He stared at me in disbelief at first, but as we stood there, it looked like understanding washed over him. His mouth opened as if he were about to answer when Theo returned with Bram right behind him.
Bram’s eyes took me in, then Bash. I didn’t know what he saw, but he offered to take inside what Bash had in his hands. The twins took off and Bram followed me inside to my room.
“Are you all right?” Bram asked as he set down my bags on the floor by the foot of the bed.
I quickly masked my expression. “Yeah. I’m fine. I think my outing today wore me out.”
He put his hand on my head. “I won’t push. But remember that you can talk to me about anything, kid.” He messed up my hair a little bit with a smile. “Dinner should be ready soon.”
Mac walked in just as Bram walked out. “Thank God you’re back,” she said, and flopped down on her belly across my bed.
“What happened?” I asked as I sat next to her.
She rolled over onto her side and propped her head up with her hand. “Nothing. I was just bored. Did you have fun with your friend?”
“I did,” I said. “I think you would get along well with her. She’s the one who recommended the romance books to me.”
Last week, Mac had spotted the books Roe had bought for me. I had let her borrow one and the next day, she had returned it asking to borrow another. I didn’t know how she had done it between school, work, and hanging out with the new guy she was seeing, but she read through all five books faster than I had.
“You should invite her over on a night I’m off,” Mac suggested as she sat up. “So where did you go shopping?”
“The bookstore and the craft store.”
Mac stood before I could finish speaking and started peeking into the bags. Once she found the two bags from the bookstore,she brought them over and sat back down on the bed, facing me. “What spicy goodness did you get?”
I helped her unload the bags. There were three books I had bought with her in mind, and I handed them to her. “These ones are for you.”
She smiled down at them. “Thank you.”
“One is an alien romance, another is mafia romance, and the last is an enemies-to-lovers.”
She gave me a puzzled look. “Alien romance?”
I shrugged. “Lemon recommended it. I guess a girl is abducted and taken to another planet, has to fight to survive, falls for a nine-foot almost human-like alien with a giant cock who helps her.”
“Sold. I’ll read that one first.”
I snorted. “Which part of that intrigued you?”
She gave me a playful grin. “You know exactly which part.”
I fought with all my might not to laugh. “I do, and I would like to borrow it when you’re done reading it.”
Mac picked up one of the books I’d gotten and scanned the back. “What about the books you got? What are they about?”
“Lemon recommended something calledwhy choose. She didn’t give me much detail. She just started handing me books and told me to go into them blind.”
Mac finished reading the back of the book she was holding with a big grin on her face. “I think you should trust Lemon. Go in blind. Then come find me and tell me what you thought.”
I guessed she wanted my opinion about it before she asked to borrow it.
Chapter Twelve
A few more days passed andit was the weekend. For the first time since Clay had broken in, I was alone in the house. Mac was at work. The Haven’s Rebels were at church, which was their way of saying a mandatory club meeting. Obviously, Bram had to go, but at first I didn’t understand why Vivian had to go, too. Turned out that wives of members sometimes brought food to club functions. After church, everyone always ate and hung out together. Bram had tried to get me to come with because Bash and Theo had to attend church as well, but hanging out with a bunch of strangers didn’t sound appealing. I wanted to stay home and read. Last night, I had fallen asleep just when the story was getting good and I was dying to get back to it. I knew I should be more productive with my time. I blamed Lemon.
It took some reassuring on my part to convince Bram that I would be okay. They were only going to be gone a few hours, and the house would be completely secure this time. After Clay had so easily gotten in through the garage, Bram made sure thatallthe house’s doors were always locked.
I’d also explained to him that I couldn’t go the rest of my life with people guarding me. I was returning to school Monday, and the twins couldn’t go to every class with me. Bram had them staywith me during the day not only to protect me, but so I wouldn’t be scared without him there. I needed to be brave. I needed to learn to be on my own again.
