Page 68 of Shattered Secrets
A giant lump formed in her throat, rendering her speechless. She managed a nod.
He pressed another soft kiss to her lips. “Can I walk you to your room?”
The lump in her throat expanded.Too sweet. This man is too damn sweet.
Again, she nodded.
Matt held his hand out to her, and together, they rose from the couch. He intertwined their fingers as they made their way down the hallway.
At her closed bedroom door, he brought their linked hands to his lips and dropped a kiss on the back of hers. Then he simply held her in his arms. “We’re going to make this work, Scar,” he murmured. “I have a good feeling about us.”
Her heart clenched. So did she. She was absolutely scared as hell, but so did she.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It had been nine days since the incident with the mystery man at the diner. Confident in Hudson Security’s capabilities, Scarlet had gone back to work the very next morning. Though she didn’t understand the full scope of their plan, she trusted them to keep her and Daisy safe. Gavin had called Xander off Daisy duty, but he’d also made everyone at Rebecca’s day care aware of the situation. Which had gone a long way toward putting Scarlet’s mind and nerves at ease.
Now here she was, Thursday night, spooning with Matt on the couch, her mind in a whirl. Just thinking about the long day she’d had made a fresh wave of exhaustion wash over her.
They were coming up on the Fourth of July weekend, and the island was packed. Hudson celebrated the holiday in a big way and had an extravagant fireworks production scheduled for the main event on Monday. The holiday weekend coincided with the final week of the motorcycle retreat at the Pacific View Resort, and it seemed as though everyone who rode a bike had stopped by the diner at least once.
The tourists who’d come in had been lovely, but Scarlet was ready for all of them to be gone. Motorcycles had overridden the town. Every loud rumble had her wincing. Every rev of anengine frayed her sanity a little more. She struggled to keep the paranoia at bay. She knew Bean was tracking the man who’d asked about her, but she still felt like she was being constantly watched. It was unnerving.
She expected the mystery man to pop out at every turn, expected him to... Well, she didn’t know exactly what, but definitely nothing pleasant. Of course, that hadn’t happened.
For nearly a week, the mystery man had driven up and down Whidbey Island, stopping at countless restaurants and diners. There were still no clear shots of his face. It was as if all small, mom-and-pop diners were required to have crappy surveillance cameras—that is, if they had any cameras at all.
However, for the last couple of days, there’d been nothing. No movement. No notifications. Absolutely nothing. And no updates on the person who had broken into her apartment, either.
The not knowing was driving her crazy.
However, one thing that steadied her—as ridiculous and cheesy as it sounded—was coming home to Matt.
Initially, she had thought things between them would be awkward after her I’m-a-club-whore declaration. But they weren’t. If anything, Matt had stepped up his sweetness. Or maybe she was just noticing it more.
They’d fallen into a pretty amazing routine since that conversation. Every morning, Matt ran an ungodly number of miles while she and Daisy got ready and had breakfast. When he returned all sweaty and flushed and delicious, Scarlet had his protein shake makings laid out on the island for him. She’d tasted one once, and yeah... no, thank you. She would stick with pancakes and syrup like her four-year-old.
The three of them then spent some time together, talking about whatever, before she and Daisy headed out. She would drop her daughter at Rebecca’s, who was now back from herfamily’s month-long stay in Seattle—Daisy was over the moon to have her BFF, Rocco, back—and go to work.
After her eight-hour shift, she would pick up Daisy and head home. Well, Matt’s home. But the more time they stayed there, the more it felt like hers and Daisy’s, too. In fact, the weekend before, Matt had surprised Daisy by redecorating the other guest room for her. Pink bed linens, unicorn throw pillows, and a little flower night-light that projected shapes onto the ceiling. He’d even bought her two Squishmallows to add to her stuffy collection: a pink cat and a popcorn bucket. Because of course he did. To say Daisy had been more than happy to move into her own room was an understatement.
After work, she and Daisy got dinner going so it was ready when Matt came home. She wasn’t the best cook in the world, but she could do the basics. Except grilling. In that case, she would prep everything and leave it for him to take care of. Then they’d all sit down together and eat.
Meals had always been bonding time for her and Daisy, but now, with the three of them together, sitting around the table talking about their days—or rather, Daisy telling Matt the minute-by-minute breakdown of her days—they were that much more special.
But Scarlet knew her apartment would be fixed in the next couple of weeks, and they’d have to head back home. It was something she’d gently reminded Daisy of. Her daughter was growing more attached to Matt by the hour, and she knew going back to their apartment would be a tough adjustment.
For both of them.
Still, she would cherish their shared dinners for the rest of her life. Their movie nights, too.
Much to Daisy’s delight, they’d even had Four, Gavin, and Xander over last Saturday night to watch Cade’s fighters win their first UFC title belts. She and Daisy had unapologeticallysquealed when the cameras had panned to Poppy and the twins celebrating the dynamic wins. Granted, Scarlet didn’t know much about MMA fighting, so it had all looked dynamic to her.
As for bedtimes, a new routine had been adopted for Daisy. Apparently, Matt did the character voices better than Scarlet, so she had been demoted to bath time and teeth brushing while he read the nightly stories.
After they got Daisy settled each night, Scarlet and Matt stayed up talking in the living room. Those few hours meant the world to her. Not only did she get to decompress and have some adult time, but getting to know the man was simply amazing. They’d talked about everything—their interests and hobbies, the shenanigans of their mutual friends and other Hudson locals, funny stories from their younger years, and some not-so-fun stories of their childhoods.
In between all the talking, they’d make out on the couch. So far, clothes had remained on, but their hands had, for sure, wandered. The fire Matt lit in her was nothing short of glorious. And he put zero pressure on her to go further. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that if she called a halt to things, he’d stop. No questions.
