CHAPTER 4
Timothy
I don't sleep after I leave her apartment.
I go back to my place and lie on the couch staring at the ceiling, replaying the feel of her mouth under mine.The sound she made when I touched her.The way she kissed me back.
And then the way she shoved me away.
I should feel guilty.Should feel like I pushed too hard, moved too fast.
But I don't.
Because she wanted me.I know she did.I felt it in the way her hands fisted in my shirt, the way she arched into me, the way her breath caught when I said her name.
Something scared her.Someone scared her.
And I'm going to find out who.
The kiss keeps replaying in my head.The taste of her.The way her body fit against mine like it was made to be there.I've been with women before.Plenty of them.But nothing felt like that.Nothing felt like coming up for air after being underwater too long.
Which is a problem.
Because Carla is clearly running from something, and getting involved with a woman who's got that kind of trouble following her is the definition of a bad idea.
Except I'm already involved.
The second I stepped between her and that truck in the Walmart parking lot, I made a choice.And the kiss just sealed it.
She's mine now.Whether she knows it or not.The thought should scare me—too fast, too intense, too everything.It doesn't.She's mine, and anyone who tries to hurt her goes through me first.
Around five thirty, I hear her moving around through the wall.Shower running.Cabinets opening and closing.She's getting ready for work.
I get up and make coffee, then position myself by the window where I can see the parking lot.When she comes out of the building twenty minutes later, I'm already outside, leaning against my truck.
She sees me and stops.
For a second, I think she's going to turn around and go back inside.But then she squares her shoulders and walks toward her Honda like I'm not even there.
Tough.Even now, even after last night, she's not going to show weakness.
I respect the hell out of that.
Doesn't mean I'm letting her walk away.
"Carla," I call.
She doesn't look at me.Just keeps walking.
I catch up to her in three strides."We need to talk."
