15. Colton

Chapter 15

Colton

As soon as the words leave my mouth, she practically jumps away from me like she just got burned. Dammit, I don't want her pulling away from me. If anything, I want her drawing closer to me.

"Colt, I can't just move in with you." She rolls her eyes like I'm being crazy, and maybe I am. But I don't want to risk anything happening to her.

"I get it, but I need you to. My house is set up with a security system and cameras. I'll know you're safe and be able to keep an eye on anyone sneaking around."

"Why do you care so much?" She peeks up at me and the vulnerability swimming in her golden-brown eyes breaks my heart. Does she really not understand how I feel about her?

"I don't know how it took me so long to notice you, and I hate that it did. But I can promise, since I noticed you that first night at the bar, you've always been on my mind. I've been trying to figure out a way to convince you to give me a chance."

"A chance at what?" She whispers softly.

She knows what I'm talking about, but if she needs to hear the words, I'm not going to shy away from it. Anything to get us both on the same page sounds great to me.

"A chance to make you mine. A chance to prove we could be amazing together. A chance at us both getting our happily ever after."

"Why would you want to date me when I have such a horrible past trying to catch up with me?"

"I'm not going to let some asshole, who likes to lay his hands on a woman, keep me from going after the woman I want… Give me a chance, Zo."

She slips her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbles on it gently. I know she's thinking things through, but I really wish she'd just take a leap of faith and let me catch her.

"Ok," she whispers softly.

"Ok? As in ok, I'll give you a chance?" A smile tugs on my lips, but I fight it until she nods her head and a giggle bursts free from her. Then, I let it spread across my lips and take over my entire face. "You won't regret it, babe. I'm going to treat you like my queen."

"Are you sure you want me to move in with you though? That's a big deal."

"Well, if you had turned me down, I might be rethinking it, but now you're my girlfriend and I'm going to have to insist you move in right away."

"Typically, you don't move in with your girlfriend as soon as you ask her out." Leslie rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, but after last night, I'm not sure I ever want to sleep without you in my arms."

"You packed a little light, sweetheart." I glance down at the two duffle bags sitting at my feet and frown.

"I know, but if I need more, I can come back. It's a five-minute drive."

"I guess," I grumble under my breath. I don't know why this is bothering me so much, but I want to feel like she's one hundred percent in this and somehow her having some of her things here feels like she's not.

"Stop it." She steps up to me and places her hands on my chest. "Give me some time to get used to this. Last night when I arrived at Skylar's house, I never thought less than twenty-four hours later, I'd be packing up and moving in with my new boyfriend. Who also knows everything that's happened to me."

While Zoey packed her things, she told me more about Jimmy and what he did. I think keeping her hands busy while she spoke, helped her stay emotionless while telling me the stories.

I don't have Mason's number yet, but I plan to get it from her before we go to bed tonight. I want to call him and figure out what he knows that Zoey might not.

Shit, I wish I could call her Zoey all the time. I hate knowing Leslie isn't her real name and still using it.

"I like when you call me your boyfriend." I snake my arm around her waist and tug her body flush with mine. She grins up at me, but there's a small amount of hesitation swimming in her eyes.

I can tell her she's safe with me until I'm blue in the face, but it's not going to make a difference unless I prove it to her.

Based on how she spoke, I'm the first man she's even considered dating since she left Jimmy. There's bound to be some hesitations on her end. She doesn't want to find herself in the same sort of situation again, and I can't blame her for that. She's survived hell and wants to find her own slice of heaven.

"I'm not going to kiss you, Zo," I say softly.

"You're not?" She squeaks out.

"No. I want you to know you're in control of everything that happens in this relationship. I'm not taking a step without you initiating it. If you want to be kissed, you have to tell me, or kiss me first. If you want me to touch you, you have to tell me or move my hands to where you want them."

"Thank you, Colton."

"For not kissing you?" I chuckle.

"No, for understanding what I need and making this easier for me."

"Of course." I press a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead, then take a step back and grab her bags. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," she sighs. "It's so weird to move out of here. This was my first slice of freedom."

"I promise, you're getting an upgrade." I place my hand on her lower back and lead her out of the house.

I wait impatiently while she locks up the door and climbs behind the wheel of her car. I don't like her driving by herself, but she clearly needs to get her car to my place. I just want her locked inside my house, where I know I can keep her safe.

When I back out of the driveway, I make sure to drive slowly so Leslie can keep up with me. I don't want her getting lost and I want to have eyes on her car the entire drive.

Five minutes later, we're pulling into my driveway and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. That was by far the worst five minutes of my life. I can only imagine how much of a mess I'm going to be if Jimmy actually finds her.

As soon as I turn my car off, I hop out and grab Leslie's bags out of the car. I'm forcing myself to keep referring to her as Leslie in my head because I don't want to slip up and call her Zoey in front of other people, but sometimes it slips out when I talk to her.

"Was the drive ok?" I ask as soon as I'm opening her door.

"It was five minutes, tops." She chuckles.

She glances over my shoulder at the house and her eyes widen. She takes in the large cabin style home with big bay windows. The carefully placed evergreens, making you feel like you're in the middle of the forest and not on a street with ten other houses .

My property is a few acres, but it's not as large as I'd like it to be. I've dreamed of buying the house next to me and doubling the size of my property. I've always wanted to have a little farm with a whole bunch of animals, but that's difficult to do when it's just me.

"Will this be good enough to live in?" I smirk as I lead her towards the front door.

"Your house is gorgeous! If I had known you lived here, I would've asked to move in a long time ago." She beams up at me.

"Damn, I missed my opportunity. But I have you now and that's all that matters."

As soon as I unlock the front door, Snow is standing there with her tail wagging. She nuzzles my hand and forces me to pet her. She's a white German Shepherd, and is almost two years old. She's well trained and comes with me to work some days.

"I didn't know you had a dog." Leslie stares at my girl.

"She's my number one girl… now I guess she's my number two."

"Colt! Don't make me feel bad! I don't want to demote this pretty girl." She drops to her knees and when Snow licks her entire face, Leslie just laughs .

The sound fills the space around us and makes this house feel a little more like a home. I'm thrilled to have Leslie here. To have someone to come home to at the end of the day. To have someone to eat dinner with or watch TV. I'm tired of being alone and I think Leslie is the perfect woman for me.