Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Yes, it’s a nice town.”
“And you mentioned your neighbor looks after Theo?”
“Yes, her son Alfie has his turn tonight.” I indicated the flickering light behind the upstairs blind. “He’s still playing video games. He’ll go home once I’m inside.” I pointed to the larger house next door. “He lives there.”
He nodded. “Okay. We’ll get our tow truck to get your car in the morning. Do you have errands tomorrow?”
“I always have errands. And I have a shift.”
“Do you ever get a night off?”
“Sundays. Sometimes a Tuesday or Wednesday. Depends how busy it is.”
“You work too hard.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I do what I have to do.”
He held up his hands. “Just stating a fact. I’ll pick you up at nine and take you to the garage. You can have a loaner for the day while we figure out what’s going on.”
I hesitated. “I, ah, have a budget. It’s not very big.”
He nodded. “Most people do. I’ll keep that in mind. Hopefully it’s just a loose cable or something.” He paused. “Give me your cell number, and I’ll make sure to call before we do anything over a hundred bucks.”
I squirmed a little, unable to meet his eyes. “I can give you Mrs. Scott’s number, and she’ll take a message.”
“That’s fine.” He slid his fingers under my chin, making me look at him. “Go inside, get some sleep. I’ve got you, okay? We’ll get the car fixed and figure this all out.”
“This?” I asked with a frown.
“You and me.”
“Ah,” was all I was able to offer. I had a thousand protests, denials, and reasons why there wasn’t an us. Why there couldn’t be an us. But somehow, they were all jumbled in my head, and I couldn’t get the words out.
It had to be the orgasm from earlier—it messed with my mind. I felt off-kilter and unsteady, as if my brain was detached from my body.
He leaned close and kissed me. “Go inside, Tesoro. I’ll be here in the morning. Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”
I walked to the door, turning when I got there. He was watching, waiting for me to go inside. Right there, just as he promised.
I climbed the steps, thanked Alfie, and followed him down to lock the door behind him. Stefano was still there, the truck rumbling. He waited until Alfie was home, then he drove off.
His protective ways made me feel warm. I presented a tough front to people. I had to. I had to look after Theo and watch out for us. I made do with what I had, and I didn’t complain, mostly because I had no one to listen. Stefano’s assurances that everything would be okay were nice words, but I knew better than to believe him. The endearment he called me—I thought it meant sweetheart or something. I would have to look it up. It sounded nice rolling off his tongue. But he shouldn’t be calling me nice things.
Stefano seemed to know how to make me feel as if he saw what I was hiding. It was as if he wanted to take some of the burden off my shoulders. It was a strange sensation, and one I couldn’t trust.
I had the oddest thought as I climbed back to the second floor.
I would miss Stefano more than anyone else in my life once he was out of it.
Because there was the strong possibility I would have to leave at some point. Or he would walk away when he found out why I kept running.
It felt inevitable.
CHAPTER SIX
Stefano
I dragged Chase with me to get Gabby’s car at six. By seven, I was under the hood, shocked the car was even running. It needed a lot of little things fixed—expensive little things. Belts, hoses, clamps, spark plugs, rusted parts. I rattled off the list as Chase wrote it down, whistling when I stopped. Then I added a complete tune-up, another tire on the back, a new battery, and a set of windshield wipers.
“The repairs are more than the SUV is worth,” Chase observed.
I wiped my forehead, knowing he was right. Except I knew she couldn’t afford a new vehicle. It was obvious she knew nothing about cars and had no clue how bad it was. She’d been making Band-Aid fixes to keep it going, but it wasn’t going to last much longer.
Chase glanced at his watch. “I have to go and start my pickups.”
“Thanks for coming in early and helping.”
“No worries.” He laughed. “Not like I have a long way to go.”
I laughed with him. Chase lived in the small apartment over the garage. When Maxx had made a bunch of renovations, he’d added the apartment upstairs to replace the small room at the back of the garage. That area became part of the new, larger parts storage space. The new upstairs spot was a self-contained unit, and Chase was a happy tenant.