine. Cole got the knife away from him, and by that point, Rylan and I were there. There was another knife—this guy had them stashed all over—so we took a little extra time to make sure we found all of them. Then we restrained him while we waited for the police to come.”

“So, he’s gone?”

“He’s gone.” Leo brushes a kiss across my forehead. “And he’s not going to be getting out of jail, either. With the number of weapons on him, on top of the breaking and entering, not to mention he attacked Cole, the guy is going to be looking at some serious time.”

“Oh.“ The word comes out in a gust. The relief is incredible, but I also feel… strange. Untethered. Like something weighing me down has been yanked away, and now I don’t know what to do with the freedom.

“I know, sweetheart.” How does he know when I don’t know myself? “It’s a lot,” Leo says, “the burden suddenly taken away—you’ve been running on stress and exhaustion and fear for months. It’s natural to feel off balance.”

“It is?”

“Yeah.” His gaze is full of affection. “It’ll take a little while to get your feet under you again. But it’ll happen.”

A new thought hits me, carving a hole in my chest. I try to keep my voice steady as I say, “I guess that means you’ll be leaving. Since you…”don’t cry, I tell myself sternly. “You don’t have to protect me anymore.”

His brows go down, little lines appearing between them. “Georgia,” he says, his tone soft but stern, “do you think I’m going to just walk away from you now?”

“No,” my voice wobbles, “but you have to go back to work, and I have to go home, and…” I sniff hard, trying to force back the tears that are looming. “I’m going to miss you.A lot.”

“Hey.” Leo picks me up and carries me over to the bed, sitting down and setting me on his lap. “First of all, even if we have to live in separate places, I am still going to see you. And you should know that, but I’m letting it slide right now because I know tonight has been really hard and stressful.”

“And second, I already thought about this. I have a lot of vacation time saved up and you don’t have to get home yet, so I’d like to take you on a trip. Just the two of us, going on actual dates in public, doing whatever we want.”

He pauses, his eyes going dark and heated, “and hopefully I can fulfill that promise I made you. If that sounds good to you.”

Oh. OH. All’s right with the world, my stalker is gone, and I get to go on a trip with Leo. “Yes.” Smiling, I’m emphatic as I say it, “Absolutely. There is nothing I’d like more. And I’mdefinitelywaiting for you to make good on your promise.”

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

LEO

“Leo, this iswonderful.”

Georgia turns away from her view of the lake to look at me, a huge grin stretched across her face. Her eyes are the bluest I’ve seen, sparkling and brilliant in the midafternoon sun. Light glints off her hair as the breeze catches it, blowing tendrils of gold and bronze around her face.

I reach over and catch a few strands of hair, tucking them behind her ear. “I’m glad you like it. This is one of my favorite places to visit.”

“I’ve been to Lake George before,” Georgia says, glancing for a moment at the rippling waves beneath us, “but it was only for a job, so I didn’t get to do anything like this.”

Bythis, she means taking a cruise on Lake George, enjoying the rare perfect spring day in upstate New York.

I had already planned that we’d be staying here for our trip and was hoping to be able to take Georgia out on the lake. When I checked the weather yesterday and saw that today was predicted to be mid-seventies and sunny, I knew this was something I wanted to surprise her with. After being forced to stay indoors for so long, I thought this would be the perfect activity for her to get out and appreciate her much-deserved freedom.

I picked a two and a half hour cruise of the Narrows, a stretch of islands toward the center of the thirty-two-mile-long lake, and the scenery is every bit as gorgeous as I remember from the last time I visited. We’ve been standing at the rail the entire time, just taking in the view, Georgia’s hand tucked into mine.

“Can you imagine having a house here?” Georgia shifts to lean against my side, tilting her head onto my shoulder. “To be able to come here every summer and seethis?”

“It would be nice,” I agree, wrapping my arm around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not sure a multi-million dollar home is in my budget right now,” I chuckle, “but maybe someday…”

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