“I think it was a demand.”
We stop at a diner that looks like it came straight out of the nineteen-fifties. Once we’re out of the car, I watch Drew as he searches around the parking lot.
“What?” I ask.
“Just making sure we weren’t followed.” He wraps his muscular arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him as we walk inside.
When we sit, an older lady brings water and we order coffee and breakfast platters. I lean forward and search his face. “Do you think we were being followed?” My paranoia is at a level ten.
“No, but I can never be too careful.”
“You’re not going all detective on me right now, are you?” I give him a wink and sip my coffee. He smiles. And I can’t help but think how much I love the way his entire face lights up. I love the way he looks at me. Though we’ve been together for months now, it still seems like a dream that he’s mine. Drew finishes his coffee and scoots the empty cup to the edge of the table for a refill.
“Drew…” He looks up at me and I try to find the words as he stares into my eyes. “I’m really scared.”
“I know, sweetheart. We’re going to get through this.”
His words comfort me, but they almost aren’t enough. “I want to file a restraining order against her. I keep thinking about going home and her being in my room or something. It’s freaking me out.”
“A restraining order is a must. She no longer has a key to the house. I took it from her when she decided to use it the last time.”
“But how do you know she didn’t make a copy?” My mind is running a million miles per minute.
He lets out a deep breath. “I don’t. But I think we should get the locks changed, install security cameras, whatever it takes for you—for us—to feel safe.” His words allow me to breathe easier. “We could always get you a gun, since you apparently know how to use ten different types.”
“Jackson is going to get it for that.” I smile. “The truth is having a gun makes it more dangerous for me. What if someone breaks in and overpowers me and takes my gun and uses it against me?”
Drew goes silent and I think I’ve said too much. “Hey,” I say, “don’t go there.”
He nods and my stomach growls. Just as our waitress fills our cups with more coffee, our food is delivered, and I couldn’t be happier because I’m starving.
I try to change the subject and talk about anything and everything. “Mom invited us to come back and visit before Benita’s baby shower. Apparently, there’s a huge bake sale going down and she’ll be baking her special muffins. But I told her that it might be impossible with work.”
“Well, I hope she’ll mail us some. I need to test your recipe against hers.” The corners of his lips curl up into a cocky smirk.
“Nice try, Deputy. But I can promise you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two.”
“I think I’ll be the judge of that.” He shoves scrambled eggs into his mouth as I spread blueberry jelly on my toast. Once we’re finished eating, I feel human again. We sit there for a while, and after four cups of coffee, I’m still not ready to leave. I want to stay here—safe—as if nothing happened.
“Court?” Drew stands and grabs the check and places money on the table before we head out. Once we’re outside, walking toward the car, Drew stops and turns to me. “How would you feel if we didn’t go home right away?”
I stand and look at him like he’s my saving grace.
“When we get tired we’ll stop. If there’s something you want to see, we’ll pull over. We’re not on anyone’s clock, and I don’t want my time to end with you just yet.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze. “I love that idea.”
He bends down and kisses me. I get lost in his soft lips as he slips his tongue inside my mouth. “God, I missed your lips.”
“Well, there’s a lot more where that came from.”
We climb into the car and I’m so happy we aren’t rushing home that I can’t hide the smile on my face. There’s too much anxiety with going home, and the longer we can stay away from it all, the better. This is the perfect distraction.
CHAPTER THREE
DREW
We end up stopping at a little bed and breakfast outside of Bakersfield about four hours into our drive. It’s the perfect sanctuary for what we need tonight. I know we need to discuss all the facts of what we know and what all happened so we can go to the courthouse tomorrow and file a temporary restraining order.