Page 57

He’s already looking at me.

I suck in a breath and turn back toward the road in front of me as my hands tighten on the steering wheel.

God, how does he completely disarm me with just a damn look?

Those blue eyes of his are dangerous.

Kiss a man just because you feel like it.

Morgan’s words have been playing in a loop through my head since the very moment I met Dalton. It’s crazy. I’m literally driving him over to the apartment I shared with my ex-boyfriend only a week ago so he can help me pack my things and I can’t stop thinking about what it would feel like to have his lips pressed against mine. What his hands would feel like gripping my hips as he pulled me closer. The sounds he would make as we both got lost in the moment. It’s driving me out of my mind. On the other hand, it feels good to want someone again.

When I was with Owen, that part of me had died a slow, painful death. Or, at least, it felt like it did. But the second I locked eyes with Dalton, it came roaring back.

I don’t know what it means.

I don’t know if anything will come of it.

But right now, I’m just happy to have discovered that parts of the girl I was are still in there somewhere.

“What all do we need to grab?” Dalton asks and I peek over at him. He’s watching me, intently. A flutter races through my belly.

“Um… there is a suitcase that he pulled out of my hands the night I left and then just a few odds and ends that I didn’t have time to pack that night, nothing too big,” I tell him. He’s quiet and when I glance over at him, he’s staring out of the window, his jaw tight.

“Was it bad?”

I blink, turning back to the road. “Was what bad?”

“The night you left?”

“Oh,” I say, my mind going back to that night. I let out a laugh. “I mean, it wasn’t great, but…”

“Did he hurt you?” he asks, cutting me off and I glance over at him. He’s studying me now, very intently. I shake my head.

“No, not really. He grabbed me and he tried to stop me from leaving but he didn’t hurt me.”

He nods, slowly. “Ever?”

I pause, his question rolling over in my mind. Did Owen ever hurt me? Not physically. But emotionally? Psychologically?

Unquestionably.

Which is a damn hard thing to admit to myself but it’s become more and more clear to me since I left.

“Not physically.”

His jaw clenches and he gives one sharp nod but doesn’t say anything. I focus back on the road as we turn onto the street that the apartment is on and my belly does a little flip.

God, what does he think of me?

I don’t have time to spiral down that train of thought before I pull the Jeep into the parking lot and my old apartment comes into view. It’s hard to believe that I lived here just six days ago. I’m a different woman than I was the last time I walked out of this apartment and there is a part of me that doesn’t want to go back.

“Ready?” Dalton asks and I look over, meeting his eyes. There is no pressure there, no impatience. I think he’d sit in this damn car as long as I want to if that’s what it took to make me feel strong enough to face what’s waiting for me inside. I give him a little smile and nod.

“Let’s do this.”

After turning off the Jeep, I climb out and meet Dalton at the front of the vehicle. He stays one step behind me as I make my way up the stairs. My stomach rolls as he reach the top. I remember what it looked like the last time I was here but I have no idea what I’ll find when we step inside. With a slightly shaky hand, I find the key on my keyring and unlock the door.

The smell - stale and rotten food - hits me first and I gag, taking a step back. I run into Dalton and his hands land on my hips gently.