Crushed (33 page)

“I want to drive you home,” he said.

“Okay.”
Paul
would still be at work
. There
was
no reason in the world he should be
home yet.

“Okay?” he
asked, clearly surprised.

She
nodded and he took
her
backpack from
her
.

“You doing
alright
?” he asked.

She
wasn’t. Not really
. B
ut
she
nodded
anyway
.
She
didn’t protest when his fingers slipped around
hers
.

He
gave
her
a small smile
and looked at
her
like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t.
Her
guess was because there were too many people around.
She
let
him lead
her
through the crowded hall.
They
crossed the parking lot
and h
e didn’t let go of
her
hand until he had to. Not until he opened
her
door for
her
.

When he was settled inside he made small talk about Emma and Gavin until
they
were out of the lot. Then he turned to
her
.

“Anything you want to tell me?”

She
shook her
head.

“I figured you’d say that. B
ut you know I ha
d
to ask.” He was quiet for a few blocks before pulling over on a side street. “I saw
the way Paul looked at me last night.
Like he hates me all of a sudden?
And now you’re a mess today. I’m not stupid Cleo. I’m not asking you to admit anything
just because I’m so sure you won’t.
So I’m telling you, I
know
. And
you need to know that this is totally not okay. If something is happening with you,
and it clearly is, I want to help.”

She
opened
her
mouth to protest but he put a finger over
her
lips to stop
her
.

“There are a million things I want to say to you rig
ht now.
” He
was
so mad he
was
almost shaking.
Cleo knew he was
trying to stay calm. Afraid
she was
going to shut down on him again. “
And it’s absolutely killing me because I can see how close you are to pushing me away.
The last thing I want to do is to bring you home.
T
he thought of bringing you home is making me sick. I don’t believe you fell in the
shower. And I don’t think you tripped over Luci’s shoes last year. And I am so
damn
mad at myself for not realizing it sooner.
”
He scrubbed his hand over his face and his voice turned hard. “If he did this, he
should pay for it. I sure as hell can’t live with myself if I just bring you back
there.
I’ll help you in whatever way I can. Just tell me what you need.
”

“I’m not staying there,”
she
admitted.

Reece looked at
her
like he wasn’
t sure if he should believe
her
.

“I’m not. Luci and I are staying with Emma for a few nights.” She’d been insistent
upon it.
Cleo
hadn’t argued. “I’m just going to be home long enough for Luci to get home
. And
to
get our bags packed. Emma was going
to her house
to talk to her mom. Then she’s coming back to get us.”

He nodded slowly as his eyes scoured
her
face. This was the closest
she
’d ever come to admitting things were happening at
her
house that shouldn’t be happening.

“Do you promise me? You’re not just saying that?”

“I promise.”

He nodded. “Okay. So you stay there for a few nights. Then what?”

She
looked away because
she
didn’t have an answer.

“Cleo?” he asked as he squeezed
her
hand.

“I don’t know,”
she
said as
she
turned back to face him.

His eyes were drifting over
her
.
She
felt as though he w
ere
trying to see
her
brui
sing
through
her
clothes. “I really want to put my arms around you right now. But I don’t want to hurt
you.”

“You won’t hurt me,”
she
said
.

She leaned over and slid her arms around his neck
. He looped his around
her
carefully and
she
rested
her
head on his shoulder.
He felt so warm and solid and safe. She felt his lips brush across her hairline.
Then he carefully rested his cheek on her head.

“So now what?” he asked quietly. “Where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know
that, either
,”
she
told him.
She
really didn’t.

“I need to know one thing,” he said as he buried his face in
her
hair.

She
had loosened
her
grip on him but
she
was still resting against him. He still had his arms around
her
.
She
already knew what he was going to ask.

“No,”
she
told him. “I didn’t mean what I said the other night.”

He placed a
nother
kiss on the top of
her
head.
Now that she was so close and not backing away, he just wanted to kiss her and not
stop. But he didn’t dare do that yet.
“I need to hear you say it.”

“I
still
love you,
”
she assured him. She could feel the tension disappear from him.

“Can we talk about what really happened?”

She shook her
head. “Not yet.
I just need some time to figure some things out. Things are just…complicated.”
She
released
her
hold on him and slowly moved back into
her
own seat.
His hands slid away slowly. He didn’t want to let her go.

“Complicated how? Did…” he trailed
off
as he studied
her
face for a second. “Did Paul have anything to do with why you broke up with me? I’ve
been wondering that all day. I was thinking about the other night, when I stopped
by. You were so worried he’d show up. And then he did show up last night and h
e was obviously furious.
And he never cared before if we were together
. B
ut he obviously cares now. Why is that?
I just don’t get why he’d care.
”

She
gave him a miserable look and shook her head
.
She
wanted to tell him everything. But there would be consequences
. A
nd
she
wasn’t willing to pay them. And
she
hadn’t figured out a way around them. Not yet. “I just need a few days. You said you’
d do what you could to help me.
Can you do that? Can you just give me some
time?
”

He nodded slowly. “I can do that. As long as I know you’re somewhere safe.”

“I will be.”
She
glanced at the clock. “But I really need to get going. I want to be ready to go when
Emma gets there. And Luci will be home soon.
But you really need to be gone by then.
”

He drove
her
home and of course, walked
her
to the front door. Never mind that it was still afternoon and therefore, plenty light
out.

“Thank
s for letting me drive you home,
”
h
e said as
she
stuck
her
key in the door. “And thanks for finally talking to me.”

“Thanks
for listening,”
she
told him.
She
pushed the door open, ready to step inside.

“Cleo? One more thing.
”

She
turned back to face him
. He leaned
over
and wrapped
his arms
gently
around
her
.
Her
body melted
at his touch. Her
knees felt like they were dissolving
even before his mouth
was
on
hers. She
didn’t resist.
She
parted
her
lips
to accept his kiss, t
o take it and t
o return it.
She
didn’t mean to but
she
grabbed hold of the hem of his shirt, bunching it up in
her
fists as if
she
needed to hold on to him.
Like
she
was desperate to keep him there.
His kiss went on and on
. I
t was full of questions and even more full
of answers. The kiss explained
things that words
we
ren’t allowed to right then.

When he finally pulled back,
she
was breathless
. I
t took
her
a minute to open
her
eyes because
she
didn’t
want
to open
her
eyes.
She
didn’t want it to be over.

“
See you in the morning,” he whispered
. Then he leaned in and settled another lingering kiss on
to
her
cheek before
she
could move
.
She
had barely let go of his shirt before he
started to drift
away from
her
.

She
was still standing there, on the front step watching him go when he reached his vehicle
and turned around.

He gave
her
a heart-stopping smile. “Just so we’re clear, I still love you, too,” he called.

Chapter 19

“See you at lunch,” Emma said as
Cleo
hopped out of her car.

“Okay,
”
she
said as
she
shut the door.