Page 95 of You Found Me
Ward fit here.
Lucy did, too. Lucy’s life was simple and happy.
She could get used to Lucy’s life.
Could you, really?Lizzie’s voice asked.
The voices in her head weren’t helping at all.
She shook them off. Despite her clumsy serving skills and her run-in with Rachel, today had been a good day.
She was tired and sore, and she still smelled like beer, but she’d never had an experience quite like this. Everyone had accepted her as, well, just another small town girl.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like she was part of something that hadn’t involved her sisters or a stage.
But this wasn’t real.
How could she hold on to something that didn’t exist?
She wanted to, though. She really didn’t want to lose… What? The town?
Her warden?
She liked being here with him. A lot. But she’d learned the hard way that trying to leave her reality behind was a good way to lose everything.
Chapter Sixteen
Lucy’s first official day off in a week came both too fast and not fast enough.
On the one hand, allowing Della out in public every day put her at risk of discovery. It wasn’t smart.
On the other hand, being in the house alone with her spawned an unexpected war with Ward’s inner demons, and he wasn’t sure who was winning.
He was hyperaware of her location at all times, which he tried to convince himself was just part of the job.
It wasn’t.
Right now, she was one floor and a few steps away, curled up on the sofa like a contented cat. She was wearing that damned flannel shirt that was a little too big. She never seemed to notice that it slipped down one arm to reveal a bare shoulder.
She had no idea what that shoulder did to him.
The problem with a secure, off-the-grid location? There were no distractions. There was nothing for him to do but be close to his protectee twenty-four seven and wait. Wait for his team to make any kind of progress. Wait for the stalker to do something stupid.
Wait for him to lose his own damn mind.
He couldn’t take a day off because the cover story he’d set up wouldn’t allow him to bring in a replacement. It would cause too many questions.
He was stuck here with her looking like a present he’d like to unwrap.
He scrubbed his face with both hands, then put on one of his dad’s old work shirts and went out back to split wood they didn’t need for the fireplace.
He set a log on the chopping block and faced it like an enemy.
Thwack!
It broke in two and fell to the sides. He picked up the pieces, stacked them, then selected another log.
Thwack!
