20. Chapter 20
Watching Willow work all night long was something to behold. Sure, I’ve been with her when she’s been in the zone, but not like this. She didn’t look up, didn’t move the entire time. I would periodically put food out for her, and she would pick at it as she wanted, but it still didn’t feel like enough.
I’m yet again running Grind Time on little sleep, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
The front door dings, bringing in a welcome reprieve to my thoughts.
“Morning, boss-man. How’s the morning been?” Brittany says as she walks past the counter to the back to drop off her purse.
“Slow,” I call back to her. It was a light morning for us, but I did hear Jim Mathews say they were holding a huge bingo tournament, so maybe that’s why. “Yeah, I heard Ledger talking about Ainsley’s dad setting up this thing at the community center. I didn’t get all the details, but I assume a good chunk of town is there.”
“Bingo tournament,” I inform her.
“Of course it is.” She laughs.
“Can you run things for a minute? I just need to go upstairs and check on something.”
“Absolutely. Take your time.”
She walks around, checking things are to her liking before heating up a muffin. I chuckle as I walk away and head up to my apartment. I left Willow while she was still working; she didn’t even hear me leave, so I want to see if she’s still up.
If she is, I might have to tie her to the bed so she gets some sleep. She’s stressing me out with the all-nighter of work, and the need to take care of her is too strong.
I skip steps, quickly making it up to my front door and opening it quietly. Everything is silent, but that doesn’t mean much while she’s working.
Walking around, I check the dining room and see all her things still splayed out, but no sign of Willow. Making my way to my bedroom, I finally see her spread out over the entire thing. My heart pounds in my chest at seeing her asleep in my bed. Something about it feels so intimate.
She’s lying on my pillow, and I’m hoping it smells like her long after she leaves.
I walk closer, realizing she didn’t even cover herself up, that’s how tired she was, so I move her as carefully as I can, hoping I don’t wake her up before covering her up.
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I whisper, “I will take care of you every day if you let me. Just don’t give up on me if I fuck this up.” I kiss her once more before quietly leaving the room and heading back down to the café.
“You know, if you want to call it a day, I can handle things here. You deserve to take the day off once in a while, and it’s clearly not going to be a madhouse today.” Brittany’s words reach me as I move behind the counter.
For once, I don’t argue with her. I have something more important than Grind Time waiting for me.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Brittany. If it’s super dead after the lunch rush, just close up.”
She makes eye contact with a smirk on her face. I raise an eyebrow, daring her to say something about what I’m sure is the obvious reason I’m playing hooky today.
“Have fun, boss-man.” She twinkles her fingers at me before turning around and finishing her coffee.
I turn right back around and head upstairs.
A free day with Willow, no matter how we spend it, sounds like the perfect day to me.
Once I’m inside, I strip out of my clothes quietly and slide into the bed beside her. Instantly, she moves closer and snuggles into my chest, like she subconsciously knows I’m here. Wrapping my arms around her, I kiss the crown of her head as sleep takes hold.
I wake up to Willow kissing my neck.
“Good morning, Trouble.” My voice is gravelly from sleep.
“Good morning, or apparently, afternoon. Why aren’t you downstairs?” she whispers as she continues to kiss along my jaw.
“Bingo tournament. Day off. Wanted to spend the day in bed with you.” I turn my head to catch her lips.
“Mmm,” she hums with a smile. “I think I like waking up next to you.”
“We can definitely make this more of a habit,” I agree. “Are you hungry?” I ask, knowing it’s been a long-ass time since she ate.
“Fucking starving.” She sighs as she plops back down onto the bed, and I grin at her response. Good to know food comes before sex.
“Breakfast or lunch?”
“Hmm, breakfast please,” she says as she snuggles back under the blankets.
Sitting up, I lean to kiss her one more time before I get up and throw on some joggers, and head to the kitchen.
I look at my options, my hearing hyper-focused on any noise coming from the bedroom, and I decide on an easy breakfast of French toast and bacon. The bedroom is still silent as I get started, and within a half an hour, breakfast is ready.
I grab our coffee first, taking it to the bedroom and seeing Willow has fallen back asleep. The smile that takes over my face hurts my cheeks just from looking at her. She’s so fucking beautiful, and right now, she’s in my bed. Mine. Let’s just hope I’m able to keep her.
Going back for the French toast, I double-check to make sure it looks perfect, then join her in the bed, holding both plates.
“Time to eat, Will,” I say softly, trying to not startle her.
She moans as she turns toward me, and my dick hardens at the sound. Not the time.
“Food’s up, and there’s coffee on the side table.”
“It smells delicious.” She shifts to sit up, snagging the mug and taking a sip. Her eyes close, and she hums contentedly.
This. This exact moment is what I’m going to be working for from here on out. Therapy, putting Tennison behind me, whatever it takes to make sure these moments happen with Willow.
When I look back in time, this will be the moment I remember falling in love with her.
I set the plate of food on her lap as I dig into mine so I don’t spill my sappy soul to her right this second. She has so much on her plate right now. I want to ease the load, not add more to it.
“Oh my God, this is so fucking good,” she moans, and I’m about two seconds away from saying fuck it and jumping her.
“Stop moaning, Trouble. I only have so much self-control.”
She says nothing, but mischief is blazing over all of her features.
Wordlessly, she puts a bite of French toast dripping with syrup into her mouth, and I have to scrub my hand over my face in an attempt to break the sexual tension.
Her laughter reaches my ears, and I smile. “You’re bad.”
“I am, but you like it.” She smirks.
“I do. So, how was writing last night?” I ask, changing the subject because I need her to know this isn’t solely about sex to me anymore. I want to know all the details of her day, every day.
“It was … manic. I don’t really know how to explain it. I wrote more over the course of last night than I ever have in a 24-hour period, and it wasn’t total shit. In fact, it felt really fucking good.”
“Are you still liking the direction you’re going?”
“I am. It’s so different, but it feels right for this story. I think I only have about a third left, maybe a little less, so I should be fine to make my deadline. I emailed my editor too to give her a heads up on the genre shift. She’s optimistically leery.” She laughs. “It’ll be good … hopefully.”
“That’s good. So, what’s the plan for today?” I ask. Since I don’t have to work, I’m available for anything, even if that involves shutting up and feeding her while she works.
“I think I need a quick nap, and then I’m going to jump right back in. With any luck, I’ll finish it tonight. I can go home, though, for that. I always have a weird schedule when I’m this close to a deadline,” she adds quickly.
“I’d like for you to stay, but I won’t force you if you’re more comfortable at home.”
She holds my stare for a moment. “I want to stay.” Her voice is quiet, like she’s unsure of my reaction even though I just asked her to stay.
“Done. I’ll make sure you have sustenance while you work.” I nod as I take my last bite of bacon.
“You’re spoiling me. How am I going to be able to write a book all by my lonesome again?”
By doing this every single time. Staying with me every night and letting me take care of you.
“We’ll work something out.” I wink at her instead of telling her how I really feel.
“And this was a wonderful breakfast, although, that’s not shocking coming from you. Have you always been a good cook, or is that something you learned when you left the Marshals?”
“Always loved it. It felt like a natural transition because I didn’t really have to learn anything new. It was an easy shift when I moved here, and it’s blown up more than I thought it would. Grind Time wasn’t supposed to be this huge attraction in Bluebell Falls, but that’s what it’s turned into.”
“Well, selfishly, I never want you to leave because I’m well fed thanks to you.” She takes a sip of her coffee.
“You think I’m going to leave?” I ask, confused why she has that idea.
“Honestly, I have no idea. You fit in well here, but everything I’ve learned about you makes me think your job isn’t finished with the Marshals.”
I ponder her words and am a little ashamed to say I’m starting to feel the same way. It feels like I ran away from an unfinished job, and it’s coming back to bite me in the ass now.
“Well, I have no intention of leaving. This place has really grown on me,” I tell her instead.
Her eyes twinkle as we stare at each other, then she leans forward, pressing the softest kiss to my lips.
I want more.
But I also know she has work to do and a nap to take. My needs aren’t important right now.
“Time for that nap,” I whisper against her lips.
“Yeah, but can I at least help clean up first?”
“No.” I smile.
She flops back down onto the bed with a relaxed sigh.
“I really like you, James Oakley.”
“I really like you too, Willow Hutton,” I say softly.
She meets my eyes, and the depth of feeling is almost too much. She’s like a tornado that came into my life and changed it irrevocably. I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
I drag myself away from her as she snuggles back into my bed, collecting our dishes and heading to the kitchen to clean up.
I’m almost done when my phone rings, and I see Woodcroft calling.
“Hey, man,” I say after drying my hands off.
“Hey, how are things?” His voice sounds tight, like he’s trying to play it cool but he’s stressed.
“What’s going on, Wood?” I ask instead of answering him.
“There’s another one. In San Antionio, this time.”
It feels like my entire body is drained of all its blood. It’s a shock to the system not only hearing there’s been another victim but that it’s so fucking close to me.
I open and close my mouth a couple of times, but I can’t make any words come out. It’s like I’m locked up mentally and physically.
“Oak, I think we need to make local authorities aware.”
I clear my throat. “They— They are. The sheriff here is informed.”
“Okay, that’s good. Can you let him know of this new information? And I’ll call you again if I hear anything new.”
“Yep.” I strain to get it out.
“You okay, man? I know this is a lot to drop on you, but I need you to be safe.”
“I’ll be good. Let me call the sheriff.” I know I should probably talk to Woodcroft more, but knowing that Tennison is in Texas has me in a panic. It was one thing when we just thought he was moving around, but now he’s in the same state as me and it’s less and less likely that I’m not a part of his reasoning now.
“Call me if you need anything. Just keep your eyes open, and we’ll do everything we can to catch him before anything else happens.” They feel like empty words because we’ve been hunting him for years to no avail. Anything’s possible, but I have a feeling things will get worse before they get better.
He hangs up, and I stare at my bedroom door. I need to find a way to end this. I refuse to put that woman in any danger.
Scrolling through my contacts, I pull up Sheriff’s number.
“I never thought I’d see the day that you call me.”
“I have news.”
“I’m listening.” His playful tone turns serious in an instant.
“Tennison took another victim in San Antonio.”
He curses. “We’ve got to get proactive.”
“Yeah, for once, I agree.”
“It would be a lot easier if you were working in the department,” he not-so-subtly pries.
“I can’t,” I whisper, feeling more and more useless by the minutes. The realization that Tennison is coming for me is starting to hit, and the panic is rising.
“Just keep it in the back of your mind. I’ll start calling some contacts and doing more patrols of the area. I’ll call Lennox too, so he’s aware and can keep an eye out at the park.”
“Sounds good. I’ll call you if I get more information.”
“Thanks, Oakley. We’ll figure this out.” He hangs up before I get a chance to tell him it’s not that simple. That groups of people have been on this case for years and we’re no closer to catching him.
My eyes are drawn to my bedroom door again.
It’s time to stop hiding. If that’s what it takes to protect Willow, then I’m going to find Tennison and make sure he never hurts anyone again.