Jolie felt settled in. December had come in like a bear with gusting winds and icy pellet like snow whipping across the prairie. Most days were gray and overcast. A significant amount of Christmas lights had popped up on the homes of Warren's neighbors in the last few days which helped to dispel some of the gloom.
She'd learned the everyday running of Re-Threads and had been opening and closing on her own for the last two weeks. Jolie liked Estelle and Hailey the girl who worked the other end of the week. Business was steady with Christmas coming down the pipe and Jolie left each day feeling like she'd earned her pay.
Home life felt comfortable now too. They'd settled into a smooth repertoire of work and dinner with a movie, television or conversation until bed. Most weekends she spent relaxing with a movie or a good book unless Warren suggested something more interesting and invited her along.
For the most part he'd dropped the more uncomfortable subjects. He no longer prodded her to discuss her life before she'd run or how she was dealing with her grief over Luke. They're conversations mostly centered on their likes, dislikes and random news topics. Jolie couldn't help thinking it was like a long protracted first date. Damn her treacherous mind!
She made a conscious effort to keep her thoughts and her hormones in check. It was easier to be in her room or otherwise distracted when he came home from the gym. Something about him looking sweaty and tousled made keeping her hands to herself and her mind out of the gutter too hard. Not that the freshly showered and clothed version was that much easier.
Warren was funny and intelligent. She looked forward to their conversations. He had an uncanny ability to see the funny side of everything and state it in an even funnier way. Jolie couldn't remember a time when she'd laughed as much as she had in the weeks she'd been at Warren's.
Nights were a tense balancing act of cozy relaxation and beating down her traitorous thoughts. She loved snuggling down under a quilt on the couch and watching a movie or show in the flickering glow of the wood stove. Warren's warm silent body on the other end of the couch was both comforting and maddening. More often than she'd like to admit she'd found herself distracted from the screen by her thoughts of her roommate.
He had large strong hands that had proven surprisingly gentle in the few times she'd had contact with them. Luke had had similar hands. Without asking he'd often simply pulled her feet into his lap rubbed them absentmindedly while they spent time talking or relaxing. Jolie couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if Warren did the same.
In truth, she yearned to be touched. She'd had little to zero contact with others while she'd been gone. At first it had seemed like heaven. All the weeks of hugs and sympathy pats after Luke's funeral had made her want to scream. People she'd never met and didn't know from Adam suddenly wanted to invade her space and express how badly they felt for her.
She'd tried to keep it in perspective and remember that they simply wanted to show sympathy for the situation but to Jolie in her fresh grief everything seemed fake and suffocating.
Day to day, going from place to place, there had been no reason to touch other people or be within close proximity. Most nights she'd pulled in late to the RV Park or campground and left early. Waitresses and gas station attendants had made up the bulk of her social interaction for the last 18 months.
Yet here she found herself sharing a home with an undeniably sexy male whose company she very much enjoyed. Not only that but she'd made several acquaintances in her short stay that she'd really enjoyed. In fact, she would be meeting Barb and Sue in town on her next day off to do a little Christmas shopping and girl talk.
During the day as she bustled here and there she noticed how attractive Warren was to other women as well; there was no way around it. He had deep green eyes and a wide genuine smile in addition to his amazing body. Jolie couldn't imagine a woman on the planet who could simply turn a blind eye to her male cohabitant but it still created a disturbing sense of unease when she caught another woman openly ogling him. Everywhere they went women shot her speculative glances; trying to discern their relationship and decide if it was a good idea to make a move.
YOU ARE READING
SHELTER
RomanceAs far as Jolie was concerned, all hope was lost. She bought a bike and headed off into the sunset to wander alone. When she wrecks outside a tiny Oklahoma town, it turns her whole world upside down. Maybe all hope isn't lost?
