Page 55 of Ruined
She had taken it upon herself to get to the bottom of the situation by driving over to the Romeros’ farm. Once there she began to load Joy’s chickens into the back of her truck, which naturally angered Joy.
Not long after, Stracey was staring into the barrel of a shotgun.
One of the farmhands had seen that shit was about to get real, and he’d contacted the station. I had arrived just as Liam and a few other officers were heading out.
If you thought talking two old ladies down from a fight was easy, you were dead wrong. It had taken us over two hours to get Joy to put down the gun. Unfortunately, we also had no other choice than to haul the elderly women back to the station where the pair of them were supposed to spend the weekend.
Leaving two ladies old enough to be my grandma in cells for the entire weekend didn’t sit well with me. I’d made a quick call to Judge McPherson before I left the station, and he agreed that we could let them off with a warning—in the morning. If we were lucky, a night in the holding cells would mean the death of this stupid feud.
So, to say that I was beyond tired by the time I rolled into my driveway was an understatement. One look at the car already sitting there, and the entire days’ worth of stress dissolved like mist in front of the sun.
Zoe.
She was here, waiting for me after a long ass day at work. I’d given her my key this afternoon, hoping for exactly this. There was something about coming home to her that just felt…right.
With renewed energy, I jumped out of my truck, rushed up the stairs and through the door. Mouthwatering aromas filled my senses the instant I stepped over the threshold. I had no choice but to let my nose lead me to the origin of the smell.
I entered the kitchen and froze. Zoe was busy chopping vegetables, her hips swaying along with the music filtering through her cellphone speaker. I could’ve happily stood there and ogled her for the rest of the night if I didn’t have this need to touch her.
As silently as I could manage, I stalked toward her. As soon as she was within reaching distance, my arm snaked around her waist and I pulled her back to my chest. With a yelp, she dropped the knife to the cutting board. I felt bad for giving her such a fright, but as the feeling of her body pressed against mine registered, all I could feel was happy.
“You almost gave me a heart attack, Eli.”
Like I had done countless times in the past, I lowered my head so I could press my lips against her neck’s delicate skin. I grinned when a low humming sound came from the back of her throat. “Guess that means I’m forgiven?”
Zoe pushed away from me, then jabbed an elbow in my direction. “Only just.”
I moved in to plant a kiss on her cheek but ended up snatching a carrot stick from the chopping board instead. She tried to admonish me, but failed miserably when she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.
This. This was exactly what I’d been missing all these years. Don’t get me wrong; my life with Molly was amazing and I wouldn’t trade a second of it, but I’d sure have loved to give her what my parents gave us growing up.
I had no idea there’d been this incredible void in my life until Zoe had walked into it. The thought that I might have to let her go brought a desperate sense of panic to my heart.
I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Right here with Molly and I was where she belonged, even if she didn’t know it yet.
After I poured a glass of wine for Zoe and grabbed a beer for myself, I helped her prepare the rest of our dinner. We filled each other in on our days while we took our time digging into the spicy rice and stir-fry.
By the time our dirty dishes were tucked into the dishwasher, I was beyond ready to pull her into my arms, but I was nervous too. It was the first time since Melissa that a woman would be spending the night.
This was all very new to me.
We stood in the middle of the kitchen, awkwardly staring at each other. On any other night, this would be the time I’d walk her to her car where I’d kiss the living daylights out of her before she drove away.
Not knowing what to say exactly, I simply blurted out the first words that came to mind, “I’m gonna take a quick shower to get rid of the day’s filth.” The words‘why don’t you join me’were on the tip of my tongue. Afraid that I might utter them, I turned and marched to the bathroom without looking back.
That had to be the quickest, coldest shower I’d taken in all my life. I dried off, stepped into a pair of shorts and almost swallowed my tongue the moment I entered the bedroom. Zoe had changed into a t-shirt-like sleep dress. The gray cotton barely covered her thighs leaving inches upon inches of creamy skin on display.
Skin that she was currently lathering up with lotion. Seated on the edge of the bed with her focus solely on her legs, she had yet to notice me. Which was a good thing, there was no hiding precisely how this visual was affecting me.
It hit me then that suggesting she spend the entire weekend here might not have been one of my brightest ideas. Not that I didn’t want her here…in my bed. I just didn’t know how the hell I was going to get through the night, let alone the weekend, without giving in to the need to explore her hot little body.
I was pretty sure I’d be different shades of blue come morning.
Quick, long strides took me to the bed where I propped myself against the headboard and immediately covered my groin with a pillow.
