Page 50 of Tumbleweed Temptation
She handed him the laptop and sat beside him, close enough that she could see the screen. “Good roommates?”
He lifted a shoulder and winced. “We didn't see all that much of each other. Making my bed was just a way of keeping my personal space.”
“I guess it must have been weird, you being an only child.”
“You’re an only child,” he pointed out.
“That’s how I know.” She tapped the screen. “Make movie play now.”
He laughed and tapped the keyboard. “What do you want to watch?”
*****
GINNY CAME AWAKE WITHa jolt when a thunk sounded just below her. What...?
And then she realized she was on Austin’s couch, leaning against the warmth of his side and—had she been drooling? Quickly she ran the back of her hand across her mouth, but she thought maybe the wetness on his shirt came from the dripping ice pack. She braced her hands on either side of her on the couch, so she could sit up without disturbing him.
The thunk that had woken her was the laptop sliding to the floor. It was on its side, and she carefully retrieved it, setting it on the couch on her other side.
What time was it? She didn't see a clock in here, but a glance at the screen showed the movie still playing. So she hadn’t been asleep too long.
She twisted to look at Austin, whose head lolled to the side, the ice pack on the couch behind him and dripping on his shoulder. But he was out cold. She slipped away and pushed to her feet, the floorboard creaking under her weight. Behind her he shifted, and she held her breath, hoping not to wake him.
Hoping not to wake anyone. She didn't want anyone to see her sneaking out of Austin’s apartment so late. Crap, and she didn’t really look forward to walking home in the middle of the night. She didn’t live far, but was still creeped out by walking at night.
But she was tough. She could deal. She walked to work in the morning before sunrise. Walking home at night was just...different.
She pulled her keys out of her pocket and crept toward the door. She heard him shift on the couch again, but didn't look back. If he woke, he woke. But she had to get home. She had to be at work in just a few hours.
God.
She eased the door closed behind her and smoothed her hair back into its ponytail and trotted down the stairs to slip out the front door, made sure it was locked behind her, before she stepped out of the shadows into the streetlights.
She shuddered. The streets were empty, the streetlights weak, leaving lots of creepy shadows. Seriously, why didn't she notice that when she was walking to work in the mornings?
She hustled, her ear tuned for anything out of the ordinary—footsteps, cars. She thought twice about going through the park, since it was really poorly lit, circumnavigating it instead. A scurrying sound had her glancing over to see an armadillo running in the opposite direction from her.
Little dude had the right idea. She scurried in direction of her own home, using the light from her phone to combat the shadows. Her heart was thundering when she hurried up the steps to her own house, slipped the key in the lock and swung the door open.
Her grandfather, Patrick, turned his head from his place on the sofa. Ginny could tell by the droop of his eyes that he’d been asleep. But he hadn’t waited up for her since she was in high school.
“What are you doing up?” she asked him. “Didn't you go to work at like five this morning or something?”
“Five yesterday morning,” he said with a groan as he stretched himself off the couch. “And you haven't been out this late in a while. I was worried.”
“Not worried enough to call, though.” She tapped the screen of her phone.
“I didn't want you to think I was bring overprotective.”
That had never been the case. He’d trusted her judgment nearly from the time she was eight. She thought that was kind of odd, considering he’d lost his daughter to bad judgment. She thought he might hover more, at least if he was a parent in one of the books she edited.
“I fell asleep at Austin’s.”
His thick dark brows, which contrasted with his shaggy graying hair, rose slowly as her words sunk in.
“It’s like that, huh?”
Her face heated. She and her grandfather had always been pretty open with each other, out of necessity since she’d come to live with him when he was in his mid-forties and had the occasional girlfriend, and, well, he’d given her The Talk. NotTheTalk. Well, yes, that, but he’d also made it clear that boys her age were after one thing only, and she needed to protect not only her body, but her heart.
