Page 35 of Tangled Sanctuary

I sighed, rubbing a hand through my hair. How could I get it through to him that this wasn’t his fault? After a minute of carefully weighing my words, I spoke.

“If Harvey were to injure you, would you blame me for it?”

Immediately, he denied.

“No!”

I could all but hear him gearing up for what would probably be a long-winded reassurance that he would never do such a thing. Before he could get started, I continued.

“Exactly, so you shouldn’t blame yourself for what Diana does. We can take a bath or something when we’re both off work, and try to pretend this mess never happened.”

Curling up for a nice, hot soak sounded divine right about now, and the thought of havinghimthere for it only made it better.

This time his answer took a bit, a few minutes passing before it finally came through.

“Okay, I’ll try, but only because that bath sounds amazing. I really do need to head back now. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I hummed, muttering my goodbye before hanging up. If I didn't do it, soon he'd probably keep stewing in his worry.

Leaning both elbows on the table, I took a deep breath and looked at my hands. They weren’t shaking anymore. It didn’t surprise me; talking to Oliver was soothing even under the worst of circumstances.

Sneaking a glance at the clock, I grimaced. I still had a while before my lunch break was done, so I may as well go get something to eat. There was usually at least one more rush before my shift ended, and I’d need all my energy for that.

Chapter 15

The stinging in my face died down by the time my shift ended, and I waved at Mr. Hern on my way out. He’d been watching me like a hawk since the incident with Diana and I knew without a doubt that he would have sent me home if I’d shown even slight signs of being shaky.

Good thing I’d talked to Oliver, or I may very well have still been unsteady by the time lunch ended. Even if he wasn’t physically here, just being able to chat with him soothed my nerves.

Sweeping a glance over the parking lot when I walked out, I froze. I’d half expected to see Diana or Harvey there to cause havoc, but instead, Oliver leaned against his car. When he saw me, he waved.

I moved toward him as if pulled by a magnet and unable to resist. His smile was dimmer than usual but still there.

“I figured I’d come pick you up from work, though we’ll still have to drive in separate cars… Actually, now that I think about it, this was kind of pointless on my part.”

His smile turned sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his head. It was endearing, how he hadn’t considered that before showing up, and I shook my head with a smile.

“It’s fine. I was planning on heading home to get dinner started, if you want to join? You having your car just makes it so you can leave for work without issue tomorrow, if you want to stay the night.”

I didn’t phrase it as a question since I knew how he’d respond. Sure enough, he nodded barely a second after the words were out of my mouth.

“That’d be great. I think I have clean clothes somewhere in my truck, so I can even leave straight from your place in the morning.”

Then his smile faded, and he traced a finger along the scratch on my face. The touch was delicate, barely registering against my skin, and he sighed.

“I hope her many strikes with the sheriff stops her from harassing you, but something tells me that’s not going to be the case.”

I caught his hand, pressing it firmly against my cheek and turning to kiss his palm pointedly. “Then we’ll deal with her when she shows up next, but there’s no point in worrying ourselves sick over it. Just like Harvey, he’ll be caught when he’s caught, and I’m not letting him rule my life by being afraid every second until then.”

Diana didn’t scare me half as much as him, but grouping them together seemed to do the trick as Oliver’s shoulders eased out of their hard line. He nodded, tipping my chin up to kiss me. It wasn’t long or deep, ending far too soon for my preferences, but warmth swept through me all the same.

When he pulled back to rest his forehead against mine a minute later, he smiled. “I’ll do my best to keep that in mind. Now then, you mentioned something about a bath?”

Nudging him toward his car, I pulled away and hummed. “I did indeed, but we need to head out if that’s what we plan to do. Dinner is still necessary, and it takes time to make that.”

Before I could move for my car, he cleared his throat and reached into his. “Funny you should mention that.” He pulled a bag with the grocery’s stores logo on the side. “I hit the deli area before I came here and asked them to make those sub sandwiches you like.”

My mouth watered at the thought, and in perfect sync, my stomach growled. Those sandwiches were to die for, and without thinking, I tugged him down into a kiss.

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