Page 25 of Cautious Love

The bathroom is so clean I feel like I can actually enjoy myself in it, though the one at the inn wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t want to spend much time in there either.

After I clean myself up and get dressed, it takes me a minute to wiggle myself onto the bed. But once I get under the covers with an ice pack, I’m wide awake, and the pain has finally abated so much I feel like I can breathe.

Why would he let me stay here?

It doesn’t make any sense, especially after tonight. He’s putting himself in a terrible position in many ways. It doesn’t matter that we have known of each other for years. We don’tknoweach other. Yet he helped me from Grey, opened his home to me, and has done more than any man ever has — aside from my father. In fact, he reminds me of my dad. He’d give you the shirt off his back if you’d ask.

It’s why we got into debt when I was young. That’s yet another reason why I was happy to see him leave Paxton and go down to Arizona. He was free from the debt and the burden of me.

Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I send a text to my dad telling him I miss him and set my alarm for my shift in the morning. I should have insisted that I follow Ledger to his house so I wouldn’t have to walk, but it’s not far. I can deal.

Then it hit me. It’s possible he wanted to drive me because he didn’t want anyone to see my car in front of his house. The upstanding cowboy sheriff and the criminal living with him isn’t a good look. I don’t like it, but it’s fair and smart.

I open my banking app and double-check the amount before I make a small payment on my credit card. It’s because of the debt my dad dealt with that I hate accruing any, even if it’s for a valid reason. I don’t want to fall into that hole.

What’s my next move? There is the option to go down to Arizona. But I’ve never lived on my own. Maybe it would be smart to try it. But that would mean I need money to get an apartment, and I definitely don’t have that in my bank account right now.

Maybe I should be asking myself how long Ledger will let me stay. I’m not one to overstay my welcome, but he never said a word about one night or a week. I cringe at the thought, but maybe I can work out a deal at the inn for a weekly rate. I could eat at the diner, since we get a free meal, and I could live off PB&J’s and cans of tuna. If I double my shifts at the WoodenCowboy and pick up anything at the diner, it’s possible that I could scrape enough together for the first month’s rent.

Yeah, I can do that.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and it feels like the adrenaline immediately drops from my body. Everything comes crashing down. I almost killed Grey. I could havekilledhim. Hot tears pour from me as I stifle my cries into my pillow, trying not to disturb Ledger. I have made a mess of my life. My first mistake was trusting Grey. Maybe my second was trusting myself.

Chapter 8

Ledger

Herbedroomdoorisstill shut, so I’m assuming she’s still asleep.

I hesitate at the counter. Should I leave her a key? Is she going to walk to work? Do I need to take her?

Part of me is already wondering if it was smart giving her a place to stay, but I also know it was the right thing to do. I’m hoping and praying she doesn’t make me regret it.

How do I explain this to the officers under me? I’m not holding out hope that Grey will keep his mouth shut about last night either. If he’s smart, he will take my threat seriously. The downside is I showed my hand, but then again, I don’t think he’s smart enough to recognize that.

Most of the town knows what Grey did to Shiloh by now. But no one knows that I took her in — yet, it won’t take long. Eventually, even if she’s here for two days, they’re going to see her car in front of my house. How do I explain that? This town is small.Someoneis going to see us together — ask questions I don’t have answers to.

Friends.

That’s it, we’re friends. I’m helping a friend even though we’ve never been buddy-buddy.

Anything else is people’s own assumptions. Rumor can be significantly worse than the truth in Paxton. But I don’t care to correct anyone because I have bigger fish to fry. Though I’m not naive enough to think we don’t need a plausible story, and something that doesn’t put my job in jeopardy, let alone give Grey a reason for payback. So maybe friends won’t be good enough.

Dammit. Think Ledger, think.

Instead of doing my actual job, I spent half the day figuring out how to make sure this doesn’t blow back on us. And because I don’t trust Grey as far as I can throw him. I found a law that might do the trick. But Shiloh has to agree to it.

It’s insane. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I can’t even fathom the story I’ll have to come up with for my family because the moment someone sees a ring on her finger and mine, and her living with me, word will get around quick. But I made the choice, and she made a mistake. There are consequences to our actions.

And what better way to make it all worse than asking her to marry me?

To be honest, I don’t believe she’ll go for it. We don’t know each other. But it could keep us both safe, in a manner of speaking, so if the details of that night do come out, at least they could only get half the truth.

I left the station early, drove three towns over where people wouldn’t recognize me, bought her a simple ring and a gold band for myself, then hurried home expecting to find her here, but she’s not.

Did she leave?

I peek inside her room and find her bag on the floor. A blanket is draped across the bed. Her stuff is still here, so I’m assuming she didn’t take off.