AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Great.” Josh grins, and I’m so relieved to see him smiling. “Mom doesn’t love that I’m on the show, to be honest. She’s not a fan of reality TV unless it’s home makeover shows. But once she sees me happy, she’ll get over it.”
“I hope I get to meet her. How will she feel about...you know.”
“What?”
I whack him on the arm. “That I’m a Synth.”
He acts surprised, like he forgot, which is...good?
“She might have trouble at first. But like I said, if I’m happy, she’ll come around.”
Okay. Not ideal; I’d prefer to hear his mom would embrace me with open arms. But I appreciate his honesty, and—isn’t honesty what I was looking for?
“So. Have I addressed your concerns?” says Josh, coming to a stop. We’re about to move from the narrow, solitary street onto a busier thoroughfare.
“Yeah,” I say, my eyes taking in the curve of his cheekbone, the little twist in his lip. He’s so damn beautiful. “Thanks for being so open. I appreciate it. A lot.”
His grin crinkles. And suddenly Josh’s hand is at the small of my back where I like it, and he’s spinning me against the nearby wall. He braces an arm above me. Shadows settle into the angles of his jaw, his brow, turning his eyes into wells of darkness.
“Now, where did we leave off, Miss Julia?”
I stroke his cheek, rough with stubble. “What you’re trying to say right now is, less analyzing, more kiss—”
But his mouth pressing into mine cuts off my words.
I’ve never been so deliciously silenced.
NOW
I wake to furious knocking at my front door and sit straight up. Eight in the morning. Captain shoots off the bed and thunders downstairs.
I groan as I swing my legs over the side of the bed, then I stumble after my dog, still in my rumpled clothes from last night. I don’t know if it was overexhaustion or some newbie reaction to weed, but I did not sleep well.
I look through the peephole. Fuck. Sheriff Mitchell and Deputy Adams. And behind them, more reporters than I can count on both freaking hands. In fact, the whole road is a mess of news vans and cars. Giving my hair a quick swipe back, I crack the door.
“Yes?”
“Miz Walden.” The sheriff’s look is appraising. “I didn’t think you were coming back.”
I lay a hand on Captain’s head. He’s tense at my side, alert, and I wish I could order him to rip into the sheriff. Instead, I open the door a little wider and jerk my head for them to come in. Which is more of a welcome than these two deserve.
The sheriff removes his hat as he crosses my threshold, as does Adams. I lock the door behind us.
“Kitchen,” I say in my raspy morning voice, leading the way to the back of the house.
I have a moment of déjà vu as they sit at my table.
The sheriff sniffs. “Is that the smell of marijuana, Miz Walden?”
Shit.
I sniff, too, feigning surprise, plucking at my clothes. “Maybe?”
“You do realize that is an illegal drug in the State of Indiana.”
“Go tell the people who’ve been camped in my yard all night,” I snap. “And you know what else? They’re trespassing. Isn’t it your responsibility to remove them?”
Silence greets me.
