Page 11 of Saving His Heart
The elevator doors open on the tenth floor, and he ushers me out. When we reach my front door, I open it with a sick feeling.
“What the hell, Emory? Why isn’t your door locked?” Preston scolds.
“Oh, please. You guys have this building locked down like Fort Knox. Leaving it unlocked for an hour while I run up to stick an IV in you, check your vitals, and administer the meds isn’t the end of the world.”
“Lock your damn door. I swear, what is it with you girls? Julia didn’t even have a lock on her door, and Lanie leaves the door wide open half the time. Just please, lock the door,” he sighs, stepping into my apartment.
I haven’t been living here long, but I’ve been trying to make it comfortable. It looked like a model home when I first moved in. Even as sparse as it is, it’s a million times better than my last place. I’d been staying in a rundown building by the highway until Preston had to pick me up to go to the airport unexpectedly. He was pissed.
“What the hell is this place, Emory? I know how much I pay you. Why are you living with drug dealers and bed bugs?”
“I’m just saving money. I have expenses, and my sisters count on me. It’s really not that bad.”
“Emory, there are rat traps in the foyer.”
“At least they’re being proactive about them.”
“You cannot live here.”
“You don’t get to make that decision, Mr. Westbrook. This is what I can afford right now.”
When we returned from Boston, I found out my building had mysteriously been condemned. They moved all my stuff into Preston’s apartment building, and he still won’t admit it was his doing.
“You know, Loki only ever had a single picture on the mantel. It was of the four of us. Everything else was sterile,” he tells me, looking around like he has done every night for the last few weeks. “You’ve done a great job of making this place your own.”
Remembering why we are down here in the first place, I pull myself together. “First, I’m sorry I barged in there like that, but you were late, and I was afraid you weren’t feeling well. Now that I’ve said that, sit. Explain. Now,” I command.
I watch as Preston sinks into the couch and runs his fingers through his thick, dark hair, tugging at the root. I’m not a saint. Objectively, I recognize he is a handsome man. Ridiculously so. But he is also off limits. No matter how much those crystalline blue eyes pull at something deep in my soul, I’ve learned my lesson. After what seems like an eternity, he talks.
“Listen, I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I don’t even know what happened up there. Lexi has disliked me since the day I met her, we’re like oil and water. Trevor said we’re basically the same person, and he might be right. After Loki dropped Lex off, I thought we might be able to cohabitate, but witnessing that display upstairs? It’s more likely we are going to end up killing each other. I had her in a goddamn headlock and gave a grown woman a noogie,” he sighs and leans farther back into the couch.
“I don’t know, Ems. Dexter said we needed a buffer. Then you walked in, and it was a lightbulb moment. But honestly, the more I think about it, the better it sounds. We couldn’t figure out how to get you to Vermont for Dexter’s wedding without bringing up all kinds of questions, right? This might be the perfect solution. No one will question you being there if you’re my girlfriend.”
“Preston. I don’t know about this—” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“I’ll double your pay, and you can have your own room. The room Lexi is in right now is across the hall from me. That way, if anyone stops by, it looks like we are coming out of the same room,” he says, making it sound less crazy by the minute.
Double the pay, Ems! Think of how much that extra money could help the girls. I’ve already screwed up their lives so much. Preston is basically handing me their education on a silver platter. Turning it down to save my own career would be like ruining their lives all over again.
Preston pulls me from my thoughts when he speaks again.
“We have an appointment with Dr. Terry coming up, right? I’ll explain everything to him then. If we can’t get his approval … well, I’ll figure something out if it comes to that,” he tells me. His beautiful blue eyes are pleading. “Plus, if I have a date for these weddings, my friends will stop pushing the MLP plan, too.”
“The what?” I’ve definitely missed something here.
“When Dexter decided he couldn’t live without Lanie, he started texting Julia, Trevor, Loki, and I nonstop. He changed the name of the group text to MLM or Make Lanie Mine. We got updates every single freaking day for a year. We all had front row seats to their love story. I hate to admit it, but that first Christmas, when he took every single one of those text messages and made them into a book for her, we all got a little choked up. That asshole is a real-life Prince Charming. So, when they found out Lexi was staying with me, I’m sure he immediately made an MLP plan. Make Lexi Preston’s.” He is trying to sound put out, but I can hear the love he has for his friends in his voice.
“That’s really sweet, Preston.”
“It is, but I can’t have them thinking there is a happily ever after for me. We both know that. I just need you with me so I can get through the holidays one more time.”
I rarely hear Preston speak like this. He is usually upbeat.The last visit to Dr. Terry must have hit him harder than I thought.Seeing him like this, knowing his inevitable outcome, and my desperate financial state, how can I say no?
Crossing the room, I flop onto the couch beside him, ready to sign away my future, this time, maybe for good. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he asks hopefully.
“Okay, but there have to be ground rules. And if we have been dating for a year, we will have to go through some intense speed dating rounds. I’m not about to get caught unawares.”
