Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate (Adelaide) novel Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Briar

I sat up, and Carter stood. He glanced at me, like he was unsure if he should walk outside with her. I squeezed his hand in reassurance and he/just nodded and stepped out with Rosie. I peeked out the window to see him tangle

his fingers in his hair and stare up at the moon, his fingers interlocked behind his head, gaze skyward. His

shoulders sagged, he looked away, and began to pace like an animal in a cage.

This was my fault. I shouldn’t matter so much to someone who was a stranger to me a week ago. I wanted Carter

to like me, not pity me, but my options were limited. I needed someone and he was all I had. Sure, there was

Martha and Henry, however something about Carter’s presence seemed to ease just about everything my heart,

mind, and body were going through right now. It seemed stupid, selfish even to lean on him.

I thought back to the scared woman and her daughter, the old woman, and Beck, to the waitress, and truck driver

that was kind enough to get me here. I had accepted their help to escape, to find myself here. I had never been

one for fate, but maybe, just maybe, I should trust her this time. Those people had risked themselves for me and

I’d be throwing that away if I didn’t keep trying, didn’t keep moving forward. Carter was my best bet, my

salvation. However, it felt like I was using him. I didn’t have much else to offer but my piss poor company,

saturated by all my problems. Something about this man made me feel at home, more so than I’d ever felt in all

my life.

Of course, there were my grandparents, but there was something about them I didn’t trust. There were words unsaid, words missing. I wanted to trust them, to love them, but right now, it was a struggle to love myself enough to carry on. Carter had positioned himself like a guardian. I had no doubt, if he failed me, ever, it wouldn’t be from any intent of his. We were just people and people made mistakes.

Rosie came back and paused a few feet away from him. I heard her whine from inside. Carter took several deep breaths, his gaze returning to the moon. I swear shadows rippled around him before his posture fully relaxed.

When Carter came back, he seemed haggard, yet resolved, and he plopped beside me after grabbing us each a beer from the fridge. He popped the tab and handed me one and threw his arm around my shoulders.

“Tomorrow we will go get the rest of your things from my place. We are gonna change the locks and Ole Betty stays at the door. You go anywhere on the property, you take her with you. You need to look into security cameras

next.”

“Carter, that’s a lot all at once.”

“Your safety is important to me.”

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10:47 am

Chapter 65

why? You just met me.” I found myself asking him again. It was a question that, deep down, I needed him to

answer truthfully.

“A lot of reasons. For one, Jake was important to me, you were important to him, therefore, you’re important to

me, also.” So he was going to use lake as a scapegoat.

“You have said that before, I pointed out, annoyed he wasn’t being forthcoming. I took a long drink and he did

the same.

“I don’t want to talk about the rest tonight,” I let him know. I was pretty sure I wasn’t ready for all his reasons

but I figured he’d assume it was what I had been telling him before. That, I also wasn’t ready for. I had told him

some, but not everything.

“That asshole has another thing coming if he thinks he can come into my town to get to you.”

“Anything and everything.”

He snorted. “Frogs?”

10:47 am

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