Meredith was right. He wouldn’t have known how to handle it if she’d tried to hug him right away. He wasn’t good with affectionate gestures.
“Sounds like you’ve got my brother pegged well,” Blaze said, returning the hug. “Few do.”
“Including his family,” his mother said. “But I’m seeing a glimmer of something old coming back.”
This was exactly what he wanted to avoid with this dinner, but if he didn’t get it over with, it’d be this shackle on his ankle every time he passed his parents on the property.
“So we don’t embarrass Clay more and have him shut down on me,” Meredith said, “I’ll just let everyone know things are progressing slowly because that is how Clay has set the pace. I’m good with it and it’s working for us. There is no name on it. Labels aren’t a good thing for anyone.”
“There you go,” he said. “Now we can talk about other things.”
He should have added to what was said because the shocked looks on his family’s faces told him there was more going on than he’d admit.
Never in his life had he let anyone speak for him, yet he was thrilled she’d taken charge, proving that maybe he wasn’t the only one that had some saving tendencies.
“Where the hell is she?”
Karl was watching her townhouse like he always did and there was no sign. He’d driven by her parents’ house and didn’t see her car there either.
How could he prove to her that he could care for her if she wasn’t around for him to do it?
He needed another game plan. A better one because the one he had didn’t seem to be working fast enough and he wasrunning out of time. Not much longer before his lease was up and he’d have to move.
25
MUCH MORE DRASTIC
“Wake up, Clay. Wake up!”
He was shaking and mumbling in his sleep. The bed was actually moving and that woke her.
“Clay!”
He shot up in bed, his hand going to the drawer and opening it, gripping his gun, his feet on the floor all in one motion.
“Stay here.”
Holy shit. Talk about freezing someone in place.
“There is no one here,” she said softly. She didn’t want to make any sudden moves. The look in his eyes, matched with his stance told her she’d need to soothe him as she’d done many kids that were having a meltdown.
This was no meltdown, but something much more drastic.
“I’ll check.”
She sighed. There was no arguing with him. Staying in bed was the thing to do while he walked around with a weapon.
She wouldn’t say she was comfortable with it, but she was used to it.
The shock of seeing one on his ankle Friday night when they were getting undressed in his room to hit the sheets had cooled her body briefly.
He’d noticed, took it off and set it aside, then had her erogenous zones coming alive again.
They had a tiny conversation that he’d always had it on and always would.
She heard the underlying words. Don’t even think of saying she didn’t want him to wear it because it was as if it was an extension of him as a person.
He returned to the room and put the gun away. “I told you no one was here.”
