Page 42 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
“Did you see the car again?” he asked. “I mean, any other time today when you were out. When you came home?”
She shook her head. “No. And Sanni and I went walking right after I talked to you at lunchtime. I haven’t seen it, but I can’t get it out of my mind.”
She fell back against the cushions. “I mean, it’s strange, right? That I got so worked up about it? This isn’t some TV show where viewers have to figure out who the bad guys are before the innocent person gets too caught up in the trouble. This is my life, Aden. And I feel like it’s being turned upside down by criminal charges, dead husbands—and now, what? A stalker?”
He turned slightly so that he could reach for both her hands and hold them in his. “Take a breath,” he said, and when she looked at him, he hiked his brows up to reiterate the command.
She sighed.
“A deep breath, Savannah,” he said.
He held her gaze, and she was reluctant to look away or find another rebuttal to his words. She sucked in a breath slowly, then released it.
Aden was the one shaking his head this time. “Do it again,” he said. “Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Slow and steady.”
She frowned. “I’m not having contractions, Aden.”
He smirked. “Just do it.”
She did, and when he said “Again,” she obliged, until on the third deep breath, the heaviness that had built in her chest started to subside.
“Now, I want you to listen to me,” he said, still holding her hands. “We’re going to call Jovani first thing in the morning. I would call him tonight, but I don’t want Megan cussing me out for ringing her phone at this time of night again. I already owe her a couple hours of babysitting for last week’s call.”
“You? Babysitting?” she asked with a frown.
“Fix your face,” he said. “I know how to watch a baby. My older sister has a nine-year-old and a set of twins. I’ve watched all three of them before.”
She shrugged. “I’m impressed.” Actually, she was intrigued. She would’ve liked to have seen Aden in action with children. He’d always struck her as the macho I-can’t-boil-an-egg type. Learning about his personal input into some of the holistic supplements he planned to feature on his website and at the gym had been a nice surprise.
“Don’t change the subject,” he said. “This is serious, Savannah. You’re not wrong for being afraid. So we’re going to let Jovani know what’s going on. He has people on the streets; he can get some eyes on you. And if he can’t, then I will.”
“He told me about his eyes and ears on the street.” She sighed. “But I don’t want to be watched. Not by anyone.”
“The ugly brown car, as you put it, took that option away from you,” he told her. “We can’t rule out that it was the cops either. Or someone working with them to try and get more evidence against you.”
“What evidence? There is none because I didn’t do anything!” She hadn’t wanted to raise her voice, had wanted to just tell him about this incident and move on with their night, but calling her lawyer, possibly having someone watching her from now on, the police, and this whole investigation ... it was all working her nerves.
“Look, I just want to be able to get some rest without thinking about this,” she said, purposely leaving out the fact that she’d seemed to sleep a lot better the last few nights he’d been in her bed.
Of course, that could’ve also been because of what they’d done in that bed before falling asleep. Sex with Aden was by far the best she’d had in a very long time. She enjoyed it immensely, just as she enjoyed being wrapped in his arms as she fell into a deep sleep. If she could get just that portion of their relationship tonight, that would certainly be enough.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Then that’s what you’ll get. Do you want a glass of wine, some herbal tea?”
A light smile touched her lips. “I see how you slipped that healthy drink in there.”
He brought both her hands to his lips for a quick kiss on the back of each. “Of course I did. Now, which one do you want?”
“Honestly,” she said, trying hard as hell to resist the warm tingles that eased down her spine at that simple romantic gesture, “I think the tea would be great.”
“Good,” he said with a wink. “I’ll take care of it. You go on upstairs and get into bed.”
“You’re bossy, you know that?” she said as he stood and used his grip on her hands to pull her up with him.
“No, I’m not,” he countered.
“Yeah, you are,” she said. “You’ve been giving me orders since you came in here. Since you waltzed back into my life, actually.”
Releasing her hands, he stared down at her. “I like to call it ‘taking care of you,’” he said. “Do you know how long I waited for the opportunity to treat you like you deserve to be treated?”
