Chapter 26
Gray
It seems like forever that I wait alone on my front yard, but I finally hear a siren. Seconds later a police car comes around the corner and pulls up behind Ash’s car.
An officer gets out and comes toward me.
“Are you the homeowner?” the officer asks. “Gray Mackey?”
“Yes,” I say. “My friend…my boyfriend went inside to look around.”
“Do you have some ID?” the officer asks.
I’m surprised for a moment until I realize he has no way of knowing who I am. I fumble in my purse and manage to pull out my driver’s license. He takes it, looks carefully, then nods and hands it back to me.
“How long ago did your boyfriend go in?” the officer asks just as another police car pulls up in front of the house.
“Five or six minutes?” I say.
“Can you call him and have him come out?”
I nod, but before I can dial, Ash appears at the front door and heads down the steps toward us. Wisely, he seems to have left the knife inside.
The second officer comes up next to me. “Holy shit, is that Ash Gunnarsson?”
Of course the man is a hockey fan.
“Who?” the first officer asks.
“He’s on the Hartford Hydra,” the second officer says.
“Oh. I don’t follow hockey,” the first guy says.
The second officer gives him a baleful look but doesn’t say anything.
“Good evening, officers,” Ash says as he joins us. “I just did a check of the house, but I didn’t find anyone inside.”
“Hi, Mr. Gunnarsson,” the second officer says with a half-grin. “I’m a big fan. You, uh, probably shouldn’t have gone inside, though.”
Ash gives him an apologetic, dimple-rich smile. “Sorry. I just didn’t want anyone to get away if they were still here.”
The first officer turns to me. “Can you tell us why you think someone was in your house, ma’am? Did you see someone?”
I launch into the story of all the oddities I found when I got home and how the last straw was the window with the shade pulled up.
The officer just looks at me when I’m done, as if expecting more. Like he wants me to say, “Oh right! And there was also the guy in the mask who chased me out onto my front lawn.”
“And no one else could have put the wine in your refrigerator or turned off your alarm?” he asks finally.
Ash’s hand lands gently on my hip in a gesture of support as he moves behind me. I start to shake my head until something occurs to me.
“My parents have a key to the house,” I say.
The officer looks at me expectantly, and I dial my mother’s number.
“Gray? Is everything okay?” my mother asks when she answers. This is later than I usually call her, and she’s rightfully worried.
I put the phone on speaker so I don’t have to repeat everything she says. “Hi, Mom. Did you come to the house today and drop off a bottle of wine by chance?”
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. I meant to text you to let you know, but your father called right as I was leaving, and I got sidetracked.”
I close my eyes and feel my face heat. I panicked, then panicked everyone else for nothing.
“And did you remember to reset the alarm when you left?” I ask.
A pause. “No, I’m sorry. I think I forgot. Your father drives me crazy. He couldn’t find the peanut butter, even though it’s in the same cabinet it’s been in for the last-”
“Did you touch anything else while you were here?” I cut her off. “Any of the books on the dining table or any of the windows?”
Another pause. “No, I don’t think so. I know better than to touch your books.”
“You’re sure?” I ask. My mother’s visit explains at least two of the anomalies, and at this point, I’m hoping I can blame the other two on her as well, even if it makes me seem like a crazy lady who overreacted to a bottle of wine in her fridge.
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t,” she says. “I was only there to drop off the wine, then I left. I found it at the store and thought it was that kind you like, so I picked it up and figured I’d drop it off on my way home.”
I manage some sincerity as I answer her. “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate you thinking of me. Just…let me know you stopped by next time.”
“Sure. Is everything alright?”
“Fine. I’ll talk to you later. Love you. Good night.”
I don’t wait for her to say ‘good night’ back before I hang up the phone and look at the officer.
“It might have been a false alarm,” I say. “Sorry about that.”
“Better safe than sorry,” the second officer says before the first can answer, and I’m grateful to him for not making me feel like an idiot.
The first officer takes my information while the second goes inside to double-check that no one is there, but he comes back out several minutes later and gives the all-clear.
The first officer leaves, but the second stays to get an autograph from Ash. I take their picture together as well. Finally, he leaves, and Ash puts an arm around my waist to lead me back up to the house. Once inside, he sits me down at the kitchen table and gets me a glass of water.
He picks up the plastic tray of food on the table. “Indian?” he says. “Looks good, but it’s cold now. How about I order something?”
“I’m not really hungry,” I say.
“You have to eat,” he says. “I can order real Indian food?”
I sigh and shrug. “Sure.”
I agree only because Ash will stay longer if there’s food, and I don’t want him to leave yet.
Ash orders the Indian and throws out my microwave dinner while I sit in a daze. Normally I’d protest – I don’t like to waste food – but the thought of eating doesn’t appeal to me in the least right now.
Ash takes a seat across from me. “Are you okay?”
“I just feel so stupid,” I say. “I nearly gave myself a heart attack and had the police here because my mother brought me a bottle of wine and forgot to tell me.”
“Hey, don’t do that to yourself,” he says. “Like the officer said, better safe than sorry. You still don’t know why your shade was up.”
I shake my head. “I must’ve put it up at some point.”
“Maybe, but I still want you to be careful for the next few days. Keep an eye on your surroundings and take note of anything that seems off.”
I eye him, trying to decide if there’s a tone to his voice.
“It freaked me out when you were scared tonight,” he says. “I nearly caused three accidents trying to get to you. I just want to be sure everything is safe. I don’t want you to have to go through that again.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
He shakes his head. “I’m just glad you’re safe. Like I said, just be careful the next few days.”
“I’ll be in Orlando for a conference after tomorrow anyway,” I say. “I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“Oh.” He looks a little shellshocked at the news.
We fall silent, and I start thinking about what it will be like to stay here alone when he leaves. There was apparently no real danger, but I’ll be on edge the whole night. Sleep won’t be in the cards.
Ash seems to read my mind.
“Do you want to spend the night at my place?” he asks.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him yes, but I don’t like the idea of imposing on him, and going to his place would only put off the real problem until tomorrow. I need to feel safe in my own house.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just-”
“Then I’m staying here tonight,” he interrupts.
I look at him in surprise. “What? No, I can’t-”
“Look, either you’re coming to my place, or I’m staying here, but you’re not going to be alone tonight,” Ash says with finality.
“Alright,” I agree before I realize what I’m saying.
The Indian food arrives a little while later, and we eat it with the bottle of wine my mother left. After that, we sit on the couch and watch a movie, but I’m too distracted by both the night’s events and the man sitting next to me to take in much of the film.
“Just let me know where you keep your spare blankets,” Ash says as we get up from the couch after the movie. “I’ll make myself at home.”
I look at him strangely until it hits me that he plans to sleep on the couch. I just assumed he’d sleep in the bed with me.
“I have a king bed,” I blurt out. “We can share…if you’d be more comfortable.”
A smile turns up Ash’s lips. “Sure. I’ll always take a bed over a couch.”
I smile back and head upstairs, Ash behind me.
“I’ll be right back,” I say as I grab some clothing out of a drawer in my room and head into the ensuite bathroom.
I brush my teeth and hair, then change into my sleep shorts and cami as quickly as possible. I should shower, but I don’t want to keep Ash waiting too long. I can’t believe he agreed to stay over and sleep in my bed with me, and I don’t want to give him a chance to change his mind.
Do I want a repeat of what happened at his parents’ house?
If I’m honest with myself, yes. But maybe not tonight? It’s a toss-up whether I’m too upset to enjoy anything that might happen between us or if it would be a welcome distraction.
I open the bathroom to find Ash still fully clothed and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You don’t have anything to sleep in,” I say, realizing the problem.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that,” he says. “I’d have to sleep in my boxer briefs. I figured I’d give you a chance to reconsider the sleeping arrangements if you wanted.”
“No,” I say quickly. “It’s fine. I’ll get in bed and turn the lights out, and you can get undressed.”
He nods as he stands up. “Sure.”
I head to my side of the bed and climb in under the covers before turning out the light on the nightstand. The room goes dark, and I turn over in bed so I’m facing away from Ash.
The room is so silent I can hear the rustle of fabric as he takes off his shirt, then the rasp of his zipper as he removes his jeans. A few seconds later, the bed dips as he climbs in.
There’s a pause before he moves closer, and his hand touches my hip gently. I hold my breath, not daring to move. My bed is bigger than the one in his parents’ house with plenty of room for us to sleep without touching each other, but…
But maybe I want him to touch me.
Ash
Gray doesn’t flinch or pull away when I carefully nestle up behind her. In fact, I hear her let out a deep breath, and she snuggles in tighter to my body. My cock takes that as an invitation to harden, but I will it into submission.
Down boy, I scold it. Not tonight.
Gray’s had a stressful night, and I’m not going to add more stress to it by trying to seduce her. She seems willing, but I want to be sure she’s not just riding the extreme emotions of the last few hours.
The truth is that I’m too distracted myself to really fuck Gray properly, even if she did let me. It’s enough for now to be here in her bed with my body wrapped around hers.
I grimace in the dark as I remember the scene I found in this room just a couple hours ago when I searched Gray’s house for intruders. I didn’t find anyone in the house, but I did find a dozen roses-worth of petals strewn across her bed. This bed.
There was also a note in the center. “You belong with me, not with him.”
It was proof someone had in fact been in Gray’s home today, and my blood had gone cold at the realization.
My next thought had been how Gray might react to seeing her bed covered in flower petals put there by an unknown intruder, and the horror and terror I knew I’d see on her face had made up my mind.
After taking a picture for evidence, just in case, I quickly collected the petals and shoved them down the garbage disposal in the kitchen sink, letting the water run until I was sure every vestige of the flowers was gone.
The note is still in my wallet, and I’m not sure yet whether to keep it or burn it. I only know Gray will never, ever see it.
The other thing I know is that tomorrow I’m hiring private security to watch Gray’s house and discreetly follow her wherever she goes.
Her conference in Orlando is a complication I didn’t anticipate, but it’s not a problem.
I’ll just send a secret bodyguard to Florida with her.
She’ll be protected, and she’ll never have to know the truth about what happened.
I lift a hand to pull a few locks of Gray’s hair back behind her ear.
“You’re safe, baby,” I whisper. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Mmm,” she murmurs and wiggles her ass back against me.
God fucking dammit. Any other day, that would be enough for me to yank her shorts down, throw her ankles over my shoulders, and plunge my cock into her tight little cunt to fuck her until she can’t walk.
But not today. Today isn’t the right time to take Gray for the first time. She doesn’t know why it’s not the right time, but it’s better that way.
Instead, I tighten my arm around her chest. “Sleep now,” I say into her hair. “Tonight’s not the night for that, but soon.”
I hear her breath catch, and I smile. Yeah, I’m certain she wants this as much as I do, because that note is bullshit. Gray most certainly belongs with me. She is mine.
And I protect what’s mine.