“You’re the only one keeping a tally, Jo, and I’ll be damned if I let a few pennies or your pride get in the way of keeping you safe.”
The vehemence in his voice made her feel all gooey inside and second guess the independence she was hanging on to by a thread. She didn’t relish the idea of danger either, but she didn’t have the luxury of throwing dollars at the problem. “Pennies add up for people like me, and every single one counts.”
His jaw tightened as he stalked closer, forcing her to take a step back. His gaze dropped to her hands, then raked over the rest of her in a quick sweep. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“The fuck you are.” The way he chuckled as he said it, the statement landed more of a challenge than anything.
She answered it with the tilt of her chin and would have crossed her arms if her hands weren’t full. “Unless you plan on keeping me prisoner, you can’t stop me.”
His brows spiked. “I’m sure I’ve got some handcuffs around here somewhere. Might be a better way to spend the day.”
Despite her attempt to stay mad at him or the sudden pang at the thought of him using handcuffs on the women he brought home, a laugh bubbled out of her. “Oh my god. You’re…incorrigible.”
“One of my best qualities.”
Jo shook her head and sobered. “I can’t stay here. It’s not fair for you to have to deal with my problems. My life is falling apart, and I can’t expect you to be my glue.”
“I don’t know what that means, but I can tell you right now, that if you stay at your apartment, I’m staying with you. I won’t leave you alone there.”
She rolled her eyes. Arguing with him was getting her nowhere. Once she was out of his way, he’d see she was right and forget all about her. “Look, I have to at least go clean up and see what I can salvage.”
“I can hire someone to do that for you. It’s not safe.”
“You’re right, you could. God knows I don’t want to go back there. But that would be the easy thing to do. Even easier, I could abandon everything and let Lambert hire someone to shovel my shit into a trash can and haul it to the dump.” She slipped into her shoes, making her stand a little taller when she looked up at him, willing him to understand. “I might not have much, and it might not be worth much to someone else, but it’s the accumulation of my life. I need to do this. I have to see if there’s anything left.”
“Fine, I’ll go with you.”
She laid her free hand on his chest. “I heard you tell Nick you’re working from home, so obviously, there’s something that needs your attention. You already took off work for me yesterday. I can’t ask you to take another. Please, I need to do this by myself.”
Without a doubt, she’d lose it again when she saw the rest of the destruction. No fucking way was she ever letting him see her fall apart like that again.
His fingers drummed against marble, once, twice, and then again. “Only if I drive you.”
“Deal.”
An hour later, after the drive from Avery’s condo and having to convince him all over again that she needed to do this on her own, she paced the hall of her apartment, the only placefree of debris. She now did the same convincing on the phone with Brooke.
“It’s not that bad,” she lied, wishing she hadn’t even called. But she’d promised Avery she’d take pictures before she cleaned up, and seeing the damage through the camera lens on her phone had broken loose an avalanche of emotion. She’d needed her bestie’s calming influence.
“I’m coming to get you, and you’re coming home with me.”
“Yeah, I’m not up to sharing the couch with Andrew.”
“Fuck that. He and Aaron can fight over the couch. You’ll sleep with me.”
Jo chuckled. “Sounds like the honeymoon’s over.”
“Don’t try to change the subject. You can’t stay there alone.”
“You sound like Avery.”
“Uh-huh, sounds like a smart guy,” Brooke said, and Jo could picture the smart-ass grin. “How’sthatgoing?”
“Sparks. Lots of sparks.” Jo sighed. “Or at least there were until he brought me home. God, Brooke, I had the mother of all meltdowns.”
“Fuck, Jo, why didn’t you call me?”
