JUSTIN
But it had been a relief.
He didn’t want Jessalyn to leave.
When she’d balked at divorce, it had sent a shiver of worry rippling along his spine.
Going back to a man like Ridge would be a big mistake, and maybe even a fatal one.
Men like him didn’t stop at a black eye.
Taking on board her “homey” comment, he tossed a couple of throw pillows into the cart and added a scented candle.
Did he need more towels? He should get more towels.
When the cart was full to overflowing, he set off to find her. She’d made a two-page grocery list in painfully precise handwriting, and the last time he saw her, she was in the produce aisle, carefully selecting vegetables and stacking them neatly alongside the baking pans she’d chosen.
But she wasn’t in the baking aisle anymore.
No, she was in the underwear section, holding a package of plain bikini briefs in one hand and barely-there thong panties in the other.
Justin watched from a distance, holding his breath like the creeper he was, waiting to see which style she’d choose.
Even when she picked the bikini briefs, his cock hardened in an instant at the thought of her wearing them.
Fuck. If she’d been Eliza or Rebecca or Melanie, he’d have slipped an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear.
Told her he was looking forward to tearing them off with his teeth.
Okay, perhaps he wouldn’t have said that to Eliza because she would have squirmed and told him to lower his voice, but Bec or Mel would have been down for it. Not Jessalyn, though.
Jessalyn was way too fragile.
He wanted to build her up, not see her fall apart.
Instead, he backed out of the aisle and headed for the flowers.
Tomorrow was Ruby’s birthday, or at least, it would have been if she were still alive.
He always took her a plant, something pretty like a miniature rose or an orchid.
He planned to drive over to Eastlawn Cemetery before his first meeting to pay his respects, the same way he did every year.
This would save him time in the morning.
He picked out a bright pink moth orchid and set it carefully in the kiddie seat, then hovered near the electronics section, waiting for his new houseguest to go by on her way to the register. She almost walked right past him.
“Hey, Jessalyn. You done?”
“Uh, yes? But this might cost too much. I’ve picked up a few things for myself, and obviously I’ll pay for those, but it’s three hundred and thirteen dollars. I can put back one of the baking pans, and if I get the regular-sized laundry detergent rather than the economy pack—”
“Just get it all. Did you really add up the prices as you went around?”
“Yes?”
She said it as if that was normal.
“That asshole took the money you worked for, and then he made you budget for groceries?”
Her face fell, and he hated when it did that.
“Uh, yes?”
“You don’t need to do that anymore. In fact, go get another baking pan. The one with the circles that you were looking at and then put back?”
“The muffin pan?”
“Yeah, get it.”
Her husband was a fuckin’ douche.
Jessalyn tried to hide the underwear under a loaf of bread, and Justin didn’t want to embarrass her, so he handed over his credit card and went to check out the magazines.
As he walked away, he heard the woman behind them in the line muttering to her friend that “men these days won’t even pack groceries,” and he nearly turned around, but Jessalyn’s comfort was more important than their judgment.
He just made sure he was waiting to unload everything into his truck when it was time to leave.
“Where’s the gym?” Jessalyn asked when they were on their way home. “Wasn’t that on your to-do list?”
It was almost five p.m. The meeting with the loss adjuster had been a box-ticking exercise because Justin already knew what work needed to be done, and although the asshole tried to weasel out of replacing the joists, Justin said he’d get a second opinion from a structural engineer, and the guy had backed down.
They’d also spent three hours at the police station filing a report on the theft of Jessalyn’s money, and although they had a crime reference number, Justin knew the cops wouldn’t do much, not unless they happened to arrest “Tiffany” on another matter and dropped an extra charge on top.
He also knew he’d be vetting wherever Jessalyn moved to next and paying the security deposit if necessary.
Isabel had added her to the waitlist for Ruby Rose, but Norquist Construction was currently working on two new developments, and neither would be finished any time soon.
Tenants moved on, but not often, and the three homes that would be empty soon already had folks lined up to move in.
Justin wouldn’t mess with those arrangements, not when Jessalyn had somewhere safe to live for now. Other women weren’t so lucky.
“The gym is attached to the pool house,” he told her. “The key lives in the drawer beside the back door if you want to use it. Not that I’m saying you need to work out. You look great the way you are.” Fuck. “I mean, the parts I can see. And I haven’t been looking closely or anything.”
Instead of slapping him, Jessalyn giggled, and hell if that wasn’t the sweetest sound in the world. Then the dog leaned over from the back seat and stuck its nose in his ear.
“Aw, I think he likes you.”
At least Justin had managed to win over one of his new houseguests. Now he just had to do the same with Jessalyn.