Page 9

8

HOLLY

The house was huge. Way bigger than necessary for all of us, yet I was grateful for the space. My mom and dad hadn’t stopped bickering since we arrived, and Wyatt and Noelle were still having the most epic lovers spat of all time.

I sank down in one of the chairs in the living room with a cup of hot cocoa, hoping to have a break before Asher came in with whatever dreadful news he was sure to have, but alas, my peace was shattered the moment I heard my parents coming down the stairs. I sank into the chair, hoping they wouldn’t see me.

“This is not your fault, Nick!”

“What did I tell you? I told you not to get a cell phone. I told you the government was watching us. You hid it from me!”

I winced as my father lost his temper. Having a cell phone was a huge line my father would never cross.

“I don’t understand why you would get one anyway. We’ve never needed one before! When I was a kid, I walked to school and back in a snowstorm. If I didn’t come home before bedtime, my parents came to look for me. It was that simple.”

“Well, maybe parents today don’t want their kids to freeze in the snow!” my mother shouted.

“Name one good thing that’s come out of cell phones!”

“How about when Holly called Asher when her truck broke down?”

“She was still attacked.”

“Yes, but he was already on his way there,” my mother argued. “If he hadn’t shown up, she might be dead.”

I could hear my father grumbling. “That’s one.”

“You need to face the fact that the government isn’t following us. They don’t care about us at all.”

“Ha! Like I’d believe that!”

I took a sip of my hot cocoa, grateful they hadn’t found me yet, when I heard the door open and Asher walked in. Dammit, now I couldn’t get up or they’d know I was hiding from them.

“Asher, tell my husband that the government did not come after us because I bought a cellphone.”

“They did not.”

“See!”

“However, they did track you that way, so I would stay off it for now.”

“Ah-ha! I told you! Didn’t I tell you!” I heard my mother stomp away with my father yelling after her about the stupid cell phone. Only once their voices faded did I peek out around the chair.

“You can come out now,” Asher sighed.

My jaw dropped. “You knew I was there?”

“I smelled the hot cocoa,” he grinned, striding over to me.

Standing, I held the cup out to the side as I let him wrap me in a hug. “This isn’t exactly how I saw my day going.”

“Really? You didn’t see our house being blown up and running for our lives?”

I shook my head against him. “Tell me we’re safe.”

“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to my head. “We’re safe. I’m sorry about all that.”

“What? Seeing my fiancé in all his former glory?” I said, stepping back with a forced smile on my face.

“If I told you I was trying to shake up our routine, would you believe me?”

That time, he got a smile out of me. “Sundays at the grocery store were getting a little boring, I suppose.”

“And after I pulled that stunt with Noelle, I figured I had to give Wyatt a chance to make it up to her.”

I nodded, hiding a smile. “Right. Giving him a chance to rush in and save the day.”

“Nothing says love like getting shot for the woman you’re trying to impress.”

“Well, I don’t see any bullet holes in you.” Thankfully.

“That’s because I already have you. There’s no need to impress you.”

“I will gladly take that reasoning any day. So, what do we do now?”

“We get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow, I go to work and try to figure out why someone would come after us.”

“What about my shop? Our house?”

“I don’t know, Holly bear. I wish I could tell you.”

I sighed, dropping my forehead to his chest. I knew he was good at this part of the job, but when he told me he didn’t want to go back to this life, I had been so grateful. Now, I wondered if that was just wishful thinking.

“Hey.” He tucked his fingers under my chin and forced me to look at him. “I will get us out of this, and we will have the life we planned.”

I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Now, are you going to tell me about this baby?”

A sheepish look crossed my face. “I was going to tell you.”

“When?”

“I was getting around to it. I had to find the perfect way to tell you.”

“Yeah? And what were you thinking?”

“I wanted to find a way to tie it back to how we met.”

His eyes lit with humor. “So, your plan was to roll around on the ground in the spare bedroom?”

“Maybe, and then I’d tell you I was measuring for a crib.”

His hands slid down my back, cupping my ass as he hauled me up in his arms. “Should we get a rooster for that wall, too?”

“I hardly think that would be appropriate.”

“Nothing about that rooster is appropriate.”

His lips slid over mine in a bruising kiss as I tangled my fingers in his long locks. In just a few steps, he strode over to the table, setting me on top of it. I gasped as his lips skimmed along my jaw, and then down the length of my throat.

“Asher—”

“Shh,” he whispered, biting my ear as his hand slid inside my pants, brushing my curls. I gasped as he laid me back on the table, spreading my legs and thrusting two fingers inside me. I was already soaked for him, balancing on the edge from the intensity of the day. I needed this—needed him more than I realized, and as he pumped his fingers inside me, the tension in my body finally started to snap.

“Asher!”

“Come on, Holly bear. Give me everything.”

My legs shook and my heart hammered in my chest until I shattered, crying out his name. But now that the adrenaline passed and the high was over, I found myself dangerously low.

“Asher…”

“I know, Holly bear.” He wrapped me in his arms, pulling me tight to him. “I’m so sorry.”

Tears dripped from my eyes as I cried against his chest. He didn’t once call me silly for not being able to handle this part of his life. He just held me in his arms and soothed the part of me that longed for our old life.

“I’ll get it back, Holly. I swear it.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist and cuddled in closer, feeling like I would never get enough of him. His muscles twisted and flexed as he carried me upstairs, bypassing other doors on the way.

“I hope you plan on unsexifying that table!” Noelle called out.