Saving You (Love in June Springs Book 1)

Saving You -10-

           

Chapter 10

                On any other day, Declan would be the first to say he despised shopping. It wasn't the act itself, but more the time it took to locate as many items as humanly possible for the sole purpose of spending money.

                With Katelyn, he'd found he didn't mind it so much. It hadn't hurt that every so often she'd given him a look or a touch that had reflected his own desire for her and increased it every minute that passed.

                His truck was loaded up with her cabinets and drawers while she'd put the smaller stuff in her own car. The only thing they hadn't been able to take was her couch, which would be delivered Monday. That was fine with him, all he really cared about was the mattress.

                He found himself smiling again as he thought about how shocked she'd been when he stood up on one of the display mattresses.

                "What are you doing?" She'd hissed, glancing around like she was going to get in trouble.

Declan had just grinned, held his arms out, and flopped down. When he'd barely bounced, but felt no pain, he'd rested up on his elbow and said, "this is the one, get it."

She'd been unsure until she'd lay down next to him and sighed. She'd looked up at him, laughing, and admitted his crazy had reason because she couldn't argue that it was the right bed.

The familiarity he felt as they lay together should have been weird. It should have been uncomfortable and made him get up as fast as he could. Instead he'd had to resist the urge to rest his free arm over her stomach and pull her in.

Shaking off the memory, he followed Katelyn to her new place. Tonight was for one thing and one thing only – checking compatibility.

He knew the area well enough that when he got stuck at a red light that Katelyn had been able to breeze through, he didn't have too much trouble finding where she'd gone.

He pulled in behind her on the driveway, frowning a little when he realized she hadn't gone inside yet. The frown deepened when she didn't seem to notice his appearance beside her window. Her gaze was locked straight ahead. Following it, he saw a vase of almost completely black flowers on her doorstep.

Confused now, he rapped a knuckle on her car window. For a moment she looked startled but relaxed seeing it was him. Declan stepped aside to let her out.

"Neighborhood greeting?" He asked, gesturing to the flowers. She finally looked at him, carefully.

"Maybe," she said, quietly. She pulled out her keys as she led the way to her door.

Something about the way she said it set Declan's guard up. Instinct had him looking around, making sure they weren't being watched.

Seeing no one, he kept himself positioned behind her until she'd unlocked the door and let herself in. She hadn't touched the plants.

                Without a further word, Katelyn dropped her bag and keys on a counter in the kitchen. The place was completely empty, opening into a small living room with a kitchen that was separated only by an island bar. Behind that Declan could see two doors, both closed. One had to be her room, he wasn't sure if the other was a guest room or a bathroom.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Katelyn's faced was turned to the floor as she rested against the island.

"Are you okay?" He asked, keeping his tone low.

She looked up, took a few seconds to acknowledge him. "Yeah, I'm good." She stood a little straighter and smiled. "Sorry, just some bad memories. I really don't want to keep those, would you do me a huge favor and get rid of them?"