Page 140 of Betrayed

“But not tonight.” I'd straddled his hips and planted my hands on his chest. “Tonight, you’re all mine.”

My next week back flew by as I adjusted to my new routine.

Paige and I repaired our friendship. I even invited her to the SSI self-defense class. I wasn't sure about going when Meg first mentioned it, but now I was looking forward to it.

I never want to feel helpless again.

I still wasn’t ready to accept her invitation to go shooting. Luckily, AJ didn’t push the subject, saying, “I’m just glad you're taking the self-defense class.”

He offered to take me, or find someone to teach me, but I wasn’t sure I'd ever want to.

I’d gotten used to living with a man who had a gun on or near him at all times, but I still didn’t like them.

Friday after dinner, I grabbed my case files off the table and curled up on the couch to read. In a few weeks, I’d graduate and instead of studying case files, I’d be studying for the bar exam.

And house hunting; we definitely needed a bigger place. With any luck, we’d move before I started my internship in August.

Life was good. The only blemish was the gloom of my father’s eventual trial.

And even that would be manageable, because AJ would be there to help me get through it.

I looked over at him. He looked so cute, concentrating as he worked on a case.

“What?” he asked without looking up.

“Have I told you yet today that I love you?”

He looked up and smiled. “Maybe, but you should probably say it again, just in case.” His dimples made me contemplate skipping the case file I was reading.

“I love you, Andrew.”

Six Weeks Later

Blake

AJ had been acting weird all day, and it was making me nervous.

Don’t be ridiculous.

Things were great between us. We’d even made plans to move into a bigger place after I graduated.

It wasn’t hard convincing him to move after sharing his small place for a few weeks. I'd turned his office into a storage room, taken over half his closet, and commandeered most of the shelves in the bathroom.

We worked at the kitchen table and ate on the couch. We were making it work, but it was cramped and it wouldn’t be long before we drove each other crazy.

We wanted something with an open floor plan and a decent sized kitchen for when I learned how to cook. It had to be big enough for us to have a large home office we could share.

Androom to grow.

I’d offered to pay cash, so we didn’t start our next chapter with debt, but AJ argued. “The best I can do, and keep my man card, is agree to share the cost.”

“I can live with that,” I said. I wanted to spoil him, but AJ refused to rely on my millions.

I loved him more for it. When I joked about having all this money and no one to spend it on, he suggested donating it, or starting a foundation.

Ideas I’d considered, but hadn’t put into action yet. I wanted to graduate before starting a business venture.

The hostess interrupted the memory when she called AJ's name. At the table, his hand shook ever so slightly as he pulled out my chair.

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