CHAPTERFOURTEEN
“Well, at least the rain finally stopped,” Hallie said. She should be happy about the fact that the sky was clear and the water outside was starting to recede, but she wasn’t. All it meant to her was that it was time for her to go back to the real world and live her life.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like her life. She did, but she had also greatly enjoyed her time with Rev. They had jumped into something. Though, she wasn’t quite sure whatitwas yet.
“I guess time will tell,” she whispered to herself as she slipped her shoes on and gathered her bags.
“Did you say something?” Rev asked.
“Nothing important. Just talking to myself.” She smiled up at him. Damn, she was really going to miss him.
“I’m not going to lie, love. I’m going to miss waking up next to you and making love to you first thing in the morning,” he said, almost as if he had somehow read her thoughts.
“I’m going to miss that too,” she said.
“You know, you don’t have to leave. You could stay.”
“It’s a kind offer, but I do need to go home and check on everything at my apartment.” She wanted to say yes and stay forever, but they weren’t at that place in their relationship. Hell, they hadn’t even been on a single date. Because of their circumstances and how they had been thrown together, so to speak, they had bypassed all of the firsts of new relationships and hopped right in the sack. It hadn’t been ideal, but she definitely didn’t regret her choices.
She liked Rev. Maybe a little too much for her own good. She could easily see herself falling head over heels in love with him. She was already halfway there. That was the dangerous part of this game. Because she had developed feelings so quickly, freaky intense feelings, she could imagine what a life with Rev or as Mrs. Rev would be like. Fuck, if she didn’t want it.
Rev turned out to be everything she wanted in a man and a lover. He was hotter than hell and turned her on like nobody’s business. He was funny and sweet and could cook like Gordon damn Ramsey. And the things he did to her body. Sweet, sweet Jesus. The time she had spent in bed, and all over the house, with him was like nothing she had ever experienced or had ever known was possible. He blew her mind in every friggin’ way possible.
So why was she leaving then? Why not stay as he had asked and see where things went? It was a question she had asked herself a million times since the rain had stopped. She kept coming up with the same answer … she needed to see how she felt after her mind cleared from what she had termed theRev Fog. Were her feelings so strong because she was with him constantly over a couple of days? Or was it something more? Would she feel the same about him when her head was clear and she was away from him, back to her own life?
“So, when will I see you again?” Rev asked as he grabbed his keys from the hook and opened the front door.
“Well, I’m out in this area pretty much every day for work. So, I’m pretty sure you’ll be seeing me around, but if you want to set something up. Maybe dinner or a date, we can do that too.”
“I’d like that. Text me when you get home, and let me know what night works best for you. Maybe we can head into the Quarter and make a night of it.”
“I’d really like that. I haven’t been out for fun in ages.”
“It’s a date then. Well, as soon as you let me know what night you’d like to go out.”
Some of the stress that had been weighing on Hallie lifted with their date night plans. She wanted to believe everything Rev had said about how much he liked her and wanted her to stay, but she was trying to be realistic about the entire situation. She would find out what his true intentions were when she was gone. If he would text or call. If they would see each other again or not.
She was just one of the many girls who had been told how great they were then ghosted for eternity. It sucked balls when shit like that happened. Hallie always ended up feeling like a fool afterward for believing the pretty lies. She hoped beyond hope that Rev would be different. That he wouldn’t fall into the asshat of the year category that all of her ex-boyfriends had been relegated to.
* * *
“I’m definitely goingto have to hit a carwash on the way home if we can get it out of the mud,” Hallie said as her gray Jeep came into focus. Thick mud was caked up to the bottom of the doors.
“We will get it unstuck. It’s four-wheel drive. Plus, I brought a tow rope in case we need it.”
“You sound like a pro at this.”
“Yeah, over the years, there’s been quite a few people who have been unfortunate enough to be in the narrows when the weather turns nasty.”
“Huh.” A thousand questions slammed into Hallie’s brain.
“Don’t worry, love. You are the only one I’ve ever taken home with me,” he said, running his hand up her thigh.
“Well, that’s good to know.” She breathed a sigh of relief, hating that those thoughts even entered her head.
“There’s just something about you, love. I don’t know what it is, but I felt it from the moment I laid my eyes on you.”
Her heart melted. Right there in his truck. As much as she had been trying to hold back falling for him, telling herself that she had only half-fallen for him had been a lie, and she knew it. She had fallen hook, line, and sinker for him.