Page 5 of Ember
He seemed angry, and she hated that she was the one who made him feel that way. “I shouldn’t have asked such personal questions.”
He shrugged it off, but she could tell that she had hit a nerve. “How about I give you a tour and then you can shower while I make us something to eat. Technically, it’s still morning, so does breakfast sound good?” Her stomach growled, and he chuckled. “I guess it does.”
“Yeah, I love breakfast, and well, as you heard, I’m hungry.” She was more than hungry, but telling him that wouldn’t be helpful. For days now, she had been rationing her protein bars and feeling weaker and weaker by the hour from hunger.
She followed him into the house and walked behind him from room to room as he gave her the tour. It was so warm and cozy, she was sure that a woman had decorated it.
“Are you married?” she asked. What the hell was wrong with her? She couldn’t seem to stop asking him personal questions.
“No,” he said.
“Oh, I only asked because your house is so cozy. It looks like it had a woman’s touch,” she said.
He chuckled. “It did have a woman’s touch—two actually. My mother helped me to pick out a few things, and my sister returned all her choices and picked out what you see now. Of course, my mom threw a fit but said that if I liked what Josie had picked out better, then I should keep the house as is. So, I did. I like it. It makes me feel closer to my little sister since she left.”
“Well, your sister has very good taste. Not that I’d know. I’ve never decorated my own place before. Every apartment that I have lived in has been a furnished sublease, and I never really had the money to go buy all new stuff. So, I learned to make do with whatever was already there. Maybe someday I’ll get to decorate my own place.” She knew that at the rate she was going, someday might never come for her.
Jack stopped in front of the master bedroom, and she peeked in. “This is my room, and you’re just over there,” he said, nodding to the door on the left. “It has its own bathroom, so you’ll have privacy.” Ember looked at him as though he had lost his mind. Here, the man had only offered her a shower, a change of clothes, and a meal, and now he was acting like she was staying with him for a while.
“Jack, I’m just going to take a shower and get out of your hair,” she assured.
“The problem with that plan is—where will you go? If you go back to the church, Marco and his friend Keith might be waiting for you. And if you end up on the streets, something worse might happen. I’m a cop, so you’re safe here. And besides, I’m never really home, so I won’t be cramping your style.”
She giggled, “Who says stuff like that anymore?” she asked.
“Well, I do,” he grumbled. “I offer you a place to stay and you make fun of me,” he complained, making her laugh even harder.
“Thank you for that,” she whispered. “I haven’t had anything to laugh about in a very long time.” She couldn’t remember the last time she actually smiled, let alone laughed.
“So, does that mean you’ll stay?” he asked. She wondered why it seemed so important to him that she use his spare room, but she didn’t want him to think that she wasn’t grateful for his help or his offer of a roof over her head.
“Only if you let me help out around here. I might not have any money right now, but I don’t want to be a freeloader.” He held out his hand to her, and she looked at it as though she didn’t understand what was happening.
“You’ll have to shake on our deal,” he explained.
“You really are a dork,” she teased, taking his hand into her own and shaking it. “And I appreciate everything that you’re doing for me, Jack.” Ember went up on her tiptoes and gentlykissed his cheek, loving the way she seemed to be able to take him by surprise.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“For being a good guy,” she said. Ember might not trust everyone, but she had a feeling that Jack was someone she could rely on. She just hoped like hell that she wasn’t wrong about him like she had been in the past about so many others.
Spark Plug
Jack liked the way it felt having Ember in his space. In just two weeks, he was able to find her some clothes and things that she had to leave behind while on the run from Marco. They had settled into a routine together, and he had to admit—he liked coming home to her at the end of every shift. She usually made dinner, and they sat at the kitchen table that he had never really used before. Tonight was going to be different, though. Tonight, he planned on surprising her by taking her down to his club to meet some of the guys and their Ol’ladies.
She was still a bit skittish around him. He could tell by the way that she watched him that she didn’t trust him. She told him that she didn’t trust easily, but he hadn’t given her any reason to distrust him since moving her into his spare room. Hell, he had even kept his hands to himself, which was becoming increasingly harder to do with her in his space.
When she first moved in with him, she’d borrow his T-shirts to sleep in. He sported a hard-on every time she paraded around his house in one of them. His inner caveman wanted him to toss her over his shoulder and carry her back to his bedroom. Buthe also knew that Ember had a rough relationship with her ex. The last thing Jack wanted to do was scare her away. She was a runner, and he knew that she’d take off if given half a chance.
He found her in the family room, sitting on the couch, reading. She looked so peaceful that he almost didn’t want to disturb her, but his surprise wouldn’t wait. “Hey,” he almost whispered. She stopped reading and smiled at him. “I have a little surprise.”
“You should know that I hate surprises,” she said.
“Even good ones?” he countered.
“Yep, even those. But you didn’t know that, so I’ll let it slide this once.” He loved her sass. Ember seemed capable of giving as good as she got, except for when it came to her ex. He couldn’t see her taking what Marco did to her, but then again, that might not be something that he’d ever understand.
“How about we go down to Hurricane’s House tonight?” he asked. Jack felt as though he was holding his breath, waiting for her to answer. He had asked her to go to the club with him before, but she always had an excuse not to—upset tummy, headache. He got the hint that she wasn’t ready to be out in public yet, but the longer he allowed her to hide away in his house, the more effort it was going to take to get her to go out with him.
