“You look pretty handsome yourself,” I tell him. “But what are you doing up? I thought you weren’t going to the gym today.”
That was part of our agreed-upon day of relaxation. No workouts, no meetings, no leaving the apartment unless the weather’s nice and we decide to go for a walk around the property. Today is dedicated to a lazy morning, followed by an even lazier afternoon lounging in front of the TV, a few hours in the evening playingWorld of Warcraftwith Webb’s friends, and finally, another picnic on the living room floor, sex included.
“I’m not going to work out,” he replies. “I heard you get up. And I wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
“Everything’s fine.” I gesture at the cutting board. “I was up, so I thought I’d make breakfast.”
He gives me a slow once-over, his gaze lingering on my face. “Are you sure? I heard you tossing and turning last night.”
“I woke up a few times,” I admit. “But it wasn’t too bad.”
Webb strokes my cheek. Concern darkens his eyes. “Thinking about that ass—” He stops. His jaw tightens. Then he puffs out a breath. “If there’s anything you want to talk about, Noelle, I’m here for you. You know that, right?”
“I know.” And because I really do want to stick by my promise, I add, “I did think about him. About the other women he recorded. And… I was feeling a little guilty.”
“Don’t feel guilty,” Webb replies quickly. “Remember what I said.”
I nod. “I know. And you’re right. I think it’ll just take a little while before I fully accept it.”
“That’s fair,” he agrees. “But if you need me to remind you again?—”
Stretching up on my toes, I give him a quick kiss. “I’ll let you know. I promise.” Then I ask one of the questions that kept me up last night. “What’s going to happen since Ken is dead? There can’t be a trial, I assume. But all those women, and the videos...”
Webb takes my hand and leads me around the kitchen island, then sits me on one of the stools. “It’ll be made public, what he did. That’s why we left the USB drives, the cameras, the SD cards, the burner phones… So the policecan’tignore the truth of it. Everyone will know what Donaldson did.”
“And the videos? What about them?”
After a brief hesitation, Webb says, “After allowing enough time to conduct their investigation, Tyler’s going to corrupt the files. They won’t be accessible. So even if someone in the department wanted to view them, they wouldn’t be able to. They’ll be as good as gone.”
One of the last weights I’ve been carrying slips away. I know I’ll never completely escape the spectre of Ken, of his lies and the consequences they brought. But knowing those awful videos of me will be gone… It’s such a relief.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my chest so full it’s impossible to speak louder. “For everything.”
Webb’s expression softens. “Noelle. You don’t need to thank me. I’d do anything for you. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.”
I glance down at his mesh shorts, admiring the drape of them over his thighs and the not insignificant bulge between them. Desire throbs, and suddenly breakfast seems much less urgent than it did ten minutes ago. “Well,” I start, my voice taking on a raspy purr, “maybe?—”
From the end of the island, my phone lights up with an incoming text.
Even though I know it can’t be Ken, my stomach still jolts. My lungs constrict.
Features creasing with understanding, Webb rubs my arm reassuringly. “Do you want me to look?”
“No, it’s okay.” I lean over to grab it. “It’s fine. No reason to be scared of my phone anymore.”
And a second later, as I skim the message on the screen, I let out a relieved breath to discover I’m right. “It’s just Jaz,” I say with a smile. “She wants to know when she gets to meet my sexy pilot. Her words. She wants us to come for a visit soon.”
A beat later, nerves hit me again. We haven’t exactly talked about meeting family and friends yet, though I’ve been kind of hoping it was assumed. “Unless you don’t think you’ll have time,” I quickly amend. “With catching up with work and all. I can always visit her on my own.”
I finally broke down and told Jaz everything two days ago. She was pissed at first, which I kind of figured she’d be, but it didn’t last long. “I get why you didn’t tell me,” she said, “even though I wish you had. But I’m glad you had Webb supporting you. You’re right, he really does sound like a great guy.”
“Of course I want to meet Jaz,” Webb replies. “I’ll talk to the team about taking some vacation time. Maybe September or October, if that works for you.” He pauses. An almost shy smile curves his lips. “And if you’re up for it, we could make a few other stops, too. Head up to Vermont to see Gage. Sleepy Hollow to meet Jackson and the Alpha team. On the way back, we could detour to New Mexico to visit a couple of my other Night Stalker buddies, Owl and Spike.”
“That would be great.” I beam at him. “I’d love to meet your friends.”
Webb strokes his thumb across the back of my hand. His cheeks go slightly pink. “Also… maybe we could stop in Scranton? So you can meet my mom and brother?”
The vulnerable look in his eyes makes my heart turn to mush. “I woulddefinitelylove to meet them.”
