Atticus by R.E. Butler

Chapter Seven

Lori woke with a start and sat up, momentarily confused as to where she was.

Oh, right.

Atticus had somehow known she was going to bolt and stopped her. Then she’d fallen asleep in his arms on the couch.

She turned to look at him and couldn’t help but smile as he grinned at her. His eyes were sleepy, his hair mussed, and he looked perfect to her. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself,” he said. He stretched, his shirt riding up a little and giving her a view of tanned skin and delicious abs.

Holy crap, she’d never had so many sexy thoughts about a guy in her life before! He just seemed to bring that out in her.

She looked at her watch and realized she was going to be late for work if she didn’t get a move on.

“I should get ready for work. Would you...normally someone from the park drives me. I was hoping you’d do that?”

“I’d be happy to. And for the record, I already requested to be put as your permanent driver.”

Now that was a surprise. “You did?”

“Of course. I wanted to get to know you better, plus I want to make sure that you get back and forth to work safely.”

She was secretly pleased. He’d said that he liked her and wanted her to be safe. He hadn’t tried to get so much as a kiss from her last night, which she liked and disliked at the same time. She wouldn’t mind kissing him. A few hundred times, just to see if his lips were as soft as they appeared.

“Hey, my eyes are up here, sweetheart.”

She hadn’t realized she’d been staring at his mouth. Her cheeks heated as she snapped her gaze to his and let out a girly giggle at being caught.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I like that you’re thinking sexy thoughts.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

He blinked a few times and then shrugged casually. “Maybe I’m just a good guesser.”

Something sparked in her memory, and she frowned as she thought back over the night she’d been with Keir. Even though it was so many years ago, a lot of it was fresh in her mind because she’d had to deal with him so often. When he’d come up to her at the bar that night, he’d told her he could tell that she thought he was sexy. She’d been thinking he was attractive but hadn’t thought she was staring at him that much.

“How do you know?” she’d asked nonchalantly.

“I’m psychic, don’t ya know?”

He’d winked at her, and his eyes had flashed to an odd pale blue color, which she’d thought had been a trick of light.

Over their night together, he’d made a few odd sounds that seemed like growls or purrs and laughed them off when she questioned him.

She might never have thought of that again if it weren’t for seeing Novi’s eyes flash that same pale blue when she got emotional and hearing odd growling sounds from her on occasion.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Atticus asked, snapping his fingers in front of her.

She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she’d been thinking, but then she closed it and decided against it. What could she tell him? That she thought there was something weird about Keir, something almost animal-like?

Atticus would think she’d gone off the deep end.

“Nothing,” she said. She stood and looked toward the bedroom. “I need to clean up before work.”

“I’ll be here,” he said.

After she showered and dressed, she found a spare toothbrush for him, and he used the bathroom. They made travel mugs of coffee and walked to the employee lot to get one of the unmarked SUVs the park employees used to ferry her back and forth to work.

As he pulled away from the parking space, she said, “I need to go back to my rental house.”

“What for?”

“Well, at the very least I need to get the rest of my stuff out and tell the landlord I’m turning in my notice. I know it’s not safe to live there anymore, but I can’t just disappear without paying the final bills.”

“I can take you after work,” he said. “I’ll arrange for some males to come with us just to be safe.”

“Males?” She hummed. “I notice that you and Cael use that word a lot. Male and female, not guys and girls or men and women.”

He let out a sharp breath. “I guess it’s just how we talk around here,” he said. “Must be a New Jersey thing.”

“Well, it’s kinda cool. Strange but cool.”

“I aim to please.”

On the drive to the dollar store, they talked about her job. She always took these kinds of jobs, working as a cashier or in customer service. Over the years she’d pretty much done everything from fast food to waitressing to playing an elf in Santa’s Workshop for a department store.

“I’ve only ever been a mechanic,” he said. “Sounds like you’ve had some really interesting jobs. What’s your favorite of all of them?”

“The elf.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it was fun to be around the kids and they’re always so excited for Santa and the holidays.”

“I wish there was a job opening for you in the park.”

“You do?”

“Sure,” he said, glancing at her with a smile. “Then we could eat lunch together all the time. That was my favorite thing.”

He never ceased to make her smile. “Mine too.”

He parked in front of the store and turned to face her. “Would you text me right now, so I have your number? I want to make sure we can stay in touch. I’ll be the one to come get you when you finish work at five.”

She opened her contacts and sent a text to him. He looked at his phone and smiled, then put it in the cup holder. “If you need to leave early or go somewhere, let me know and I’ll come get you.”

“I don’t want you to be bothered, you’ve got work and stuff of your own.”

He turned in the seat and stared at her. His eyes were practically glowing with intensity, the brown slowly being taken over by gold.

“You are the most important person in my life, Lori. If you need me, I’m here, no matter what.”

It was tempting to point out they didn’t know each other that well, but despite trying to leave him behind a few hours ago, she could honestly say that she felt more connected to him than any other guy she’d ever known. She felt like she’d known him her whole life, and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours. In the past, if a guy had said he liked her, she’d have changed her number and disappeared with Novi. Never letting anyone get close had kept them alive.

But she didn’t want to disappear.

Or, rather, after getting busted by Atticus in the wee hours of the morning, she didn’t want to disappear anymore. She wanted to stay with him, stay in New Jersey, and find out if she could actually have a life. If only she could be sure that Keir was going to leave her alone.

“I’m still kind of scared,” she said. “You’re clearly a strong guy, but Keir’s crazy and determined. I want to believe that we can be safe and...maybe be more to each other than friends, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a mistake.”

He clasped both her hands with his. “It’s never a mistake to follow your heart, and I’m following mine. I felt connected to you the moment I saw you, and I’ll be damned if I let some asshole drive you away. If you want to be friends right now, I’m okay with that, just don’t shut me out. If you’re scared, tell me. If you’re horny, be sure to tell me that too.”

She barked out a laugh at his words and some of the tension she’d been holding eased away.

“I will.”

“Yes, please,” he whispered, his brows wiggling.

“I should go.”

“You’ll call me if you need me, right?”

“I promise. See you at five.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and he smiled at her. His eyes were back to solid brown, and she wondered once more if she was going crazy. She grabbed her lunch bag and purse and got out of the SUV. She walked into the store and turned to see him blow her a kiss.

It was so tempting to call him and tell him to take her back to the park so they could spend the day together. But that was insane. They both had responsibilities.

How nice would it be if they couldreallyspend their days together? Meet for lunch, hang out together, maybe even go out on a date?

Before she lost her nerve, she texted him:I don’t know where we’d go that would be safe for us, but maybe we could go out on a date tonight?

She looked at him through the glass door as he lifted his phone and his brows rose. He glanced at her, grinned, and then looked down at his phone.Yes! I’ve got the perfect place in mind, and it will be perfectly safe, I promise.

Good.

I’m glad you asked me out. I knew you couldn’t resist me.He added a few emojis including a winking one.

She was pretty sure he’d nailed it on the head. Hewasirresistible. Maybe that was why she’d wanted to run away. Because she’d known she’d fall quick for him. What wasn’t to like, anyway? He was sexy and strong, funny and sweet. And his protective streak was a mile wide. For the last two decades, she’d wanted nothing more than to find a guy to spend her life with, one who could keep them both safe from Keir.

Atticus seemed to want the job. And she was happy to let him have it.

She waved at him as he pulled away from the parking spot and then headed toward the office to stash her things and clock in. She pushed away the doubts and fears that were creeping in and focused on Atticus’s promise that he could deal with Keir if he needed to. She hardly knew him, but at the same time she felt like she knew every single thing about him. How was that even possible?

It was like she was drawn to him by some soul-deep connection that was unexplainable by ordinary means.

If she believed in kismet or fate, she might think they were meant to be together. A part of her wanted to believe that, so she decided she would.

She didn’t really want to spend another twenty years on the run. Maybe Keir would just fall off the face of the earth and she wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Maybe she could get a job at the park and be close to Atticus and Novi.

Maybe it was finally time for her life to begin.