He followed her up to the top floor, where his two-bedroom penthouse sat overlooking the river. The place was a million times better than the last place he’d had.
The luck he’d had at his job had afforded him the new place and the expensive car he had purchased a few months ago. Finally, things had been going his way. And then Selene had shown up again.
CHAPTERSEVEN
There was little that shocked Selene. But as she looked around Scott’s new place, she was speechless.
“This is your place?” she asked for the second time. Scott glanced over his shoulder at her and rolled his eyes.
“Come on, you can help me pack.” He headed down the hallway.
She followed him past the massive living room filled with expensive furniture, through a large kitchen, then past a bedroom that he’d turned into a home gym slash office space.
His main bedroom was bigger than the loft apartment she was currently squatting in.
“Remind me what it is you do again?” she asked, turning in circles.
“I handle accounts,” he said as he pulled out a suitcase.
“Right.” She motioned around the apartment. “It’s a hell of a lot cleaner than your last place.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I wasn’t in the right headspace last time you stopped by my place.”
She ran a finger down one of his suits hanging in the massive walk-in closet. She turned and raised her eyebrows. “As opposed to the space you and the brunette were in when I walked in on you in your office a few days ago?”
“Was that only a few days ago?” He shook his head and walked over and grabbed a few pairs of jeans. “Seems like longer.” He set the pants down next to the bag he’d gotten and then wrapped his arms around her. “You know, we could always move your stuff here.”
She felt her entire body warm at that thought. Hadn’t she wanted to be with him like this her entire life?
As tempting as it was, she couldn’t deny the calling she felt to be with her new friends and, most importantly, to be in Hidden Creek. Even though the danger was over, temporarily, she could feel something else brewing. Something… different than before. She needed time and a trip to the Beyond to figure things out. She knew neither of those were possible as long as Scott was around.
Once he had changed into a pair of worn jeans and a black T-shirt, he tossed a few things into a backpack and grabbed his wallet and phone. Then they headed out again, only this time he suggested they take his car instead of hers.
She didn’t mind since his car was a shiny new silver BMW with leather seats and a kick-ass satellite radio system, which she played with for the next two and a half hours while they drove up to Tennessee.
Just outside of Chattanooga, they stopped for dinner at one of her favorite barbeque places. She’d never thought she’d move to Chattanooga, but it was closer to Atlanta than Nashville was, so she’d left a high-paying managerial job and headed to the smaller city. It was harder to avoid seeing the same people over and over in a place like Chattanooga. Especially a town where most people didn’t trust anyone new, particularly when they dressed and looked like her.
If it was possible, she would have covered herself with tattoos over the years. She’d even tried to learn how to tattoo herself, but the ink never stuck. It was the universe’s way of fucking her over in a whole different way.
So she wore black band shirts and leather or black jeans with combat boots. With her dark hair and eyes, most people took one look at her and crossed the street, except for a not insignificant number of men who tried to flirt with her. Maybe they thought she was easy or that she was a bad girl. Either way, if they annoyed her enough, all she had to do was brush her fingers across their skin and they too would go out of their way to avoid her, just like everyone else.
Everyone except Scott. She glanced across the table at him and smiled at the barbeque sauce dripping down his stubbled chin. Thoughts of sucking the sweet and tangy sauce from his skin heated her entire body.
Damn, it was going to be really hard letting him go. She knew in her heart that he wouldn’t leave his job and his amazing life in Atlanta. Just one look at his place confirmed that fact.
“You’re quiet,” he said, wiping the sauce from his face, then taking another sip of his beer.
“The food is good.” She took another bite of ribs.
His eyes narrowed, and she knew he understood there was more to it.
“I guess I’m a little nervous about moving to a small town,” she admitted.
“Then don’t. Move in with me.”
She shook her head. “It’s not…” She wanted to move in with him. Really, she did. But there were so many answers she needed. “I feel like it’s the right move for now.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I figured. You seem pretty determined. I know better than to step in your way when you’re that sure about anything.” He smiled, and she felt the familiar flutter in her gut that his smile had always caused.