I start trembling as my emotions get the better of me. I can’t stay here. The longer I’m here, the harder it will be to leave. Already, I’m so attracted to the alternate reality that tears well up in my eyes at the thought of leaving.
That pink room is so pretty. The bathtub… I was really looking forward to using the tub in his bathroom, too. The one with the jets. Who the hell do I think I am? The queen?
I lower my head. “I should go,” I murmur.
“Go?” His voice is a full pitch higher now. “Go where?”
“Away. I’ve stayed too long. It will be easier if I don’t know more about your life or all your nice things. There are several shelters in Seattle. I’ll find one with an opening and try to forget this ever happened.”
Chapter Twelve
Cannon
* * *
I know she doesn’t mean what she’s suggesting. She’s scared. Afraid to let her guard down. I get it, but I intend to prove to her that she deserves nice things.
She deserves to be safe and loved. She deserves to have all the food she can eat, clean clothes, and a roof over her head.
Eloise deserves to have toys and bubble bath. She deserves to have all the books she can read.
She deserves snuggles and pigtails, dolls and cartoons, coloring books and crayons. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her walk out the door.
“I know you’re scared, Little one. I get it. I’m probably not helping things with all my talk of wanting you here permanently when we only met yesterday. But here’s the thing, angel. I can’t explain why I know I was meant to find you yesterday, but I know it in my heart. I knew as soon as I had you in my arms. I felt the connection immediately.”
She furrows her brow.
“I don’t mean to imply I practice some sort of woo-woo nonsense. I just feel connected to you. I think you feel it, too.”
She inhales slowly, but tears escape to run down her cheeks. I’m not surprised. She’s fucking terrified. I suspect what she’s most afraid of is trusting me only to have me turn on her.
“Let me tell you something, Eloise. I don’t expect you to feel the same magnetic connection I feel this fast. That’s okay. I won’t rush you. But let me make you a deal. No matter what happens between us in the coming days and weeks, I will not turn you away. If for some reason you never feel how I do, I’ll learn to live with it. I will still be your friend until the day I die. I will help you get back on your feet no matter what it takes. Please stay. Please let me help you.”
She lifts her hands to swipe away her tears. After a sniffle, she says, “No one’s ever been kind to me.”
“Well then, I guess you’re due for a giant dose of kindness, aren’t you? Maybe I can be so kind that I make up for all the assholes who’ve hurt you. All you have to do is take a chance. What do you have to lose?”
She hesitates. “Ignorance is bliss.”
I nod. “That’s true. I understand why it’s scary to let someone else carry the burden. What if they stop carrying it? What if you find out how nice it is to have bubble baths and a warm bed, and then it’s taken away?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “That’s exactly it.”
“I will never take it away,” I promise.
“I can’t know that, though, Cannon.”
I inhale deeply, thinking of ways I can help her feel safe. “Do you have a bank account, Eloise?”
She smirks. “I’ve never had a bank account. I don’t think you fully grasp how poor I am. I don’t even have an ID. I’m lucky I have a birth certificate.”
I grasp onto that. “In your backpack?”
She nods. “I have all my worldly possessions in that bag. My life. The only things that tether me to Earth.”
“Well, we can use your birth certificate to get you everything else you need, including an ID and a bank account.”
“What the hell would I do with a bank account? I have three dollars. You think I should open an IRA, too?” She rolls her eyes.
