Page 44 of Treasured
I closed the bedroom door and tossed myself onto his blue comforter and covered my head with his pillow. It smelled like his sweat, which, unlike most men’s, was a sexy smell like adrenaline and sweet chocolate chip cookies that were freshly baked.
I licked my lips, and the memory of the first time he kissed me in that ballroom hit me.
Damn, heat stirred in me even now, and my mouth watered.
I sat up and tossed the pillow. I wasn’t ready to sleep anyhow, as adrenaline raced in my veins. I massaged my temple and forehead, like that might somehow get Dwayne out of my head.
I glanced up at the ceiling and wished my skin wasn’t so prickly.
I was shaken by the ring from my phone. I tugged it out of my back pocket and saw the name of my cousin who owned the shelter I worked at. She was somewhere across the globe with her billionaire husband. I answered, and instead of hello, I asked, “Indigo, where are you these days?”
“Japan,” she said, and it sounded like she closed her door and then slowed down. “I heard about why you didn’t come in. Did I call too late?”
The clock on my screen read a little after nine. I closed my eyes and wished she was there. She’d been my rock when I checked into the shelter and let me rest without telling Joseph for a week, though our family was always close. She owned the shelter I worked at. I crossed my legs and said, “No. You’re in New Zealand, which must be nice, but I want to say I took a few days off.”
“You’re safe, though, and Bruce is okay.”
Thanks to Dwayne. I tugged my ear and ignored the heat in my face. “We’re fine, just scared.”
“Joseph said you’re staying with your new boyfriend?”
The butterflies in my stomach grew fast and furious. This wasn’t good. I cringed, but I spit out the torturous words that felt like fire on my tongue. “He’s not… my boyfriend.”
“Fine. Your new man, and he has a security team in place?”
My hands fell to my sides, and I glanced at his blue comforter. He’d slept under this. “Yeah, Cole Securities.”
“One of the best in the world,” she said, like his job excited her. “I’m glad you’re safe. Can I get you anything?”
Maybe I was projecting. I was in his house and bed because Dwayne was good. I pressed my eyes together and focused on her question. She’d done enough for me in the past, but I slowly opened my squinting eyes and asked, “How about advice?”
“On what?”
I let out a long sigh and stood up. “How did you open up to Jacob? You were the most independent woman I’d ever met, and now you seem so different and happy.”
“I… was scared to love Jacob. Is that what’s happening with you and your new man?”
My face felt tingly, like something was pressing against me, though I was alone. I paced around and said, “No. I told Dwayne we were never going to be anything serious.”
“Because you’re scared?”
Damn, those words shot straight through my chest and pierced my heart. I took a deep breath and said, “I got to go.”
“Don’t be scared. It’s okay to fall in love and depend on a good guy. You have to trust your own judgment because you know what a bad guy looks like now.”
“Okay,” I said, and I knew my voice cracked a little. But I had no other answer. I’d told him that because he was wonderful and I was a disaster. I was a train wreck that had landed in his house.
“Well, if you need anything, we’re family.”
My cousin’s house had been the only safe place Joseph and I had as children. We were functioning and better because we were taken in and showed that not everyone hurts children.
Her mom had been my inspiration. I turned and continued stalking the white walls of the room. “We’ll talk soon.”
We hung up, but my stomach still had butterflies. I tried to shake it off. She was wrong about me. I wasn’t scared to fall in love. I was being safe. I rocked on my feet in the corner and then continued for a few minutes.
Then my son screamed.
He was in a new place. I rushed out and darted through the house. Luckily, I didn’t see Dwayne on the couch, just his pillow and blanket.
