Page 72 of Stay With Me
“Yes, busy and weird,” I tell her as I turn to lock the door behind me.
“Yeah, we had a few guests check in today for the farmers’ market. I’m glad Joe and Am’s hard work is paying off with it.”
“I agree,” I tell her, and before I turn toward my bedroom, I hook my arm around her waist and pull her closer. I bend and kiss her on the side of the neck, and she tilts her head to give me more access. “I’m glad you had a good day.”
“I’m glad you had a good day too,” she says, breathlessly.
“I’m going to go wash up now before I pull you into the shower with me. I’ll be out soon, my Lunabella.” I reluctantly release her.
Her ears redden with her blush as she glances down the hall to see if Jess is there. “Okay,” she says before walking down the hall, and I watch her go.
This woman will be the death of me.
Once she’s out of sight, I order the pizza and shower as quickly as I can.
As I finish packing up the leftovers, Luna comes back into the kitchen after checking on Jess since she went to bed after dinner.
“Everything good?” I furrow my brow.
She walks up to the other side of the island. “Yeah, I thought maybe she wasn’t feeling well since she seemed to just crash after eating.”
“I used to do that all the time as a kid. I think it’s pretty normal.”
“Oh, we had such a strict schedule that there were no naps or going to bed early,” she admits.
“I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go through that.” I sigh and wipe my hands on the towel hanging on the stove.
She shrugs. “It’s okay. I learned a lot. Is the sheriff’s department going to hire more people as the farmers’ market gets bigger?”
I let her change the subject and walk toward her. Instead of sitting in the chair next to her, I pick her up and put her in my lap. “It depends on the budget that gets approved, but the market has been bringing in a lot of people now that the tri-county is involved, so we’ll probably pull in other deputies from the surrounding towns to help out on the weekends. I just hopewe don’t keep getting more squatters as people travel through town.”
“What are squatters?” she asks, laying her head on my shoulder.
“People who stay somewhere abandoned or unoccupied that they don’t own or rent. We don’t see stuff like that around here normally, so it was weird to have the calls. Which reminds me, we haven’t been doing it a lot, but I want to teach you how to set my alarm manually and download the app on your phone to do it remotely as well.”
“Do you think that’s necessary?”
She tenses, and I move my hand rhythmically up and down her thigh to hopefully calm her down. “I think safety is important, and while yes, Griffin’s Den has a low crime rate, we’re just far enough away from everyone that I think it’s for the best as the town starts to get busier. I mean, you’re seeing an uptick in reservations at work.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she says with a yawn.
I stand and hold her bridal style to carry her to our room.
She giggles, tightening her arms around my neck. “I can walk, you know.”
“I like it when you’re in my arms. It’s where you’re meant to be,” I tell her as I toe open the door and walk to the bathroom. I set her down so we can get ready for bed. “I also talked to Special Agent Hunt today.”
She freezes as she reaches for her toothbrush and slowly turns to look at me. “Is it bad news?”
I shake my head. “If it were bad, I would have told you sooner. He finished up the case he was working on and said he and his team would be here in about a week. He gave me his flight details and will let me know if they are delayed.”
She leans on the counter with her head down. “I’m nervous to talk to him.”
I hate seeing her like this, so defeated.
“It’ll be okay. You just have information they haven’t had access to. It will help them to stop The Family one day.” I wrap my arms around her.
“I’ve been gone for ten years. I don’t know what I can tell them that they don’t already know.”
