AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tyler, what’s wrong?” she asked feeling his heart racing.
“What’s wrong? I wake up after you finally tell me you still love me, and you were gone Just. I couldn’t find you anywhere and I was terrified I’d lost you again.”
“I’m not going anywhere Ty,” she promised knowing the only way to move forward was with him beside her. As terrifying as it was since it meant facing the hell of the last five years. “I went out to get us some food. You were sleeping soundly, and I didn’t want to wake you. I know you’ve been staying up to make sure I don’t run out, but you don’t have to anymore. I promise I’m not going anywhere, not again.”
“Baby, four days ago you told me you were too scared to do this…that your head was telling you not to, so what changed?” he questioned needing the answer to know how much he could relax, trust this newfound world he was suddenly living in. He wanted it desperately, but after finding her gone once, he couldn’t quite breathe and believe it fully just yet.
“You simply holding me, chasing away the ghosts inside my head. I’ve been shielding myself because of what happened since I’ve been here, but by doing that I’m not being true to who I am. I couldn’t believe in this, us, because I wasn’t being me but today…us…that was me. That was everything we ever were and more.”
“It was,” he agreed pulling her into his side as he moved them over to the couch. He lifted her onto his lap and held her, closing his eyes as he breathed her in, memorizing everything about this moment—the moment when he finally had her back. “Does this mean you’re staying?”
“Yes Ty, I’m staying,” she assured him, giving him a grin as she laid back in order to see his face. “I called my boss and told them I wasn’t coming back.”
“That’s it? No flying back to pick up your things from your office? No need to pack up your place?” he asked, and she shook her head no. “How’s that possible? I know you Just, you keep everything.”
“I used to but not anymore. Everything important is in the car,” she said, not about to admit that her townhouse with therest of her things not in the storage unit had been burnt down by the group she was after when she’d been compromised.
“You’re serious? What happened to the girl who took five dozen photos just to get the one shot to show off and then kept the others in a shoe box?” he asked dropping a kiss onto her lips.
“She learned it’s easier to travel light. I’ve moved from place to place because nowhere felt right to stay for long and I was tired of packing and unpacking.”
“Perhaps you’ve been missing the incredible views from right here,” he suggested, and she smiled knowing she had. “Are you going to be looking for somewhere here to stay then or are you just going to live in the hotel for the foreseeable future?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to sign a long lease if…”
“If what?” he questioned when she stopped.
“If we come out with this, move forward with us, outside of these walls. I can’t stay here and not be with you Tyler. I love you too much for that.”
“And your parents’ and my parents’ reactions to this—us?”
“Terrifying but I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. If they love us, then they’ll find a way to love us together, right?”
“Absolutely baby,” he agreed kissing her fully until he was carrying her back to the bedroom.
“What about the food?” she asked sliding her hand around his neck.
“Later, right now, you’re the only thing I’m craving,” he stated, and she knew this choice was the right one.
Chapter 6
Justine woke with a start as someone knocked loudly on the door. It took her a few moments to realize whoever it was, wasn’t after her, not when she took note of the décor around them. Tyler sat up, dropping a kiss onto her lips quickly before he grabbed up a pair of sweatpants from the floor and slid into them.
“It’s okay, baby. Let me get rid of whoever it is,” he said, dropping another quick kiss onto her lips as he headed out of the room.
She couldn’t stay in the bed, especially not fully naked as she was. Not when she didn’t know who was at his door.
It was the first time she’d spent the night at his place, something they’d worked up to in the last six weeks since she promised she was staying. She had no idea how no one had realized they were together. It’d been nine weeks since she came home, her parents and family were constantly asking her if she was back for good, but while she’d told her boss she wasn’t coming back, she hadn’t told her family her decision yet.
She was still technically ‘living’ in the hotel. Something that prompted her family to question her regarding her financials, worried she was going to get herself in a deep hole. Her parents offered for her to come stay with them the day she got backin town, but after spending the last ten years on her own, she couldn’t handle that. Especially not when it’d mean she couldn’t have her space to deal with everything that sent her here, not to mention it’d mean she couldn’t spend her nights with Tyler.
The more she resisted, the more they asked her about how she was covering the cost. Claiming that even if she’d gotten a weekly rate, the expense on top of her normal ones had to be hurting her checkbook. They had no idea the total of the insurance payout she had in the bank. It could cover five houses in their town with ease and still leave some remaining.
That definitely wasn’t something she could tell her family about, so instead, she lied. Said she’d been about to move places, but the new place fell through after a construction fire, and she’d instead put her stuff in storage and came here to visit. After all, a storage unit wasn’t anywhere close to a mortgage payment or rent, so the cost of the hotel wasn’t affecting her.
They were still curious to know if she was almost out of vacation time, but she truthfully hadn’t been using any of her saved hours. Technically she’d been on medical leave for the last three months. Paid leave due to her issues stemming from the job. She still had all her vacation hours sitting on the books. Her boss said she understood her decision, until her medical leave was officially ended—which would require her talking to one of the agency’s shrinks to assess her ability to make the decision rationally, she was still legally employed. Melissa wouldn’t accept her official resignation until she was cleared, or they deemed her unfit for duty.
She’d avoided talking to the agency shrink for weeks—although not all of it was her fault. The few times she’d worked up the courage to broach the subject of what sent her running, scheduled a teleconference with them, something urgent had come up on the shrink’s side and they were forced to reschedule yet again. The one appointment she did manage to get was cutshort, but at least they’d managed to get enough discussed to show that she wasn’t crazy, could potentially return to duty after an assessment from her supervisor if desired. Melissa wanted her to finish a full appointment before she’d sign off on things and she’d been playing tag with the woman for days.
