Reaching over the console, he twined his fingers with hers. “Talk to me.”
She shrugged. “I can’t call Brooke. I forgot Aaron’s brother is living with them. I can’t add more shit to her plate.”
“I’m not taking you to Brooke’s. You’re coming home with me.”
She untangled their fingers. “Avery, that’s…a kind offer, but there’s a hotel up the road. It’s just for one night.”
“You’re not going back to that place.” Did she honestly think he’d let her?
“It’s where I live, at least until the other apartment opens up.”
“That could be a while.”
“It doesn’t matter. This is ameproblem, not ayouproblem.”
No, but fuck if he wasn’t making it his. “We’ll figure it out.”
She turned to rest her forehead against the window. “There is no we.”
Maybe not, but seeing her strength over the last few days, then watching her break under the weight of grief wasn’t something he could walk away from. Not tonight.
And fuck, every time he thought about how fucked up someone had to be to do that to her apartment, what they might do toher, his stomach churned and his blood ran cold. If the same person was responsible for the slashed tire and the break-in, it showed escalation. Which brought him right back to goddamn Murdick.
If I could get my hands on him—
A sniffle slipped past his anger. He rested a hand on her thigh. “I’ve got you.”
****
Careful not to wake Jo, Avery carried her into his condo. She’d cried herself to sleep on the drive to his place, each tear driving a sword through his heart.
The feeling was foreign and fucking sucked, and he’d asked himself a thousand times since leaving her apartment why he was doing this. She’d said it herself. There was no we. But here he was, getting involved, bringing her home with him when he’d never invited a woman into his inner sanctum before.
The answer was always the same.
Because she needs me.
Because she has no one else.
Because I can.
Any other reason was cut off before it could form. Sure, she’d gotten under his skin, but that would take care of itself once he fucked her a few times.
Not gonna happen tonight.
Rousing as he set her down on the edge of his bed, she finally gave over the pieces of metal casing. He placed them on the nightstand, and with gentle persuasion, he kept her upright when she tried to lie down.
“Not yet,” he said, “Let’s get your shoes off.”
He sank to one knee, hooked a hand behind her calf, and placed her foot on his thigh. Lowering the strap behind her heel, he removed her spiked sandal. It fell to the floor with athunkas he reached for the other.
He met with a tangle of arms and elbows as he peeled off her sweater, not so white anymore.
“I can undress myself,” she huffed but didn’t brush off his fingers as he pulled the ties at her waist.
The dress slipped from her shoulders, floating to the floor, leaving her bare in the soft light from the hall. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t not look at her tits, high and tight, their beaded nipples beckoning him with a come-taste-me pink. Already having feasted on them, his mouth watered, and his dick stretched as her sultry eyes shouted the same invitation.
Quick fingers attacked his belt. He caught them as the clasp of his pants came undone. “No, baby.”
