Page 56 of I'm Yours

“Yeah.”

He looks around the house and his jaw hardens. “Do you have cameras?”

I shake my head. “No. Just lights that turn on with motion.”

“And?”

“I heard a crash a little bit ago but stayed in my room for a little bit. When I finally did, though, I looked and the light was on.”

“Still?”

Nodding, I swallow hard. “Yeah.”

“How long do the lights stay on?”

“They’re set on a five minute timer I think.”

“So when you looked, whatever triggered the lights had been there within five minutes.”

He stands then, my hand now in his, and pulls me with him. “Which one?” he asks when we get to the wall of windows. I point to the middle window and he pushes aside the blinds. The light isn’t glowing down below but that doesn’t stop Reed from trying to see anything that would give him a clue.

He drops the blinds and turns back to me, my hand still clutched in his but he doesn’t seem as tense as he was just moments ago. If anything, he almost looks relieved. “What are you thinking?” I finally ask.

His face is hard when he looks around, seemingly irritated. “I don’t know. My guess is that someone thought they’d be able to break into Mom and Dad’s place but the lights turning on when he got close scared him off and he fled the scene through your backyard, knocking over the pot as he was running through your yard.”

“Fled the scene?” I ask, raising an eyebrow and giggling.

“How else would you put it?”

“I don’t know, but fled the scene sounds like something your grandpa would have said.”

He chuckles and pulls me closer, his hand sliding around my waist only covered by a thin tank top. “Nice pajamas. If that’s what you call what you’re wearing.”

I grin and decide to do nothing to hide my body’s reaction to his wandering eye. Even when he zeroes in on my hardening nipples and makes a sound of appreciation in the back of his throat and I resist the urge to cross my legs to relieve some of the ache building there. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company at this hour.”

“Oh? No late night visitors?” His question is a teasing challenge but holds a hint of fear. One that he doesn’t have the right to have but yet he does have the right to have it. Like I said to him earlier, everything between us is very confusing. “Never mind, don’t answer that,” he rushes out when he notices the expression on my face.

“To ease your worries, no other men in my life besides Samuel and your dad.”

“I know I don’t have the right to even wonder but…”

“It’s okay, Reed. I get it.”

His shoulders relax and he pulls us back over to sit on the couch. He still hasn’t let go of my hand and I can’t say that I mind one bit. Just like the last few weeks, my emotions have been all over the place the last thirty minutes. I was feeling a little over the top for being so worried then I was scared out of my mind and now calm and relaxed. I’m a freaking mess.

“Why are you a mess?”

“I said that out loud, huh?”

His eyebrows kiss his hairline. “Uh, yes?”

I look at our joined hands and decide a subject change is in order. “What are you doing here?”

Relaxing into the couch, his legs spread wide, he rests his head on the back of the couch, looking at the ceiling. “I panicked. I heard Dad moving around and went out to see what he was doing. He kept mumbling and his face was white as a ghost. I knew he was worried but couldn’t get it out of him. Finally I ripped his phone from his hand because he just kept staring at it while trying to get clothes on. I think he was about to call the police because he thought someone was trying to break into the house.

“My first concern was you. Here. All alone. I know you’re strong and can take care of yourself, but I saw the guy looking around and then he stared at your place and I lost it. I couldn’t get out here fast enough.”

“So you came to check on me? Not your parents’ house?”

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