Chapter 50
MALLORY
Theo pulled into Lindy’s driveway after midnight. I was exhausted and my ass was numb. I climbed out, reached my arms overhead and stretched. Compared to Las Vegas, the air in Hunter Valley was crisp and biting cold. I shivered as Theo came around the car.
“Thanks for driving. The entire way.” I hadn’t wanted him to join me. I hadn’t even wanted him to show up in Vegas. Or know anything about what happened. But I had to admit, he made the drive easier. And the sex had certainly been a fun break.
He nodded. “Come on. Let’s get some sleep.”
I looked at him, then the front door, then him again. Maybe my brain was too tired to understand. “You want to stay here?”
He’d never slept over before. Or me in reverse. Not once.
“My car’s not here,” he explained. “I’m not walking and I’m more tired than I remember ever being in residency. Then I stayed up for thirty-six hours straight.”
Oh. Well, that made un-romantic sense. He was staying with me out of necessity, not desire.
Like the house. Like his appearance in Vegas. Like right now. But somehow, even with all that, I felt closer to him. Road trips didn’t give anyone a choice in that. It was really a dangerous feeling.
“Road trips take it out of you,” I replied like I did with a student’s parents who sucked at their role, but I couldn’t outright tell them.
He grunted, slung a heavy arm over my shoulder and walked with me to the door.
I let us in, climbed the stairs and pointed to Bridge’s bed. He was already toeing off his shoes.
“If you’d let me drive at all, you wouldn’t be so tired,” I reminded.
He only grunted in response.
As I closed the door to the bathroom to brush my teeth and at least wash the miles off my face, Theo yanked back the covers and fell face first onto the bed. He groaned in satisfaction–a very similar sound to the one I pulled from him when I rode his dick, reverse cowgirl, in the car earlier.
Five minutes later, I climbed in with a sleeping Theo. With him on his stomach, he was a bed hog. I pushed at him, and he turned, reached out and tucked me into his side. All without really waking up.
He was warm and cozy, and I took a moment to enjoy the feel of him.
We never lingered in bed. I’d never been able to just…
be with him. I took in his scent. A hint of his cologne still lingered along with stale coffee from when he’d spilled some on his shirt somewhere in Idaho. His heart thumped beneath my hand.
This man was solid. Sturdy.
He’d come to Las Vegas for me. Even, perhaps especially, because he didn’t know why I had a court appearance. He up and flew to me.
I smiled against his chest. I didn’t know what was up with him, but all I felt was relief.
No longer the chance of being a convicted hooker.
No longer a homeowner of a place I hadn’t gotten myself.
From what Annalynn had said, the house was now in Theo’s name.
It didn’t belong to me any longer. I wasn’t beholden to him.
I felt like things had changed. I felt… more. A glimmer. Something more than just sex. I was getting my shit together, one thing at a time. No more possible criminal record. No more owing Bridge.
So I didn’t have Mrs. Jonsdottir’s house.
I’d had it and it felt wrong. Like it wasn’t mine.
It wasn’t. I’d move my things out of Maggie’s apartment and put them in Lindy’s garage.
For the time being, I’d save a little on having no rent while I found just the right place, socking more money into the down payment fund. I could maybe… let someone in. Maybe?
I’d been angry at Theo when he’d magically appeared at the courthouse. Stuck with him in a car all day made that go away. The orgasms in the car had helped. So was being in his arms right now.
Theo sniffled, then twitched once. I couldn’t help but smile. This moment of quiet made me want to open my heart to him. To have more times like this–perhaps when he was conscious–when he held me solely because he wanted to.
I fell asleep for the first time in a man’s arms. All I knew was that I was glad it was Theo.