When the officers finally left with promises of a report and “we’ll keep an eye out” I turned back to Juliet.
“Ready?” I asked.
She glanced at the shop, eyes tight. “I hate leaving it. I don’t even know what to do about the window.”
“You’re not leaving it alone,” I reminded her. “Cookie and Blaze are here. It’s being boarded up. It’ll be standing tomorrow.”
She nodded slowly.
I held my hand out.
After a moment, she took it.
And as we stepped carefully around the glittering shards of glass toward the door, she squeezed my fingers like she was making a decision that mattered.
She looked up at me outside, breath fogging in the cold air, she said quietly, “You really meant it, didn’t you?”
“Meant what?”
“That you’re not going to leave me.”
“Every word I say, I mean, doll. You’re going to learn that firsthand.” Then I guided her to my bike, because I wasn’t letting her drive with her hands still shaking, and took her home.
And I didn’t leave.
Chapter Nine
Juliet
I woke up warm.
Not the normal kind of warmth from blankets and a cozy room. This was heat pressed against me, steady and human. A solid weight at my back and across my middle. For a second, I didn’t move; I just breathed.
The air smelled faintly like laundry detergent, leather, and clean soap, and the kind of male presence that didn’t disappear when you opened your eyes. My lashes fluttered as I adjusted to the light coming through my curtains.
And then I saw it.
A wall of tattooed chest. My brain hiccupped, reset, and caught up.
Asher.
He was on his back, shirtless, the covers pushed down to his waist, ink wrapping across his skin in dark lines and shapes that looked rougher in daylight. My cheek rested against him, and my arm was slung over his torso like I’d claimed the spot without realizing it.
His arm was locked around me, heavy, possessive in the best way. Warm like a furnace.
I blinked twice, taking stock.
I still had my pajama shirt on. Soft cotton, slightly twisted at the hem. My pajama shorts were still there, too. Nothing felt off. Nothing felt like I’d been stripped down or moved without knowing.
My body relaxed another inch. Okay. So I wasn’t waking up to regret.
I was waking up to… whatever this was.
I shifted slightly, testing. Carefully. I tried to slide my leg out from under the blanket and ease away without waking him.
His arm tightened immediately.
Not sudden. Not aggressive.
