“Don’t touch him, he’s autistic and he will only let his mom hold him!”
The man nodded again and extended his arm to gesture for the mother to go in front of him. As they all passed us, the mother talked a bit loudly and said, “Thank you,” to Paxton.
“My pleasure,” he said back loud enough for her to hear.
Then his arms dipped under the backs of my knees and he swept me up in his arms, cradling me like a child. We followed the group outside where swarms of people gathered in wait to see what was happening.
“Pax, you can put me down,” I said softly.
“Not a chance. I just lost ten years of my life so I’m going to hold you for a while if that’s okay,” he said, his nose nuzzled next to my ear.
“It’s better than okay,” I whispered.
He’d just scaled a staircase and was fighting some big ass dude so I was trying to give him a break. If he didn’t want to let me go, I was good with that.
I snuggled my face in the side of his neck and thanked the heavens Paxton had gotten to me in time.
* * *
I was wiped out.
The reality of what had happened seemed to have kicked in later when all of my adrenaline drained from my body. I felt as deflated as a balloon that didn’t have enough air to carry on anymore. All I wanted to do was sleep but had no desire to go back to our room.
Even though the fire was out, one that very much seemed to be deliberate from what Paxton found out, our time here was over and right then that was fine with me. I hated that my past had ruined a special moment for him and me. It was something that made me second guess my decision not to run anymore.
But I had made a promise and honestly I didn’t think I could walk away from Paxton. I wasn’t that strong. He was a huge part of my life now and I not only needed him but I wanted him with such magnitude it was almost unreal.
“Hey,” Paxton said softly to get my attention. “They’re almost here and then we’ll head out, okay?”
Turning my head in his direction, I gave a tentative smile and nodded. “Okay,” I lightly murmured.
He was talking about Gyth and Rowan. Paxton had called the guys and let them know what happened and they’d decided a couple of them were driving down to follow us back. Another thing I felt guilty over. Taking them away from their families and making them do all that driving. It was their holiday weekend too and everyone had plans the next day.
“I see that look in your eyes, darlin’. You can’t fret over your friends helping you. Your safety is what matters the most.”
I cast my gaze to my lap and let out a harsh breath of air.
Paxton hadn’t left my side since everything went down and he planned to go up to our room to get all our stuff, but not until the guys got there so someone he trusted was with me. I appreciated it all but the guilt slamming into me with such force was making me even more exhausted.
He placed his finger under my chin and raised my head to look at him. “We knew this wasn’t going to just go away, sweetheart. But I swear, one day we will finish this and you will be free even if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
A tear slipped down my cheek. “Nothing can happen to you, Pax. I won’t be able to handle that,” I murmured softly as a couple more tears made tracks down my face. I knew his words about the last thing he ever does were a figure of speech in a sense, but I could tell he meant them and it scared me.
Leaning in, he brushed a soft kiss to my lips and then pulled back so our faces were an inch apart. “Shh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I didn’t mean to say that and worry you, it was just my way of telling you that I’ll handle this for you so you can live a normal life without all the fear.”
He said, so that I could live a normal life, but did he plan on being in it? I couldn’t help but panic for a minute and blurted out my thoughts. “Will this life include you?”
I was aware he said he loved me. Those words were buried in my heart and soul. But I was still squabbling with a voice in my head that asked if it would last or would he check out like my husband had. But then to be fair, I also had to remember that Paxton was a lot different than Thomas was right from the start.
My husband had never cared for me the way Pax did and he certainly didn’t care what happened to me when he started stealing money or how I felt when he was sleeping around.
All that was forgotten when Paxton smiled at me and those dimples twinkled, causing my body to relax and my heart to warm. “You bet it will. I won’t let you get rid of me that easily.”
“Don’t want to,” I told him and his smile beamed brighter.
* * *
I couldn’t sleep.
