Elise has tears in her eyes.
“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?”
Justin and Elise approach while Rona continues to sob in my arms.
“After we’d finished eating, Rona went to the restroom and came face-to-face with Nick,” Justin tells me.
I feel my blood freeze.
“What?”
“Cade, he had her at gunpoint, but luckily, Josh was waiting outside the restroom and realized she was in trouble. He acted pretty damn quick and disarmed him. Nick’s now under lock and key for the foreseeable future.”
“Hell, Rona. Are you hurt?” I push her away slightly to check for injuries or something.
“No, he just frightened the life out of me. I’m so glad that Josh was out there waiting for me, otherwise, he would have taken me with him.”
“Thank God you’re safe.” I pull her back into my arms.
Josh?
I gently tip her face up so that our eyes meet. “What do you mean, ‘Josh was waiting for you?’”
“He came in when we were having lunch so Justin invited him to join us, and boy,
am I grateful.”
Shit! He’s still after Rona.
My fear of losing her must be showing, because Rona takes hold of my face and kisses me. “Yes, I know he’s attracted to me. In fact, I would have to be an idiot not to know, but I’ve told him it’s you I love. He’s a nice guy and I’m so glad he was there today, but I don’t have anything other than, maybe, friendship on my mind.”
“I believe you.”
“I feel better now,” Rona says, smiling.
I only wish I could.
After a quick kiss to my lips, she takes my hand and pulls me toward Justin’s car. “Will you help us carry the bags in please?”
“Of course I will.” Then I stop dead at the pile facing me. “I think you really are going to need a walk in closet,” I look at a smiling Rona, “or do these belong to Elise?”
“These are mine.” Elise walks around the car waving her two bags in the air. “Your girlfriend loves shopping at that store.”
“You bought all this in one store?”
“Yes, it’s so much easier than going store to store, don’t you think?”
Smiling, I shake my head and laugh. “C’mon, let’s get this lot inside.” I grab as many bags as I can. “Rona, I’m going to go straight upstairs with these.”
“Thank you. Don’t peek.” She smiles. “I’ll make coffee.”
Rona
“Elise, do you want some coffee?”
“No thanks, I’m going to go and hide these before Jake gets back.” Elise heads toward her room, but not fast enough before Cade comes back down.
“Elise, what did you buy to wear for Jake?” Cade asks, trying not to laugh at the look of horror on her face.